Patrizia Reggiani (; Martinelli; born 2 December 1948) is an Italian convicted criminal and former socialite. She was convicted in a highly publicized trial of hiring a hitman to kill her ex-husband, Maurizio Gucci. Early life and marriage to Maurizio Gucci Patrizia Martinelli was born in Vignola, Province of Modena, in Northern Italy. She grew up poor and never knew her biological father. When Patrizia was 12, her mother Silvana married wealthy entrepreneur Ferdinando Reggiani, who later adopted Patrizia. When she was about 22, Patrizia met Maurizio Gucci, heir to the Gucci fashion house, at a party in 1970. On 28 October 1972 the couple married and moved to New York City. Gucci's father, Rodolfo Gucci, initially did not approve of the marriage, as he believed Patrizia was "a social climber who had nothing in mind but money," but he gifted his son and daughter-in-law with a luxury penthouse in New York's Olympic Tower. Patrizia became active in New York social circles, making regular appearances at parties and fashion events and even became friends with Jackie Kennedy Onassis. During her marriage, she gave birth to two daughters. Alessandra was born in 1977, and Allegra was born in 1981. In 1982, Patrizia and Maurizio moved back to Milan. In 1985, Gucci told her he was going on a short business trip to Florence. The following day, he sent a friend to tell Patrizia he would not be returning and that the marriage was over. In 1990, Maurizio began dating Paola Franchi, causing both resentment and jealousy in Patrizia. In 1994, she officially divorced Gucci. As part of the divorce settlement, Gucci agreed to pay Patrizia an annual alimony of $1.47 million. By law, she was no longer allowed to use the Gucci surname, but she continued to do so anyway, stating, "I still feel like a Gucci – in fact, the most Gucci of them all." Murder of former husband A year after his divorce, on 27 March 1995, Maurizio Gucci was shot and killed by a hitman on the steps outside his office as he arrived at work. The day he was killed, Patrizia wrote a single word in her diary: the Greek word for paradise. On 31 January 1997, Patrizia was arrested and accused of hiring the hitman who murdered Gucci. The trial garnered intense media interest, with the local press dubbing her the "Black Widow". According to prosecutors,