Ex-Wife Insists Wrongly Convicted Man Beat Her

Dianna D’Aiello insisted Tuesday that her ex-husband beat her, but conceded that she could not be sure that Kevin Green caused the death of her unborn child--a crime that kept Green in prison nearly 17 years.

D’Aiello said she is still trying to reconcile her vivid memories of the night of her September 1979 attack with the stunning news that suspected serial killer Gerald Parker has allegedly confessed to the bludgeoning, which killed the 9-month-old baby she was carrying.

“Right now, I’m just in shock,” said D’Aiello, 36, struggling to hold back tears. “What I see 17 years ago was Kevin hitting me. . . . Still this is what I see now.”

D’Aiello had little sympathy for her ex-husband, who was released from prison Thursday after an Orange County judge declared him a victim of a legal system that wrongly accused him.

She shook her head at the outpouring of support for Green, including offers of jobs, cash, the possibility of book and movie deals, and a stay in Cabo San Lucas with assistance from the Rev. Robert Schuller, pastor of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, who was touched by Green’s plight.

“Is he a victim? No, not in my mind,” D’Aiello told a group of reporters and TV crews at a local park.

Even though her ex-husband has made no attempt to contact her, D’Aiello said she still considers the former Marine a threat and intends to seek a restraining order against him because she fears retaliation.

D’Aiello and Green were 21-year-old newlyweds at the time of the attack. She described Green as using drugs during their brief marriage and concocting unusual ways to abuse her. Attorney Ronald Brower, who is representing Green, called D’Aiello’s recollection of past events “absolutely false.”

“She’s already demonstrated that her memory is unreliable,” Brower said. “Do you think it’s reasonable to believe any of her assertions based on the fact that she was clearly mistaken about who her assailant was? And the answer is ‘no.’ ”

Authorities say they now have DNA evidence linking Parker, also a former Marine, to six killings, including the death of D’Aiello’s unborn child.

In addition to losing her unborn daughter in the attack, D’Aiello also lost most of her hearing, most of her sense of smell and often has trouble writing or articulating a thought. She said the most painful period is each September, the month in which she lost her baby.

D’Aiello insisted Tuesday that she clearly recalled Green attacking her and had not flashed back to another violent episode.

Transcripts from Green’s 1980 trial show that jurors convicted Green almost entirely on the basis of D’Aiello’s testimony--despite gaps in her memory, incoherent statements and contradictory remarks. There was almost nothing else: No eyewitnesses, scant physical evidence.