Accused in murder-for-hire case wants statements to be thrown out

The woman is accused of conspiring to have her longtime lover killed.
AKRON (AP) -- A prominent restaurant owner's wife who's charged with complicity to commit aggravated murder wants statements by an alleged hit man thrown out before her trial starts Tuesday.
The man, John Zaffino, told a fellow inmate about Cynthia George's alleged role in the 2001 slaying of her longtime lover, Stow businessman Jeff Zack.
In addition, defense attorneys are asking that jurors not hear recorded telephone calls made from prison between Zaffino and his family.
Summit County Common Pleas Judge Patricia Cosgrove is expected to rule Monday.
George, 51, a mother of seven and wife of Tangier restaurant owner Ed George, is accused of conspiring with Zaffino to kill Zack, with whom she had a 10-year extramarital affair.
Zaffino, 38, is serving a life sentence for killing Zack, 44. The victim was shot by a passing motorcyclist at a warehouse club gasoline pump.
George faces life in prison if convicted.
George's lawyers have asked Cosgrove to move the case out of Summit County because of local and national media attention. The judge has delayed ruling until the jury pool is questioned.
Zaffino was convicted of aggravated murder in 2003. Publicly, he has maintained his innocence.
Defense argument
Defense attorney Gerald Gold said allowing the jury to hear Zaffino's incriminating conversations with fellow inmates and phone calls to family members without his ability to cross-examine the convict is "highly prejudicial" to George.
Zaffino has been subpoenaed to testify, but attorneys expect him to refuse to answer questions and instead invoke his Fifth Amendment rights. He has an appeal pending in federal courts.
Prosecutors argued at Zaffino's trial that George had a problem with Zack after ending their affair. Testimony in the case indicated Zack may have placed harassing phone calls to both Cynthia and Ed George after the breakup.
Prosecutors said bank records show that Cynthia George may have provided the money used to buy the motorcycle Zaffino drove in the shooting. Cell phone records indicated Zaffino and George spoke at key points, including before and after Zack's murder.