PHOENIX, Ariz. -- An Indiana woman testified Tuesday she could get as much as $30,000 for her version of how alleged bigamist Giovanni Vigliotto abandoned her in Canada with no shoes and virtually no money.
Sharon Clark, Ray, Ind., told public defender Richard Steiner she already has received $3,375 toward the story rights for a television movie, and could receive as much as $30,000.
Ms. Clark has testified for two days on behalf of Patricia Gardiner, 42, a Mesa, Ariz. real estate agent. Both women claim Vigliotto married them in 1981, then swindled and abandoned them.
Vigliotto, thought to have married 100 women, is accused only of bigamy and fraud in connection with Ms. Gardiner -- who claims he took $36,000 from her in cash and property. Ms. Clark has said Vigliotto swindled her of $55,000 in cash and antiques. She also said her shoes were in the truck Vigliotto was driving.
The Indiana woman has said she tracked Vigliotto for three months before finding him in December 1981 in Panama City, Fla. and turning him into authorities. She testified Tuesday that Ms. Gardiner called her the following month.
'She thanked me for finding him (Vigliotto),' Ms. Clark said of their conversation.
She said they didn't discuss their experiences with Vigliotto.
Ms. Clark also testified that shortly before marrying Vigliotto, she debated with herself.
'My heart told me to get married and my mind told me not to get married,' said the woman who, like Ms. Gardiner, had been married three times before marrying Vigliotto. Ms. Clark and Vigliotto married June 13, 1981 in Jellico, Tenn.
Ms. Clark said she and Vigliotto were headed for Texas to set up a shop when they detoured to Dayton, Ohio. She said Vigliotto told her he had to settle a business problem there with a former employee.
He then told her to drive to Detroit where she received a call from Vigliotto telling her to meet him in Canada.
Vigliotto never showed up, she said.
Ms. Clark said she met Vigliotto in March 1981 when she was general manager of an Indiana country music recreation park called 'Indian Territory.'
She said he wanted to rent space to sell his wares at the park's flea market. Ms. Gardiner testified last week she met Vigliotto at a flea market in Apache Junction, Ariz.
Ms. Clark she was overworked at the time, and gradually gave more and more responsibility to Vigliotto who had offered to take the load off her shoulders.
She said Vigliotto was a hard worker who knew 'how to handle people.'
Four months after they met, Ms. Clark quit her job and she, Vigliotto and Phyllis Timpe -- a friend and employee of Ms. Clark -- went traveling. Ms. Clark said she married Vigliotto in Jellico, Tenn. on June 13, 1981.
Last week, Ms. Gardiner told jurors she married Vigliotti on Nov. 16, 1981 after an eight-day courtship. She said he abandonded her about two weeks later after persuading her to sell her home and give him the cash proceeds, give up her possessions and quit her job.
