Women Behind Bars Tuesdays at 10p|9c

Gena Shaughnessy and Deborah Rolle


The first of these stories features Gena Shaughnessy who always had problems learning in school. But she somehow managed to graduate high school and have two children. Then she met and married Rick Shaughnessy, with whom she had two more children. In 2003, their 10-month-old baby died; Gena turned to drugs and her marriage to Rick fell apart. While in the process of divorcing her husband, Gena moved in with his friend, 39-year-old James Gusich. She did, however, maintain a relationship with her husband Rick. On October 11, 2003 Gena was with Rick that evening delivering pizza. She claims she left him at 9:30 p.m. The next day, police found Rick’s body with multiple stab wounds in an alley. Both Gena and Gusich were arrested. James plead guilty and was offered a reduced charge of second-degree murder and a sentence of 20 years in prison. Gena chose to stand trial, claiming she had nothing to do with the murder. The jury found Gena guilty of first-degree murder and solicitation. She was sentenced to 35 years in prison. She still maintains she is innocent. Deborah Rolle, who was convicted in the murder of her estranged husband, Allen Agonovic, and is serving a life sentence in Florida. In 1999, after a bitter divorce in which she believed that her husband was abusing her youngest daughter, he was given custody of their children. On March 4, Allen and the two children visited Deborah in her home, where Deborah shot and killed Allen. Six weeks after his death, Deborah was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. At her trial, Deborah claimed self-defense but the jury convicted her of second-degree murder. She still maintains she acted in self-defense.