WHO WANTED ARIZONA ENTREPRENUER AND LAS VEGAS GAMBLER GARY TRIANO DEAD?

His Ex-Wife, Socialite Pamela Phillips, Proclaims Her Innocence in "48 Hours: The Hit"

Saturday, July 11, 2015 at 10:00 PM, ET/PT

Colorful entrepreneur and Las Vegas gambler Gary Triano finished up a round of golf at the exclusive La Paloma Country Club in Tucson, Ariz., and headed to the parking lot. Little did he know those moments on Nov. 1, 1996, would be his last on Earth, as his car erupted in a fatal explosion.

Peter Van Sant and 48 HOURS investigate who killed Triano and have the only network television interview with ex-wife Pamela Phillips, in an encore of "The Hit," to be broadcast Saturday, July 11 (10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

"I immediately thought, who is it that he hadn't paid?" Phillips told 48 HOURS. "Before the bombing, Gary was totally in fear, going around with a gun. He had life threats, I had life threats, the children had life threats - we're talking about Mexican mafia people you don't cross. There was serious, serious things going on."

"The Hit" is a story that goes inside the world of the high-stakes tribal gaming business and features a power couple with a social calendar that mixed them with the likes of Donald Trump and his then-wife, Marla Maples. The Trianos lived the good life until the bottom fell out. Gary Triano was pushed out of the tribal business. He had gambling debts of $1.8 million to one Las Vegas casino and hundreds of thousands owed to Mexican investors, according to private investigators. The couple separated in 1993 and eventually divorced.

But who wanted Triano dead bad enough to put a pipe bomb in a duffle bag on the seat of his car? "It was quick, it was calculated and it was murder," Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent Tom Mangan told 48 HOURS of the bomb that killed Triano.

The unusual story, filled with endless leads and curious characters, kept police searching for Triano's killer for 18 years.

48 HOURS: "The Hit" is produced by Chuck Stevenson and Greg Fisher. Stephen McCain is the field producer. Jud Johnston, Diana Modica and Tom Costantino are the editors. Linda Martin is the update producer. Suzanne Allen is the senior coordinating producer. Al Briganti is the executive editor. Susan Zirinsky is the senior executive producer.

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