BY KRISTEN DELGUZZI
The Cincinnati Enquirer

It's been nearly a year since her lurid murder trial captured the attention of the Tristate, but Della Dante Sutorius still has one thing to offer the community: her jewelry.

Eleven pieces of the oft-married woman's ornaments - from a cheap, 18-inch gold necklace to an extravagant, 18-karat gold and diamond ring worth nearly $6,000 - will be auctioned March 20 during a sheriff's sale at the Hamilton County Courthouse.

A jeweler has estimated the value of the collection at $7,565. The pieces will be sold individually or as a set - whichever way fetches the best overall price.

The proceeds will go not to the prison account of the 46-year-old Mrs. Sutorius, who is serving a life sentence for the shooting death of her fifth husband, but to the county, said assistant prosecutor James Harper, who heads the office's civil division.

''It will be paid into the treasury of Hamilton County to offset the costs of her litigation to taxpayers,'' he said.

Though she has already paid her $1,500 fine and the more than $25,000 related to her prosecution, she will continue to amass bills related to her appeal, which is pending in the Ohio 1st District Court of Appeals.

Whenever criminal defendants are indigent and cannot pay their court bills, the county pursues their property, Mr. Harper said.

''It's not all that common that the criminal clientele we get here have assets,'' he said. ''But if we think we're going to be able to get something, we'll go after it.''

Mrs. Sutorius was convicted in June of aggravated murder for the Feb. 18 shooting death of Dr. Darryl Sutorius, whose body was found on a basement couch in their Symmes Township home. The house and most of its contents were sold as part of his estate.

Prosecutors said she shot her husband in the head to prevent him from filing for divorce. They say she rigged the crime scene to make it look like a suicide. She has maintained her husband was depressed and killed himself.