Behind Bars: 'Springer Show' Suspects

By Stephen M. Silverman

08/18/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

Husband and wife Ralf and Eleanor Panitz, who surfaced on "The Jerry Springer Show" last Monday, are behind bars today in connection with the suspected murder of Ralf's ex-wife, Nancy Campbell-Panitz, who was killed only hours after the show with the three people aired. Ralf, 40, had reportedly disappeared after Nancy, 52, was beaten to death in her Sarasota, Fla., home last Monday. (The show on which the three appeared had been taped in May.) According to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Ralf was ordered held without bail on a murder charge, while Eleanor, 35, is in custody as a material witness. Their attorney told the paper that they decided to surrender after they had learned that they were the suspects in the case. According to USA Today, lawyer Geoffrey Fieger, who won a $25 million award for the family of a slain "Jenny Jones Show" guest last year, is representing the family of Campbell-Panitz.