Jack Palladino, Private Investigator To The Stars, Dies 76 After Being Attacked Outside Home

Private investigator to the stars Jack Palladino died Monday at the age of 76.

Robbers tried to grab Palladino’s camera outside his San Francisco home when he held on tight the camera and fell hitting his head. The attackers fled but police were able to track the two suspects down after Palladino took pictures of them. They were charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Palladino died from a brain injury.

“He would have loved knowing that,” said Sandra Sutherland, wife to Palladino about his photos catching the culprits. While her husband laid unconscious in the hospital, she told him,”Guess what, Jack, they got the bastards and it was all your doing.”

Throughout his 40 year career, Palladino had many famous clients, including presidents. Palladino was hired in 1992 by Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign team to quiet women coming forward with claims of having sexual relationships with the the future president.

Palladino was also worked for the family of a 14-year-old boy that accused Micheal Jackson of molesting him. The boy’s family won a multimillion dollar settlement while Jackson was never charged with the crime.

Palladino’s most prominent clients were Jeffery Wigand, a former tobacco company executive and whistleblower, and John DeLorean, a former automotive executive.

In the Wigand case, Palladino found that Big Tobacco wanted to silence the former Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corp. executive for revealing to the public that tobacco products were spiked with added chemicals to make them more addictive. Palladino went on to play himself in the 1999 film, The Insider, about the case.

In the DeLorean case, Palladino found that the former General Motors executive was set up by authorities for claims of trafficking millions of dollars of cocaine. DeLorean was acquitted of all crimes.

Palladino retired a year ago to travel and pursue photography with his wife but would still take the occasional case.