Anthony Nicodemo, Unwitting Getaway Driver?

By George Anastasia For Bigtrial.net

The gunman who shot and killed Gino DiPietro in December 2012 made his getaway in a black Honda Pilot owned and driven that day by South Philadelphia mob figure Anthony Nicodemo.

That fact was not in dispute as Nicodemo's murder and conspiracy trial opened this afternoon in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court. What came next was rather murky.

Using the same set of facts, Assistant District Attorney Brian Zarallo and defense attorney Brian McMonagle told the jury decidedly different stories about what went down in the 2800 block of Iseminger Street on the afternoon of December 12.

Zarallo, pointing to a .357 magnum that was found in Nicodemo's vehicle, said authorities had the "smoking gun" that tied the hulking, 42-year-old mob soldier to the murder. He also said that a witness, who testified before the trial wrapped up this afternoon, got the license tag of the black Honda Pilot as it drove away and that within minutes police were knocking on Nicodemo's door in the 3800 block of South 17th Street, a five-minute ride from the murder scene.

But McMonagle, in an impassioned opening statement, said his client was not involved in the shooting. He just happened to be parked near the murder scene when an unknown gunman jumped in his car and forced him to drive away.

Law enforcement sources who have been following the case shook their heads and rolled their eyes. Nicodemo, they pointed out, has been held without bail since his arrest on the day of the shooting. Yet this is the first time he has offered any explanation of what went down. If, in fact, he was the victim of what amounted to a carjacking, they said, then he could have offered that explanation when they came knocking on his door minutes after DiPietro was killed.

The trial, before Judge Jeffrey Minehart, is scheduled to resume tomorrow morning. Nicodemo faces 30 years to life if convicted of the first degree murder charge. He is also facing conspiracy and weapons charges.

Zarallo told the jury that Nicodemo was involved in a "conspiracy to assassinate" DiPietro, a one-time South Philadelphia drug dealer. He said the gun and the car tied him to the murder plot and said he was just as guilty as the shooter. He also said authorities, when searching Nicodemo's home, found a pre-paid phone -- a "burn phone," Zarallo said -- and traced four calls made between the time the shooting occurred and the police arrived at Nicodemo's home. All four calls were made to another burn phone, he said.

Zarallo also said a "close associate" of Nicodemo, Domenic Grande, fit the description of the hitman who, two witnesses said, was dressed in a black hoody and was wearing a mask and gloves as he fled the scene. The shooter was described as short and stocky.

James Moone, a mailman who was working his route in the neighborhood, testified that he heard six shots and ran to find DiPietro lying next to a pickup truck.

"His eyes were open and he was trying to breathe," said Moone, who testified that he knew DiPietro from working in the neighborhood. Moone said he heard the first shot as he was at his mail truck a half-block away near the corner of Johnson and Iseminger Streets. He said as he ran toward the scene in heard another shot and then saw a man in a black hoody standing over DiPietro's body while he fired four more shots into the victim.

The jury also saw snippets from a surveillance camera that captured Moone at his truck and running toward the murder scene. The video included the sounds of six shots being fired. The audio brought tears to the eyes of several members of DiPietro's family who were part of the packed eleventh floor courtroom.

Lewis Houck, a second witness, testified that he was walking near Camac Street when the suspected shooter ran past him. He said he watched as the shooter jumped into a Honda Pilot that was parked in an alley that ran parallel to Johnson Street.

Houck, who got the license tag of the vehicle and turned it over to police, said it appeared to him the engine was already running and the vehicle pulled away as the shooter jumped in and slammed the door behind him.

The prosecutor said the motive for the murder remains unknown, but cautioned that the District Attorney's Office is not required to offer a motive. At the time of the shooting, several sources said DiPietro was suspected of cooperating with authorities in ongoing narcotics investigation.

In his opening statement, McMonagle told the jury that Nicodemo "had no idea his life would be destroyed" when he woke up on the morning of Dec. 12, 2012. He said Nicodemo drove his two young children to school that morning, did some food shopping and then, that afternoon, drove over to the neighborhood around Iseminger Street, a neighborhood where his parents lived, where he had grown up and where he maintained a business office.

McMonagle described the events following the shooting of DiPietro as "chaos" and said his client had "no idea" what was going on. The defense lawyer implied that Nicodemo was forced at gunpoint to drive away and that, a short time later, the shooter jumped out of the Honda Pilot, but not before hiding the murder weapon in a seat pocket behind the driver's seat of the vehicle.

That's where police found the gun.

McMonagle said Nicodemo had no motive to kill DiPietro and asked the jury who would commit a murder in his own neighborhood while driving his own car.

"If this was planned," McMonagle said, "never in a million years would he drive his own car to a neighborhood that he goes to every day."

At the time of Nicodemo's arrest, law enforcement sources described the shooting as perhaps "the dumbest hit" in the history of the Philadelphia mob, citing the same facts and raising the same questions that McMonagle posed to the jury.

Nicodemo, who has been identified by New Jersey authorities as a suspect in the 2003 murder of mobster John "Johnny Gongs" Casasanto, showed little emotion during today's proceedings. Dressed in a white shirt and tie, he occasionally whispered in McMonagle's ear and during breaks he waved and nodded to friends and family members who helped pack the courtroom.

Law enforcement sources have indicated that Nicodemo could work a deal by giving up what he knows about the Casasanto murder and other acts of violence that authorities believe are linked to mob boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi and his top associates.

The Casasanto shooting is one of three unsolved murders that occurred during Ligambi's reign. Ligambi and six associates were on trial for racketeering at the time the DiPietro murder occurred. Ligambi and two of those defendants beat the charges.

One underworld source predicted that Nicodemo would take his chances by going to trial for the DiPietro slaying, but would cut a deal if he were convicted.

"If he blows trial, he'll start talking," the source said.

History would suggest that that might not be the best strategy. The last mobster to cut a deal after being convicted of first degree murder was Willard Moran who was convicted of the murder of union boss John McCullough in 1980. Moran is still in jail.

George Anastasia can be contacted at George@bigtrial.net.

Read more at http://www.bigtrial.net/2014/05/anthony-nicodemo-unwitting-getaway.html#more

"And then the gunman said... Take me to your house!"

HAHAHAHHAHAH.....

Ah, ya kill me.



Goodnight Nicodemo.

Haha agreed it's laughable... But as a juror, there is no proof at all that he pulled the trigger or that he wasn't being held at gunpoint. He said, she said.. I don't believe it for a second and I am not a supporter of Nicodemos but, as much as you laugh off his side of the story, there is no proof that it didn't happen.. Just saying... I would've loved to have been selected for that jury pool!

Dangerous precedent est by the judge awarding Joseph Massino 10years for 7 murders after flipping post conviction.

Now every wiseguy no matter the chances will throw the dice at trial before rolling.



Incorrect. Joseph Massino.

You beat me to it, Sonny. But only because I was eating my dinner .

Massino gave us the blueprint for the 21st Century rat. Take your chances at trial, and if you're valuable enough you can flip after the fact.

But it won't be every wiseguy, Sonny. Only the guys who can really trade up. And something tells me that if Nicodemo can give them an ancient Merlino murder, they'll play ball with him.

Im sure with the chip on their shoulder with the recent mistrial, the feds would be more than happy to settle for murder that nails ligambi.

I mean lets face it in a murder trial how many jurors have actually with their own eyes seen someone kill somebody.It's easy to say anything could have happened because again the jury obviously wasn't there,so you have to go on evidence,motives,whatever else you can find.Again there is nobody to prove the defense's theory as a car-jacking but if the jury thinks a tough guy like Nicodemo just happens to be in the vicinity of a hit and at random the shooter is going to jump in his car is beyond far-fetched.Not saying he's guilty or innocent but that defense makes you wonder.

Good to see you posting, 22.

You're the most objective Philly native here. Some of those guys are cuckoo .

Oh yeah, Delly. If he can give them any of the guys who stick in their craw, they'll be happy to deal.

And don't go nuts on me if you're a Philly guy. I'm the first to admit that I don't follow that family very closely. But it's also possible that they'll try to get Nicodemo to give up Canalichio if he knows something about an old murder, and in turn, try to flip Canalichio on Ligambi or Merlino.

I'm not saying that it'll work. But I know how the Feds think. And shit rolls downhill, not up.

Thats not too far fetched that dom grande was the shooter. I heard him and nicodemo do a lot of business together. I know they own a bunch of properties together. They are very close friends

Quote for truth there PB.

Does Joey Merlino's CREW or ne one else in da Philly Fam hav ne thing to worry about if Nicodemo flips?

such a shame to see so much chaos amongst people in their own community... would have been nice to have separated them all from the beginning...

Thanks there Pizzaboy that's nice to hear.

Yeah nicodemo goes far back enough that he was around when Merlino was boss so he might know a few things from that era but he definately knows about what happened under Ligambi

I don't know, whenever they start talking deals it seems like everything falls through.Say Nicodemo did flip,I doubt it but say he did.Now I would venture that he would be a way better witness than Monacello or Aponte but then Uncle Joe's lawyer comes in and starts ripping everything apart.It just doesn't seem like juries like the rats and I could see that going nowhere.I mean Nicodemo isn't a big catch like Ligambi but maybe they should just try to get a conviction on him and leave it at that.I know the feds don't think like that but they sure as heck have been getting burned lately.

Wow Thanks For Sharing Bobby..I think I'm starting to put the pieces of the puzzle together now. Aren't you and mikeyvegas "real good" friends.

MikeyO, why dont you go troll on a different forum? Everybody here knows your a troll

wow, this dude is done...terrible defense...i guess what else do u say though?

killed a guy in his own car and drove home afterwards with the gun

brilliant

haha Nicodemo has no chance.

Sounds like young Dom Grande could have been the shooter, has he even been questioned about the murder?

Wonder if any of the states witnesses will go on extended vacations or get amnesia when they are called to testify

GA article already said the 2 witnesses testified to what they know. And the one guy said the car was running and sped away when the shooter jumped in. Seems planned.

Can the defense establish reasonable doubt? All depends how fed up with the Mob actions the jury is. If they are tired of these guys, Nicodemo gets convicted. Regardless of Nicodemos story, no matter how outlandish it is, no one YET can physically place HIM at the murder scene. He shoulda/coulda said the car was stolen. He shoulda/Coulda parked the car after the fact and walked to the corner pizza shop. Then come home and be like "what the hell?!?"

I agree, it don't look good at all for the guy. But, people get away with this kind of shit alot. He's got a 40% chance of beating it. The odds go way down IF someone can establish a solid motive. They don't have that.

But, guys got a young family, a stash of cash, and a lot of life left in him. He gets convicted, he may flip.

this case is flying by

I think the only thing stupider than the crime is the defense. My good lord, really? Why didn't they toss the gun?

Billy Angelesco killed Peter DeVito in a strip club up here in Boston in front of a hundred patrons while wearing a wig. He got off by ditching the gun and there was disagreement as to what color hair he had. But your own car? Game over.

Except that the defense admitted he was at the murder scene. And of course you have the murder weapon found in his car.

Nope. Semantics friend. I am no lawyer, but they never said he was at the murder scene. They said he was in the same neighborhood where the murder was committed.

The same neighborhood his parents live, where he has a business. Establishes that he had a reason, other than murder, to be in that section of the neighborhood.

This is the point they are setting up to argue with. He was in the neighborhood on family/personal/professional business and he got carjacked.

Again, Outlandish. But, no one places Nicodemo at the murder. He's not the shooter, but an innocent citizen who got roped in.

You get a couple jurors with contempt for the law, or who know how the city works, they may believe it. He passed the powder tests and his prints weren't on the gun. It's in the passenger seat.

And the phone calls: "Dude, I just got carjacked. WTF??"

It is almost completely Unbelievable. But, someone on that jury may like him.

I think he gets convicted and then rats. That strategy will probably work for him as he was close with Merlino is his early years. He knows a lot of info. He could take down a lot of people from Merlino to Ligambi to other shooters. If he rats, that might be the end of Philly unlesss the Scarfo guys pull something together somehow.

I don't see it any other way. He has the dumbest defense in mob hit history and didn't try to plea or anything. He has a young family and I don't think he will do Life for this fading mob family.

Narducci is probably loving this lol.

it still makes no sense what he did...what do u guys think? they just happened to see Dipietro and decided fuck it lets kill him?