Here's the latest update on the trial of the two Mafia Cops.
Witness: "Mafia Cops" laughed about murder By Anthony M. DeStefano
NEWSDAY STAFF WRITER
Posted March 16 2006
Just before he was murdered, James Hydell begged his killers to dump his body on the street so his mother could get money on his life insurance policy, the key witness in the "Mafia Cops" trial said Wednesday.
In the second day of his dramatic testimony in Brooklyn federal court, witness Burton Kaplan, tied the defendants, Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, to 12 gangland hits and murder plots.
Kaplan, a longtime associate of the Luchese crime family, choked up twice as he told of Hydell's final plea. Hydell was kidnapped after Eppolito and Caracappa tracked him down, Kaplan testified, after a request by former acting Luchese boss Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso.
" 'I know you are going to kill me, Anthony,'" Hydell said, according to Kaplan. " 'I want you to promise me one thing, that you throw my body in the street so my mother can get the insurance policy.' "
Casso promised to grant Hydell that request, but hid the body, Kaplan said. Hydell was killed because his name was on a list provided by Eppolito of people suspected of taking part in an aborted attempt to murder Casso, Kaplan testified.
Hydell is one of the eight gangland homicide victims allegedly tied to Eppolito and Caracappa in the racketeering case. Prosecutors contend the two men worked as hitmen for the Luchese family and provided sensitive law enforcement information to the mob in exchange for thousands of dollars. The court is allowing evidence of uncharged homicides allegedly involving them to be presented to the jury.
During a full day of testimony under questioning by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Henoch, Kaplan, who is currently serving 27 years for a drug charge, said he regularly requested information from Eppolito and Caracappa, to pass on to Casso.
But in one twist, Kaplan seemed to help the defense on one of the murder allegations. Prosecutors have charged that an innocent man named Nicholas Guido was killed in a case of mistaken identity based on information provided by the defendants.
However, Kaplan testified that while Casso learned through Eppolito that a man named "Nicholas Guido" was involved in the attempt on Casso's life, Casso got the wrong victim's identity through a contact at a utility company. Casso was angered when Eppolito asked for a $4,000 payment for that information, Kaplan said.
During a break outside the courtroom, Eppolito angrily told Newsday such testimony showed he wasn't involved in Guido's death and railed against the use by newspapers of crime scene photos of the dead man in his car on a Brooklyn street.
Kaplan said he initially used Eppolito's cousin, Frank Santoro Jr., as an intermediary between Eppolito and Caracappa. But after Santoro died in 1987, he dealt with the two detectives directly.
He also said he and the two detectives laughed as they talked about the contract murder of a Manhattan jewelry merchant who was killed because Kaplan feared he might turn informant.
The victim, Israel Greenwald, had been part of a plan to fence a stolen U.S. Treasury bill, said Kaplan. Greenwald was kidnapped by Santoro, Eppolito and Caracappa and shot dead by Santoro, said Kaplan, for $30,000. Kaplan explained that while he paid Santoro $30,000 for the hit, Eppolito and Caracappa only got $25,000.
"We all laughed at that," said Kaplan, explaining that he and the cops figured during a meeting at a Staten Island cemetery that Santoro secretly pocketed the extra $5,000.
Trial testimony continues Thursday before Judge Jack Weinstein.
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Don Cardi
