At Galati trial, a tangled tale of heartbreak and retaliation
Ronald Galati, 64,a convicted fraudster who ran a South Philly auto-body shop, wanted his daughter´s boyfriend dead, according to federal prosecutors in New Jersey.
Ronald Galati, 64,a convicted fraudster who ran a South Philly auto-body shop, wanted his daughter's boyfriend dead, according to federal prosecutors in New Jersey.
JULIA TERRUSO, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
POSTED: Tuesday, September 23, 2014, 11:49 AM
A year before Tiffany Galati's boyfriend was shot and wounded at her side in a hit prosecutors say was orchestrated by her father, she texted one of the alleged hit men to hurt a previous boyfriend.
"I need you to do something," Tiffany Galati texted Jerome Johnson in a 4 a.m. text message in 2012. "Anything," Johnson replied.
Johnson, 45, a longtime friend of Ronald Galati, reluctantly testified in Ronald Galati's murder-for-hire trial, mumbling yes and no answers with lengthy pauses in between attorney questions and his answers.
"Please do me that favor please. . . . I'll pay whatever, I don't care. Gotta be done," Tiffany Galati said in another text message. "Just make sure my kid ain't around him when it happens, please that would be traumatizing."
Johnson was the third of three hit men to take the stand and testify that in November 2013, Ronald Galati offered to pay each $20,000 to kill Andrew Tuono, Tiffany Galati's boyfriend at the time.
Testimony on Tuesday provided a glimpse into the Galati family's drama and revealed Johnson was not a random hired hit man but a close friend to both Ronald and Tiffany. Johnson asked Ronald Galati to be godfather to his daughter and was a confidant to Tiffany Galati during relationship problems.
Johnson pleaded guilty to orchestrating the attack on Tuono at the behest of Ronald Galati. He admitted to dropping off Ronald Walker and Alvin Williams in Atlantic City the night of Nov. 30, 2013, who then shot Tuono three times. Tuono survived.
Tiffany Galati, 33, described by Williams as "gorgeous" and "a beauty you don't forget," was in the middle of a custody dispute with her former boyfriend, Jeffrey Capuano, and the father of her son when she started dating Tuono, according to testimony.
In November 2012 she texted Johnson and in the early morning two-hour-long conversation said her ex-boyfriend's father had intimidated her at the auto shop, and claimed that her ex was heavily involved in the drug trade and refused to take their son to the doctor. She said she wanted full custody and was filing a restraining order against her ex's father. She said Tuono had left her because of the drama.
"I never felt like this before, I been dating since I was 15. I know he's the one," Tiffany Galati said of Tuono in a text. "He just hurt me so badly by walking away."
Defense attorney Anthony Voci read the text messages for Johnson who dismissed the subtext in the message and said he "never hurt anybody." Johnson said Tiffany had "maybe" asked him to beat the ex up.
On direct examination, Johnson said Galati didn't like Tuono dating his daughter and didn't like the couple living in Atlantic City. According to Johnson, Galati called Tuono "funny looking," and said he wanted to "poke his eyes out." He said Tuono was involved in selling and taking pills.
Johnson said it was Ronald Galati who wanted Tuono dead and who asked him to orchestrate the attempted murder.
The trial continues this afternoon.
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