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Mob Cop Trial Gets Off to Loud Start
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 14, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 14, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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The first day of the trial of retired NYPD detectives turned possible mob hit men was full of screaming as the prosecution presented its first witnesses and the defense went to town. The one witness in the case against Louis Eppolito and Steven Caracappa, who the feds say would kill people for the mob at $65,000 a pop (plus they got a $4,000 monthly retainer), was the mother of a Brooklyn's Nicholas Guido who was killed in his driveway in a case of mistaken identity - Eppolito and Caracappa gave Luchese family hit men the wrong address for a hit on Christmas Day, and the Post used the photograph for its cover. Eppolito's lawyer, Bruce Cutler, went after a former mobster turned government witnesses, and criticized them, saying, "They called each other tough guys, goodfellas - until the jail door shut. Then they wet their pants and called Mommy - the government."
That is so insane and brilliant - now we see why John Gotti picked him to as his lawyer, because if there's any way to a jury's heart, it's to make them respect the mob. The Daily News called the trial "the Bruce Cutler show," which sounds about right, as he did seem very interested in having a guest role on Law & Order when we saw him a couple years ago at a Times Talk about L&O. And the trial is also honey to Hollywood bees, as the themes of cops, the mob, double-crossing and murder have movie written all over it.
Eppolito and Caracapra are out on $5 million bail each. They are wearing house arrest ankle bracelets.
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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