Mafia's Greatest Hits (2012–…): Season 2, Episode 5 - Mob Cops - full transcript
In the 1980's and 90's the mafia controls the New York criminal underworld. But by the early 200's evidence surfaces that the mob has gone much further and has people inside the NYPD. Now a...
Narrator:
DURING THE '80s AND '90s,
THE MAFIA CONTROLLED
NEW YORK'S CRIMINAL UNDERWORLD.
IT'S WELL-KNOWN THAT THE MAFIA
PAY OFF NEW YORK COPS
TO TURN A BLIND EYE
TO THEIR RUTHLESS CRIMES.
BUT BY THE EARLY 2000s,
A SERIES OF KILLINGS REVEAL
THAT THE MAFIA HAS GONE
MUCH, MUCH FURTHER.
TWO COPS WHO WERE HIT MEN FOR
THE MOB, I MEAN, IT'S JUST...
IT WAS NOT LIKE ANYTHING
THAT WE HAD EVER SEEN BEFORE.
Narrator:
THE BODY OF A BUSINESSMAN TIED
TO THE LUCCHESE CRIME FAMILY
DUMPED IN A MAKESHIFT GRAVE.
THE BRUTAL MURDER OF AN INNOCENT
YOUNG MAN ON CHRISTMAS DAY.
THE SLAYING OF A GAMBINO HIT MAN
AND CLOSE ASSOCIATE
TO THE INFAMOUS JOHN GOTTI.
THE MURDERS LEAD A TEAM
OF DEDICATED DETECTIVES
INTO A GAME OF CAT-AND-MOUSE...
...WITH TWO OF THEIR OWN --
AND WITH THEM, THE MOB.
THIS WAS THE BIGGEST
CORRUPTION CASE
IN THE HISTORY OF THE
NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT.
*
CAPTIONS PAID FOR BY
DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS
*
*
[ SIRENS WAILING ]
Narrator: NEW YORK.
COPS DISCOVER
THE BODY OF EDDIE LINO,
A CAPTAIN IN THE GAMBINO
CRIME FAMILY.
LINO WAS WELL-KNOWN TO
THE POLICE AS A MOB HIT MAN.
LINO HAD RECENTLY BEEN CONNECTED
TO THE KILLING
OF PAUL CASTELLANO,
AN ASSASSINATION THAT CLEARED
THE WAY FOR JOHN GOTTI
TO BECOME HEAD OF
THE GAMBINO FAMILY.
*
POLICE GO DOOR-TO-DOOR
AND FIND A WITNESS.
ALTHOUGH TOO FAR AWAY
TO IDENTIFY THE KILLERS,
SHE SAW ENOUGH TO ALLOW POLICE
TO PIECE TOGETHER WHAT HAPPENED.
[ SIREN WAILING ]
IT WAS A WITNESS WHO REPORTED
THAT THEY HAD SEEN
WHAT APPEARED TO BE
A POLICE LIGHT
AND WHAT LOOKED LIKE
A ROUTINE POLICE STOP.
Narrator: THE KILLING BORE ALL
THE HALLMARKS OF A MAFIA HIT.
THE TWO SHOOTERS
POSING AS POLICE --
IT'S A TACTIC THAT'S BEEN
USED MANY TIMES BEFORE.
*
THERE WERE MANY REPORTED EVENTS
OF POLICE IMPERSONATION,
AND IT WASN'T OUTSIDE THE REALM
OF WHAT ORGANIZED CRIME
MEMBERS WERE CAPABLE OF,
AND THAT IS TO, YOU KNOW,
BRANDISH SHIELDS,
TO GET A CAR THAT LOOKED
LIKE A POLICE CAR,
TO USE FLASHING LIGHTS.
*
Narrator: POSING AS COPS
TO KILL INFORMANTS
HAS BECOME AN
UNEXPECTED DOWNSIDE
OF THE SUCCESS
OF THE RICO LAW.
[ GUNSHOT ]
THE RACKETEER INFLUENCED
AND CORRUPT ORGANIZATIONS ACT,
OR RICO, MEANT THAT
ONCE-IMMUNE MOB BOSSES
CAN NOW BE INDICTED FOR CRIMES
CARRIED OUT IN THEIR NAME.
[ SIREN WAILING ]
FACING 20-YEAR SENTENCES
FOR RACKETEERING,
THE NUMBER OF MAFIOSI
BREAKING THE CODE OF SILENCE
AND TALKING TO THE POLICE
HAS RISEN DRASTICALLY.
*
IT LOOKED LIKE LINO
HAD BEEN SILENCED,
AND WITH THE EYEWITNESS
INFORMATION INCONCLUSIVE,
THE CASE WAS DROPPED.
WITHOUT NEW INFORMATION,
THERE WAS REALLY NOTHING
FOR THE LAW-ENFORCEMENT
AUTHORITIES INVESTIGATING
TO PURSUE.
Narrator: BUT IT'S NOT ONLY
THE SUCCESS OF THE RICO ACT
THAT IS BEING
FATALLY UNDERMINED.
THE NYPD HAVE AN UNEASY FEELING
THAT SOMEONE IS FEEDING
THE NAMES OF WITNESSES TO THE
MOB BEFORE THEY CAN TESTIFY.
DURING MY YEARS, I'VE NEVER
LOST AN INFORMANT,
BUT I KNOW THAT PEOPLE HAVE.
[ SIRENS WAILING ]
Narrator:
SUSPICIONS GROW THAT THERE'S
A MOLE WITHIN THE NYPD.
BUT WHO IS IT?
WITH 10,000 POLICE
IN THE DEPARTMENT,
IDENTIFYING A BAD APPLE
WON'T BE EASY.
WHEN THE POLICE RAID THE HOME
OF MOBSTER ROSARIO GAMBINO,
THEY MAKE A BREAKTHROUGH.
ROSARIO WAS A HEROIN TRAFFICKER
FOR THE NOTORIOUS
GAMBINO GODFATHER, JOHN GOTTI.
*
ROSARIO GAMBINO WAS A MADE MAN
INSIDE THE GAMBINO CRIME FAMILY.
HE HAD REAL POWER
WITHIN THAT FAMILY.
HE WAS A MAN OF RESPECT,
AS THEY LIKED TO CALL HIM.
Narrator: HIDDEN IN HIS HOUSE
ARE POLICE DOCUMENTS --
COPIES OF
CLASSIFIED NYPD REPORTS
CONTAINING INTELLIGENCE
ON THE GAMBINO FAMILY.
THE INFORMATION COULD ONLY
HAVE BEEN FED TO HIM
BY SOMEONE WITHIN THE FORCE.
[ GRUNTS ]
*
WHEN THE DOCUMENTS
ARE DUSTED FOR FINGERPRINTS,
POLICE SUSPECT THE WORST.
Vecchione:
WHEN THEY WERE PROCESSED
FOR FINGERPRINTS,
THE FINGERPRINT
OF LOUIS EPPOLITO
WAS FOUND ON ONE
OF THE DOCUMENTS.
Narrator:
LOUIS EPPOLITO HAS ALWAYS WORKED
UNDER A CLOUD OF SUSPICION
BECAUSE HIS FAMILY HAS TIES
TO THE GAMBINO FAMILY.
ALTHOUGH HE HAS A REPUTATION
FOR BEING A HARD COP
WHO GETS RESULTS,
HIS GRANDFATHER WAS
A FRIEND OF LUCKY LUCIANO,
AND HIS FATHER
WAS A MADE MAN.
IT WAS NOT SHOCKING TO SOME
PEOPLE IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT
THAT LOUIS EPPOLITO'S
FINGERPRINTS
WERE FOUND ON THAT DOCUMENT
BECAUSE THERE WAS ALWAYS
THE SUSPICION THAT HE HAD,
YOU KNOW, THESE MOB CONNECTIONS.
[ TELEPHONE RINGS ]
Narrator:
EPPOLITO PROTESTS HIS INNOCENCE,
BUT NO ONE IS READY TO LISTEN.
THE DETECTIVE IS SUSPENDED
PENDING THE OUTCOME
OF AN INTERNAL INVESTIGATION.
WHEN EPPOLITO IS GIVEN
A STRAIGHTFORWARD CHOICE
BETWEEN RETIRING ON FULL PENSION
OR FACING A TRIAL,
HE SURPRISES EVERYONE.
HE WANTS TO GO TO TRIAL TO CLEAR
HIS NAME IN FRONT OF A JUDGE.
IN APRIL 1985, HE GOES TO TRIAL,
DETERMINED TO STOP THE RUMORS.
HE WAS VERY, VERY ANGRY
WITH THE POLICE DEPARTMENT
FOR BRINGING
THE ROSARIO-GAMBINO CASE
BECAUSE IN HIS MIND, IT PROVED
THAT THEY NEVER TRUSTED HIM.
Narrator: THE CASE RESTS
ON THE FINGERPRINTS.
THE POLICE CLAIM THAT
THEY CAN PROVE
THAT EPPOLITO HANDED
THE DOCUMENTS TO THE MOB.
BUT EPPOLITO PUTS FORWARD
A SIMPLE DEFENSE.
EPPOLITO WAS ABLE TO
MAKE AN ARGUMENT
THAT HE HAD LOOKED
AT THESE DOCUMENTS
FOR A CASE HE WAS WORKING ON
AND THEN PUT THEM BACK.
THERE WAS NO WAY
OF DISPROVING THAT.
THE EVIDENCE WAS INSUFFICIENT,
AND HE WAS ULTIMATELY
CLEARED OF THOSE CHARGES
AND RESTORED TO FULL DUTY.
*
Narrator:
EPPOLITO IS VINDICATED,
BUT DESPITE BEING CLEARED,
THE WHISPERS CONTINUE
TO HAUNT HIM.
*
THERE WERE FACTIONS
WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT
AND WITHIN
THE LAW ENFORCEMENT COMMUNITY
THAT FELT THAT HE MIGHT
HAVE DODGED A BULLET.
*
Narrator:
FOR 10 YEARS, EPPOLITO LIVES
UNDER A CLOUD OF SUSPICION.
WHEN HE EVENTUALLY RETIRES TO
A GATED COMMUNITY IN LAS VEGAS,
HE'S STILL ANGRY
ABOUT HIS TREATMENT
AT THE HANDS OF FELLOW COPS.
HE DECIDES IT'S TIME TO SHARE
HIS STORY WITH THE WORLD
AND WRITE A BOOK ABOUT BEING A
DETECTIVE WITH MOB CONNECTIONS.
HE GIVES THE BOOK
THE IRONIC TITLE "MAFIA COP".
THE BOOK IS A HIT,
AND EPPOLITO GETS INVITED
ON THE TALK SHOW CIRCUIT.
IF EPPOLITO HOPED TO
EXORCISE HIS DEMONS,
ONE TELEVISION APPEARANCE WILL
BRING THEM BACK TO HAUNT HIM.
IN STATEN ISLAND, A WOMAN
CALLED BETTY HYDELL
SITS DOWN TO WATCH DAYTIME TV.
WHEN SHE SEES EPPOLITO,
IT HITS HER LIKE A SLEDGEHAMMER.
SHE RECOGNIZED HIM IMMEDIATELY.
Narrator:
10 YEARS EARLIER, HYDELL'S SON
JIMMY HAD DISAPPEARED.
SHE VIVIDLY REMEMBERS THAT
ON THE DAY HE VANISHED,
TWO MEN CLAIMING TO BE COPS
CAME LOOKING FOR JIMMY.
SHE REMEMBERS SO CLEARLY
BECAUSE THEY ROUGHED UP
HER YOUNGER SON.
THERE WAS SOMETHING ABOUT THOSE
TWO MEN THAT NEVER SAT RIGHT.
BETTY HAD ALWAYS BEEN CONVINCED
THAT THEY WERE INVOLVED
IN HER SON'S DISAPPEARANCE.
*
*
NOW, 10 YEARS LATER,
HYDELL BELIEVES SHE IS LOOKING
AT ONE OF THE MEN
ON THE TELEVISION.
*
HYDELL HEADS TO THE LOCAL STORE
IN SEARCH OF "MAFIA COP".
Ponzi:
SHE WENT OUT AND PURCHASED
THE BOOK, AND LO AND BEHOLD,
IN THE BOOK WAS A PHOTOGRAPH
OF STEVE CARACAPPA,
A VERY CLOSE ASSOCIATE
OF DETECTIVE EPPOLITO'S,
AND SHE REALIZED QUICKLY THAT
THAT WAS THE SECOND DETECTIVE
THAT SHE HAD SEEN OUTSIDE
THE HOUSE THAT DAY.
Narrator: CONVINCED
THAT EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA
WERE THE MEN
LOOKING FOR HER SON,
HYDELL GOES TO THE POLICE.
SHE IS INTERVIEWED
BY COLD-CASE SPECIALIST
DETECTIVE TOMMY DADES,
A DECORATED 20-YEAR
VETERAN OF THE NYPD.
*
DADES LISTENS CLOSELY
TO HYDELL'S STORY.
BETTY IMPARTED SOME
INFORMATION TO TOMMY
THAT SHE HAD NEVER TOLD ANYONE
IN LAW ENFORCEMENT BEFORE,
AND THAT WAS, ON THE DAY
THAT HER SON JIMMY DISAPPEARED,
LOU EPPOLITO AND STEVE CARACAPPA
WERE OUTSIDE HER HOUSE
LOOKING FOR HER SON JIMMY.
Narrator:
DADES HAS TO BE CAUTIOUS.
HYDELL IS ACCUSING
TWO RETIRED COPS
OF INVOLVEMENT
IN A SUSPECTED HOMICIDE.
BUT DADES IS IMPRESSED WITH
THE CLARITY OF BETTY'S MEMORY
AND HER CONVICTION
THAT EPPOLITO WAS INVOLVED.
SOMETHING IN HIS GUT
TELLS THE DETECTIVE
THAT HYDELL IS
TELLING THE TRUTH.
HIS INVESTIGATION
WILL LEAD HIM TO UNCOVER
THE MOST SHOCKING
ABUSE OF THE BADGE
IN THE HISTORY OF THE NYPD.
*
Narrator:
IN 2003, NEW YORK COLD-CASE
DETECTIVE TOMMY DADES
SUSPECTS THAT 10 YEARS EARLIER,
RETIRED NYPD COP LOU EPPOLITO
AND HIS ASSOCIATE
STEPHEN CARACAPPA
WERE INVOLVED IN
THE DISAPPEARANCE
OF WANNABE MOBSTER JIMMY HYDELL.
EPPOLITO HAD FAMILY TIES
TO THE GAMBINO CRIME FAMILY,
AND AT THE TIME,
HE WAS UNDER SUSPICION
FOR FEEDING INFORMATION
TO THE MAFIA.
DADES TAKES HIS CONCERNS
TO THE HEAD OF THE BROOKLYN
RACKETS DIVISION,
ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY
MIKE VECCHIONE.
*
VECCHIONE LISTENS CAREFULLY
AS DADES OUTLINES THE STORY
HE GOT FROM BETTY HYDELL.
HE CAME TO ME ONE MORNING,
AS HE DID MANY TIMES BEFORE,
AND SAID, "I THINK I GOT
SOMETHING ON EPPOLITO.
ARE YOU INTERESTED?"
I SAID, "YEAH, TELL ME ABOUT IT.
WHAT DO YOU HAVE?"
AND HE TOLD ME
ABOUT BETTY HYDELL,
THAT SHE CALLED HIM AND SAID,
"YOU KNOW, THERE'S SOMETHING
THAT I MEANT TO TELL YOU,"
AND SHE RELATED TO HIM
THE INCIDENT
INVOLVING EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA
ON THE DAY THAT
JIMMY HYDELL DISAPPEARS.
SO WE SAID, "I THINK
THAT THAT'S ENOUGH".
HE SAID, "DO YOU THINK
IT'S ENOUGH TO OPEN UP
AN INVESTIGATION INTO, YOU KNOW,
JIMMY HYDELL'S DEATH?"
AND I SAID, "YEAH, I DO,"
AND THAT'S HOW WE STARTED
THE INVESTIGATION.
Narrator:
MAYBE SOMETHING WAS MISSED
IN THE INITIAL INVESTIGATION
INTO HYDELL'S DISAPPEARANCE,
SO DADES ORDERS THE OLD NYPD
AND FBI CASE FILES.
THE INITIAL HOPE WAS TO SOLVE
THE MURDER OF JIMMY HYDELL.
Narrator:
BUT GIVEN JIMMY HYDELL'S
CONNECTIONS TO THE MAFIA,
THE INVESTIGATION
QUICKLY BROADENS
TO INCLUDE OTHER CASES
THAT INVOLVE THE MOB.
Vecchione:
TOMMY FOUND OUT THAT THERE
WERE BOXES AND BOXES OF MATERIAL
THAT WERE KEPT THERE AS PART
OF ALL OF THE INVESTIGATIONS
THAT WERE GOING ON INTO THE MOB
AROUND THAT TIME FRAME,
10 YEARS BEFORE,
SO WE WERE ABLE TO GET
PERMISSION FROM THE HEAD
OF THE ORGANIZED CRIME SECTION
OF THE U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
TO FIND THE ONES THAT
HE THOUGHT WOULD BE PERTINENT
TO AN INVESTIGATION
INTO CARACAPPA AND EPPOLITO.
AND HE DID -- HE FOUND,
I THINK IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN
ABOUT 10 BOXES'
WORTH OF MATERIALS.
Narrator:
JOE PONZI WAS AT THE HEART
OF VECCHIONE'S INVESTIGATION.
Ponzi: ONCE WE RECEIVED ALL
THE REPORTS AND DATA,
WE CREATED A WAR ROOM
IN THE BROOKLYN
DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE.
MY CURIOSITY WAS PIQUED.
I HAD MADE UP MY MIND THAT THIS
WAS GOING TO BE EXAMINED
AND, ONCE AGAIN, PUT TO REST
ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.
Narrator:
IN THE HUNT FOR EPPOLITO'S NAME,
THEY HAVE TO CAST THE NET WIDE.
*
THE SEARCH TAKES THEM
TO A CHARACTER
AT THE HEART
OF THE FBI CRACKDOWN
ON THE FIVE BIG CRIME FAMILIES
BACK IN THE 1980s.
THE RICO ACT HAD FORCED
MANY TOP MAFIOSI
TO BREAK THE VOW OF SILENCE
AND TURN INFORMER.
ONE OF THEM
WAS A BRUTAL UNDERBOSS
OF THE LUCCHESE CRIME FAMILY,
ANTHONY "GASPIPE" CASSO.
FACING THE REST OF
HIS LIFE IN PRISON,
CASSO OFFERED UP
EVERYTHING TO THE FEDS.
HE DECIDED TO BECOME
A GOVERNMENT WITNESS.
Narrator:
CASSO HELD NOTHING BACK,
AND NONE OF HIS FORMER
ASSOCIATES WAS SAFE.
THE WAY THAT THE GOVERNMENT
DEBRIEFS PEOPLE LIKE HIM IS,
THEY SIT HIM IN A ROOM FOR DAYS
AND THEY GO THROUGH
HIS ENTIRE HISTORY.
SO NOT ONLY IS HE GIVING UP
HIMSELF,
HE'S GIVING UP EVERYBODY ELSE
WHO HE HAS EVER
BEEN INVOLVED WITH.
Narrator: DADES AND PONZI ARE
INTRIGUED TO DISCOVER
THAT AMONG THE MANY NAMES
THAT CASSO GIVES UP
ARE THE NYPD COPS LOU EPPOLITO
AND STEPHEN CARACAPPA.
GIVEN EPPOLITO'S COURT VICTORY
AND HIS BLEEDING-HEART
BIOGRAPHY,
THE INVESTIGATORS
ARE STUNNED TO FIND
CASSO CONNECTING HIM
TO THE LUCCHESE UNDERBOSS.
Ponzi: I FOUND THAT
INCREDIBLY SHOCKING.
I STRUGGLED WITH THE IDEA
THAT THIS COULD BE TRUE.
Narrator: CASSO FIRST MENTIONS
THE TWO COPS IN CONNECTION
WITH THE ABDUCTION OF A MAN WHO
WAS HANDED OVER TO THE MAFIA.
CENTRAL TO THE STORY WAS A CLOSE
ASSOCIATE CALLED BURT KAPLAN.
KAPLAN TOLD CASSO THAT BACK IN
THE '80s, HE HAD A BIG PROBLEM.
IT WAS THE HEIGHT
OF THE INFORMANT EPIDEMIC.
AND KAPLAN BELIEVED HE WAS
GOING TO BE RATTED ON,
SO KAPLAN WANTED
THE RAT TO DISAPPEAR.
HE WAS GOING TO BE THE WITNESS
THAT PUT KAPLAN AWAY.
KAPLAN WANTED HIM GONE.
HE WANTED TO HAVE THAT PROBLEM
DISAPPEAR FROM THE EQUATION,
SO TO SPEAK.
Narrator:
AND KAPLAN HAD THE MEANS
TO MAKE IT HAPPEN.
WHILE HE WAS INSIDE
PENNSYLVANIA'S ALLENWOOD PRISON,
HE MET AN INMATE WITH A STORY
TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE.
THE INMATE KNEW
TWO CROOKED NYPD COPS
WHO COULD TRACK DOWN INFORMANTS.
AT THE TIME,
KAPLAN WAS CAUTIOUS.
AT FIRST BLUSH,
BURT WASN'T INTERESTED.
HE WAS DISTRUSTFUL OF COPS.
HE FELT THAT TWO COPS THAT
WERE WILLING TO GO TO THAT LEVEL
TO BETRAY THEIR OWN OATH
AND BADGES
PROBABLY COULDN'T BE TRUSTED.
*
Narrator:
BUT NOW HE HAD A RAT THREATENING
TO PUT HIM BEHIND BARS.
KAPLAN GOT BACK IN TOUCH
WITH HIS OLD PRISON BUDDY.
IN RELATIVELY SHORT ORDER, HE
SAID THEY'RE WILLING TO DO IT,
AND A $25,000 FEE
WAS AGREED UPON
FOR THE ABDUCTION AND MURDER OF
ISRAEL GREENWALD.
*
Narrator:
IN THE TRANSCRIPTS, CASSO STATES
THAT IN FEBRUARY 1986,
THE TWO COPS PULLED
THE RAT OVER.
THEY HAD TOLD HIM
THAT HE WAS THE SUBJECT
OF A HIT-AND-RUN INVESTIGATION,
THAT HE HAD TO ACCOMPANY
THEM BACK TO BROOKLYN
TO STAND IN A LINEUP.
GREENWALD COMPLIED,
GOT IN THE UNMARKED POLICE CAR.
Narrator: BUT THE COPS DIDN'T
DRIVE HIM TO THE STATION.
EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA DROVE
THE MAN TO A BROOKLYN GARAGE
AND HANDED HIM OVER TO THE MOB.
*
[ GROANS ]
*
THE MOBSTERS
SHOT THE MAN DEAD...
[ GUNSHOT ]
...AND FORCED THE GARAGE OWNER
TO DIG A GRAVE IN THE DIRT FLOOR
AND BURY THE BODY.
PONZI CAN BARELY BELIEVE
WHAT HE'S READING.
I WANTED TO STEP OUT OF THE ROOM
AND VOMIT IN A GARBAGE PAIL
WHEN HE STARTED TO GET INTO
THE DEPTH OF THE CONSPIRACY.
Narrator: BUT DADES
WAS TO DISCOVER FAR WORSE,
AS CASSO REVEALS THE REAL ROLE
THE TWO COPS PLAYED
IN THE DISAPPEARANCE
OF BETTY HYDELL'S SON JIMMY.
*
Narrator:
IN 2003, DETECTIVES FROM
THE D.A.'s OFFICE IN NEW YORK
ARE INVESTIGATING TWO
RETIRED NYPD DETECTIVES,
LOU EPPOLITO
AND STEPHEN CARACAPPA.
THE FBI TRANSCRIPTS
OF AN INTERVIEW
WITH FORMER LUCCHESE UNDERBOSS
GASPIPE CASSO
INCLUDE DISTURBING ALLEGATIONS
THAT THE NYPD COPS
WERE HIRED BY ANOTHER MOBSTER
TO ABDUCT A VICTIM
AND DELIVER HIM INTO THE HANDS
OF A MAFIA HIT SQUAD.
NOW CASSO REVEALS THAT HE HAD
HIRED THE COPS HIMSELF.
BURIED IN THE FILES,
CASSO'S CONFESSION REVEALS
THE FULL STORY
BEHIND THE DISAPPEARANCE
OF BETTY HYDELL'S SON JIMMY.
AND, ONCE AGAIN, THE NYPD COPS
APPEAR TO BE AT THE HEART OF IT.
THE STORY STARTS WITH A FAILED
ATTEMPT ON CASSO'S LIFE.
*
Ponzi:
CASSO HAD MADE AN APPOINTMENT
TO MEET AN ASSOCIATE OF HIS
FOR A DISCUSSION ABOUT
SOME STOLEN TREASURY BILLS,
BUT, IN FACT,
HE HAD BEEN SET UP.
WHILE HE WAS SITTING IN
HIS OWN CAR, SHOTS ERUPTED.
[ GLASS BREAKING ]
Narrator:
CASSO IS INJURED BUT MANAGES TO
ESCAPE INTO A NEARBY RESTAURANT.
CASSO, HE WAS OUT OF HIS MIND
WITH RAGE AND ANGER
AND WAS WILLING TO DO ANYTHING
TO EXACT REVENGE
ON THE INDIVIDUALS
WHO WERE RESPONSIBLE
FOR THAT ATTEMPT ON HIS LIFE.
Narrator:
THIS TIME, CASSO ASKS HIS OLD
PRISON CONTACT BURT KAPLAN
TO CONTRACT THE POLICE
DETECTIVES,
EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA,
TO FIND OUT
WHO TRIED TO KILL HIM.
KAPLAN AND CASSO LIKED USING
EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA
BECAUSE THEY WERE A KNOWN
RELIABLE ENTITY
IN TERMS OF GETTING
WHAT THEY NEEDED.
Narrator:
AS FATE WOULD HAVE IT,
EPPOLITO WORKED
IN THE VERY NYPD PRECINCT
WHERE THE ATTEMPT ON
CASSO'S LIFE HAD TAKEN PLACE.
WITH AN INVESTIGATION
ALREADY UNDERWAY,
IT WAS EASY FOR HIM TO DISCOVER
WHO THE POLICE THOUGHT
WAS BEHIND THE ATTACK.
DETECTIVE EPPOLITO PASSES
THE NAMES TO KAPLAN,
WHO FORWARDS THEM TO CASSO.
ONE OF THE NAMES ON THE LIST WAS
BETTY HYDELL'S YOUNG SON JIMMY.
BUT THE COPS' INVOLVEMENT
DIDN'T END THERE.
THEY ALSO TOOK CASSO'S MONEY
TO FINISH THE JOB.
THAT WAS WHEN
EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA
WENT TO JIMMY HYDELL'S
HOUSE IN STATEN ISLAND
AND GRABBED JIMMY'S BROTHER,
FRANKIE, BY MISTAKE.
*
WHEN THEY REALIZED
THEY HAD THE WRONG BROTHER,
EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA
LEFT FRANKIE GO,
BUT NOT BEFORE THEY WERE SEEN
BY FRANKIE'S MOTHER, BETTY.
*
DURING HIS CONFESSION, CASSO
EXPLAINS WHAT HAPPENED NEXT.
LATER THAT DAY,
EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA FINALLY
TRACKED DOWN JIMMY HYDELL.
THEY ARRESTED HIM ON THE STREET
AND BUNDLED HIM
INTO THEIR POLICE VEHICLE.
THEY MET HIM AND PUT HIM
IN THEIR CAR, HANDCUFFED,
AND TOLD HIM THAT
THEY WERE TAKING HIM BACK
TO THE POLICE STATION.
THEY WERE GOING TO ASK HIM
SOME QUESTIONS.
ALL SEEMED TO BE ABOVEBOARD
FOR A BAD GUY LIKE JIMMY HYDELL.
I MEAN, HE WAS ALWAYS
A HANGER-ON, A WANNABE,
IN TERMS OF MOBSTER,
SO GETTING PUT IN A POLICE CAR
IS NOTHING UNUSUAL FOR HIM.
THE PROBLEM FOR HIM WAS
THAT HE WAS NOT GOING
TO A STATION HOUSE.
HE WAS TAKEN TO A HOUSE,
TIED TO A CHAIR IN THE BASEMENT
OF A HOUSE, AND TORTURED.
*
Narrator:
KAPLAN AND CASSO TORTURED
JIMMY HYDELL FOR HOURS...
*
NO, NO, NO! PLEASE!
Narrator:
...UNTIL THE KID GAVE UP THE MEN
BEHIND THE FAILED HIT ON CASSO.
*
[ GUNSHOTS ]
JIMMY'S BODY IS EVENTUALLY
BURIED IN THE BASEMENT.
CASSO HAS THE NAMES OF THE MEN
WHO TRIED TO KILL HIM --
NICKY GUIDO AND EDDIE LINO...
*
...TWO NAMES
THAT RANG A STRONG BELL
WITH THE INVESTIGATION TEAM.
IT WAS LIKE A ROAD MAP FOR US
INTO THE ACTIVITIES
OF THE MAFIA COPS.
Narrator:
NOW THE LUCCHESE UNDERBOSS
HAD TO FINISH THE JOB.
HE WANTED TO SHOW HIS ENEMIES
THAT IF THEY WANTED TO KILL HIM,
THEY BETTER DO THE JOB PROPERLY.
THE FIRST TARGET FOR HIS REVENGE
WOULD BE NICKY GUIDO.
CASSO SENDS HIS TWO NYPD
MOLES TO TRACK HIM DOWN.
HE HAD A TOOL THAT NONE OF
THE OTHER FAMILIES HAD,
WHICH IS WHY HE OFTEN
AND SOMEWHAT EUPHEMISTICALLY
REFERRED TO THEM
AS HIS CRYSTAL BALL.
IT ALLOWED HIM THE OPPORTUNITY
TO SEE THINGS
THAT NO ONE ELSE COULD SEE.
Narrator:
DETECTIVE CARACAPPA FINDS
SEVERAL MEN CALLED NICKY GUIDO
IN THE AREA.
HE PASSES ON THE BEST
MATCHES TO CASSO.
ON CHRISTMAS DAY 1986,
CASSO SENDS GUNMEN
TO NICKY GUIDO'S ADDRESS.
THEY FIND GUIDO OUTSIDE,
TALKING WITH HIS UNCLE
IN A CAR PARKED NEAR HIS HOUSE.
NEITHER MAN PAYS ANY ATTENTION
TO THE APPROACHING VEHICLE.
CASSO'S MEN STRAFE THE CAR
WITH BULLETS.
WITHIN SECONDS,
NICKY GUIDO IS DEAD.
ONLY, THIS IS
THE WRONG NICKY GUIDO.
CASSO'S MEN KILLED
AN INNOCENT KID
SHOWING HIS UNCLE
HIS NEW CAR ON CHRISTMAS DAY.
ACCORDING TO CASSO, EVEN THOUGH
THE WRONG GUIDO HAD BEEN KILLED,
EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA
WERE REWARDED FOR THEIR HELP.
THE TWO COPS WENT ON
THE MAFIA PAYROLL.
CASSO AND KAPLAN PAID THEM
4 GRAND A MONTH,
WITH A BONUS CHECK FOR
EACH MURDER THEY COMMITTED.
Vecchione: WHEN I FOUND OUT THAT
THEY WERE ON THE MOB PAYROLL,
I WAS FLABBERGASTED.
I HAD NEVER HEARD OF ANYTHING
LIKE THAT
IN ALL THE YEARS THAT I HAD BEEN
INVOLVED IN LAW ENFORCEMENT.
THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY CALLED IT
THE MOST SERIOUS CASE
OF POLICE CORRUPTION
IN THE HISTORY OF THE
NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT.
*
[ SIREN WAILING ]
Narrator:
CASSO'S CONFESSION IS DYNAMITE.
THE MORE VECCHIONE DISCOVERS,
THE MORE HE WONDERS
WHY THE FEDS DIDN'T ACT.
I WAS SHOCKED THAT THE FBI
DIDN'T BRING IT TO THE ATTENTION
AT LEAST OF
THE INTERNAL AFFAIRS BUREAU
OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.
Narrator:
A LITTLE DISCREET DIGGING
GIVES THEM AN ANSWER
THEY DON'T WANT TO HEAR.
THE FBI DID NOT TAKE
FULL ADVANTAGE
OF THE INFORMATION
THEY GOT FROM GASPIPE
BECAUSE HE WAS CRAZY.
GASPIPE CASSO MADE
OUTRAGEOUS CLAIMS.
SOME WERE TRUE,
AS IT TURNED OUT,
OTHERS WERE NOT TRUE.
HE ALSO HAD SOMETHING TO GAIN.
HE WAS IN PRISON
FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE,
AND THE ONLY POSSIBILITY
HE EVER HAD OF GETTING OUT
WAS TRADING INFORMATION.
AND I THINK
THE FBI FINALLY DECIDED
THAT YOU COULD NEVER PUT HIM
ON THE WITNESS STAND.
Vecchione: THE FBI
WERE NOT HAPPY WITH GASPIPE
AS FAR AS HIS CREDIBILITY
IS CONCERNED,
SO THEY WERE NOT GOING TO
BASE ANY PROSECUTION
ON GASPIPE ALONE.
Narrator:
IF CASSO'S WORD ISN'T ENOUGH,
DADES NEEDS SOMETHING TO PROVE
HE'S TELLING THE TRUTH.
THEN IT HITS HIM.
IF CARACAPPA HAD
TRACKED DOWN GUIDO,
THEN HIS SEARCH SHOULD BE LOGGED
IN THE POLICE COMPUTER SYSTEM.
WHEN ANY OFFICER MAKES A SEARCH,
IT'S LISTED UNDER
HIS TAX NUMBER.
AS DADES WORKS THROUGH
CARACAPPA'S SEARCHES,
HE FINDS
WHAT HE'S LOOKING FOR --
HARD EVIDENCE TO BACK UP
CASSO'S CONFESSION.
Vecchione:
I'LL NEVER FORGET THE DAY
TOMMY CAME RUNNING DOWN
TO MY OFFICE
AND SAID, "WE GOT HIM NOW.
WE DEFINITELY HAVE HIM".
AND I SAID, "WHAT ARE YOU
TALKING ABOUT? WHAT DO YOU GOT?"
HE SAID,
"YOU SEE THIS PRINTOUT?"
I SAID, "YEAH".
HE SAID, "LOOK WHO RAN IT".
I SAID, "WELL, ALL I SEE
IS THE TAX NUMBER.
WHOSE TAX NUMBER IS THAT?"
HE GOES, "IT'S CARACAPPA'S
TAX NUMBER.
LOOK DOWN THE LIST.
LOOK AT THE NAMES
THAT HE LOOKED FOR".
Narrator: CARACAPPA HAD SEARCHED
FOR ONE NICKY GUIDO.
Vecchione: I WAS THRILLED.
THAT'S THE FIRST TIME THAT WE
HAD SOMETHING OTHER THAN WORDS.
WE HAD NOW SOMETHING
WHICH TIED CARACAPPA
TO THE MURDER
OF AN INNOCENT VICTIM.
IT WAS THAT MURDER,
QUITE FRANKLY,
MORE THAN ANY
OF THE OTHERS IN THE CASE,
THAT REALLY GOT TO ME AND KIND
OF KEPT ME GOING AND DIGGING.
AND IT AFFECTED ALL OF US,
AND WE REALLY WANTED
TO GET THESE GUYS.
Narrator:
DAYS BEFORE AN INNOCENT BOY
IS SHOT DEAD BY THE MOB,
CARACAPPA HAD COPS SEARCH
FOR HIS ADDRESS
IN THE POLICE DATABASE.
BUT IT'S STILL NOT ENOUGH.
EPPOLITO HAD ALREADY ESCAPED
ONE HALF-BAKED COURT CASE.
WITH SO MUCH AT STAKE,
THEY WANTED TO MAKE SURE
ANY FUTURE CASE
WAS ABSOLUTELY WATERTIGHT.
DADES RETURNS
TO CASSO'S CONFESSIONS
TO SEE IF THERE WAS MORE.
AND SURE ENOUGH HE FINDS IT,
AND IT'S HORRIFYING.
THE ROGUE COPS WENT FROM BEING
THE MOB'S DELIVERYMEN
TO THEIR EXECUTIONERS.
Narrator:
IN 2003, DETECTIVE TOMMY DADES
IS INVESTIGATING
TWO CORRUPT NYPD COPS.
HE'S FOUND SHOCKING EVIDENCE
BURIED IN THE ARCHIVED
CONFESSIONS
OF LUCCHESE UNDERBOSS
ANTHONY "GASPIPE" CASSO
THAT THE TWO COPS USED
THEIR BADGES TO ABDUCT PEOPLE
AND HAND THEM OVER TO THE MAFIA.
BUT THEN DADES DISCOVERS
SOMETHING ELSE
IN THE CONFESSIONS
WHICH, IF TRUE,
DRAGS THE NAME OF THE FORCE
DOWN TO A NEW LOW.
AFTER THE FAILED ASSASSINATION
ATTEMPT ON GASPIPE CASSO,
THE UNDERBOSS SWORE REVENGE ON
THE MEN WHO TRIED TO KILL HIM.
HE HIRED EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA
TO HUNT DOWN
HIS WOULD-BE ASSASSINS.
AFTER CAPTURING, TORTURING,
THEN MURDERING THE SECOND
OF THE SHOOTERS, JIMMY HYDELL,
THEY GOT THE NAMES
OF TWO MORE FAILED ASSASSINS.
THE FIRST REVENGE ATTACK
LED TO THE DEATH
OF AN INNOCENT YOUNG MAN,
NICKY GUIDO,
BUT ALTHOUGH THE WRONG MAN WAS
KILLED, CASSO WAS UNREPENTANT.
HE WANTED THE THIRD
SHOOTER DEAD, TOO --
A HIT MAN NAMED EDDIE LINO.
LINO WAS A CLOSE FRIEND OF
NEW YORK CRIME BOSS JOHN GOTTI,
SO HE WAS A HARD MAN TO GET TO.
CASSO TURNS, ONCE AGAIN,
TO THE CORRUPT COPS
EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA.
*
THEY PULL LINO OVER
ON A DESOLATE ROAD,
LIKE HE'S COMMITTED
A ROUTINE TRAFFIC VIOLATION,
BUT WITH THE MOB COPS,
NOTHING IS ROUTINE.
CARACAPPA PULLS A GUN AND SHOOTS
LINO AT POINT-BLANK RANGE.
LINO DIES INSTANTLY.
[ POLICE RADIO CHATTER ]
THE DETECTIVES HAVE
TURNED A CORNER.
THEY'RE NOW
FULLY FLEDGED KILLERS.
THE FEDS CALL CASSO UNRELIABLE,
BUT VECCHIONE'S TEAM BELIEVE
CASSO'S REVELATIONS ARE
JUST TOO DETAILED TO BE IGNORED.
WITH CORROBORATING EVIDENCE
HARD TO COME BY,
THE DETECTIVES DECIDE
TO FIND ANOTHER SOURCE
TO BACK CASSO'S CLAIMS.
AND THERE WAS ONE NAME
IN CASSO'S CONFESSION
THAT CROPPED UP
TIME AND AGAIN --
CASSO'S GO-BETWEEN, BURT KAPLAN.
Ponzi: KAPLAN WAS
THE MISSING INGREDIENT.
HE WAS ABSOLUTELY
THE ESSENTIAL PIECE
ON PUTTING THIS ENTIRE
CONSPIRACY TOGETHER.
Narrator:
AT THE TIME, KAPLAN IS SERVING
27 YEARS IN PRISON
ON A DRUGS CHARGE
AND SO FAR HAS RESISTED
ALL ATTEMPTS TO FLIP HIM.
HE SIMPLY REFUSES
TO TURN INFORMANT.
HE WAS JUST A HARD-BOILED,
STUBBORN, OLD WISE GUY
THAT WOULD NEVER BREAK THE CODE.
HE HONESTLY BELIEVED THAT
COOPERATION WAS NEVER AN OPTION.
Narrator: VECCHIONE
DOESN'T GIVE UP HOPE.
HE KNOWS ONE MAN WHO CAN TURN
EVEN THE TOUGHEST MOBSTERS.
BUT HE'S ALREADY ON THE TEAM.
VECCHIONE GIVES JOE PONZI
THE CHALLENGE OF HIS CAREER --
CRACK KAPLAN.
I'VE KNOWN JOE PONZI
FOR PROBABLY 35 YEARS,
AND HE WAS A GUY
WHO CAN TALK TO PEOPLE.
FOR WHATEVER REASON,
THEY OPEN UP.
Narrator: PONZI STARTS BY TRYING
TO PUT THE SQUEEZE ON KAPLAN.
THE FIRST STEP WAS TO GET
BURT OUT OF HIS ELEMENT
AND MOVE HIM CLOSER.
ON MY FIRST MEETING,
I MADE IT CLEAR TO HIM
THAT HE MIGHT BE
THAT MUCH MORE UNCOMFORTABLE
OVER AT RIKERS ISLAND,
A LOCAL CITY PENITENTIARY
THAT MOST INMATES
JUST HATED TO BE HOUSED IN.
I QUICKLY LEARNED
THAT THREATENING BURT
WAS NOT THE WAY TO GO.
HE RAISED UP ON ME AND SAID,
"YOU MOVE ME THERE,
I COULD SELF-MEDICATE MYSELF
AND KILL MYSELF ANYTIME I WANT.
YOU MOVE ME THERE,
I'LL KILL MYSELF INSTANTLY,
AND THAT'LL BE ON YOUR HEAD".
HE MADE IT PERFECTLY CLEAR THAT,
YOU KNOW, THAT STYLE OF,
YOU KNOW, SORT OF
THREATENING APPROACH
WAS NOT GOING TO WORK.
Narrator:
PONZI TRIES A DIFFERENT TACK.
IF HE CAN'T THREATEN HIM, MAYBE
HE CAN APPEAL TO HIS CONSCIENCE.
I FELT THAT MAYBE IF I THREW
SOME NAMES AT HIM,
MAYBE IF I, YOU KNOW, HIT HIM
WITH SOME OF THE NAMES
OF THE HOMICIDE VICTIMS
THAT WE BELIEVED WERE,
YOU KNOW, PART OF
THIS ENTIRE CONSPIRACY
THAT THAT WOULD
HAVE SOME IMPACT.
Narrator: AT FIRST, IT SEEMS
TO BE GOING NOWHERE.
I BEGAN WITH JIMMY HYDELL.
I WENT TO EDDIE LINO.
Narrator: KAPLAN ISN'T CRACKING,
BUT DETECTIVE PONZI IS
HOLDING ONE NAME BACK.
NOT A MOBSTER, NOT AN INFORMANT,
BUT AN INNOCENT KID RIDDLED WITH
BULLETS ON CHRISTMAS DAY --
NICKY GUIDO.
I SAW HIS FACE JUST TURN FROM
A SCOWL TO ALMOST BEET RED,
AND HE SAID, "THAT'S WHAT
I CAN'T STAND ABOUT YOU GUYS.
YOU THINK YOU KNOW THINGS
THAT YOU DON'T KNOW.
YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING
ABOUT NICKY GUIDO".
AND HE GOT UP,
AND IT APPEARED AS IF HE WAS
GOING TO WALK OUT THE DOOR,
AND I SAID, "WAIT, MR. KAPLAN.
MAYBE I DON'T KNOW.
TELL ME WHAT I DON'T KNOW.
SIT DOWN AND EXPLAIN TO ME
WHAT I DON'T KNOW".
AND HE SAT BACK DOWN.
Narrator: KAPLAN OPENS UP.
PONZI HAS ACHIEVED
WHAT NO ONE ELSE EVER HAS --
HE HAS FOUND A WAY OF GETTING
THIS HARDENED CRIMINAL TO FLIP.
NICKY GUIDO, A KID
WHO WAS SHOWING HIS UNCLE
HIS BRAND-NEW, SHINY, RED CAR
ON CHRISTMAS MORNING --
THAT'S WHAT ULTIMATELY
GOT TO BURT KAPLAN.
AND HE AGREED TO TESTIFY.
Narrator:
IN A SERIES OF INTERVIEWS,
ONE BY ONE, KAPLAN CORROBORATES
ALL OF CASSO'S ALLEGATIONS...
...THE ABDUCTIONS, THE MURDERS,
EVEN THE COPS GOING
ON THE MAFIA PAYROLL.
AND IN RETURN FOR
A REDUCED SENTENCE,
HE EVEN AGREES
TO TAKE THE STAND.
Vecchione:
HE GAVE UP EVERYTHING.
BURT KAPLAN GAVE UP
EVERY SINGLE THING
THAT HE KNEW ABOUT
EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA,
WHICH INCLUDED
ALL OF THE MURDERS,
EVERYTHING THAT THEY HAD DONE
TO BETRAY THE BADGE THAT
THEY WERE BOTH CARRYING.
Narrator: IT'S THE BREAKTHROUGH
THE TEAM HAVE BEEN WORKING
SO HARD TO ACHIEVE.
IN LAS VEGAS, MARCH 2005,
LAW ENFORCEMENT FINALLY
HAVE ENOUGH EVIDENCE
TO INDICT EPPOLITO
AND CARACAPPA,
AND THEY SWOOP IN.
[ SIREN WAILING ]
BUT WILL THE HARDENED
COPS GO QUIETLY,
OR WILL THEY GO DOWN SHOOTING?
[ SIRENS WAILING ]
*
Narrator: MARCH 2005.
RETIRED COPS LOU EPPOLITO
AND STEPHEN CARACAPPA
HAVE BEEN EXPOSED
AS MOB KILLERS.
LAS VEGAS POLICE SWOOP IN
TO ARREST THE CROOKED COPS.
THEY GIVE THEMSELVES UP
WITHOUT A FIGHT.
*
MARCH 2006 -- WHEN THE TWO COPS
STAND TRIAL IN NEW YORK
FOR KIDNAPPING AND MURDERING
FOR THE MAFIA,
THE CASE CAUSES A SENSATION.
I THINK IT IS THE BIGGEST
CORRUPTION SCANDAL
IN THE HISTORY OF THE
NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT.
THE ACTS THAT THEY PERFORMED
AND THE INVESTIGATIONS
THAT THEY COMPROMISED
AND BREACHED IN TOTALITY
MAKES THIS, WITHOUT QUESTION,
THE BIGGEST
POLICE CORRUPTION CASE
IN THE HISTORY
OF NEW YORK CITY.
Narrator: EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA
FACE A LONG LIST OF CHARGES,
INCLUDING MURDER,
OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE,
NARCOTICS DISTRIBUTION,
AND MONEY LAUNDERING.
IT'S A LONG LIST OF CRIMES --
ALL SUPPORTED
BY MOB INFORMANT BURT KAPLAN'S
CRITICAL TESTIMONY.
*
Ponzi: THE SPECIFIC NATURE
OF HIS INFORMATION
WAS SO DETAILED, SO FINE,
JUST SO INCREDIBLY
AND IMPECCABLY LAID OUT
AND CORROBORATED INDEPENDENTLY
SO MANY DIFFERENT WAYS
THAT WE WERE ALL VERY CONFIDENT
GOING FORWARD
THAT THIS WOULD RESULT
IN A SUCCESSFUL PROSECUTION.
THERE ARE SOME
ORGANIZED CRIME AUTHORITIES
WHO SAY THAT HE WAS
QUITE POSSIBLY
THE MOST POWERFUL
COOPERATING WITNESS
THEY EVER SAW TESTIFY.
[ SIREN WAILING ]
Narrator:
THE EVIDENCE AGAINST THE
CORRUPT COPS IS OVERWHELMING,
AND IN APRIL 2006, AFTER JUST
10 HOURS OF DELIBERATION,
THE JURY RETURNS THEIR VERDICT.
EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA ARE
FOUND GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS.
THEY'RE BOTH SENTENCED
TO LIFE IN PRISON
WITH NO POSSIBILITY FOR PAROLE.
*
Vecchione: I WAS ELATED.
I KNEW THAT THAT WAS THE END
OF THE ROAD FOR THEM.
I KIND OF EXHALED AND SAID,
"OKAY, IT'S FINALLY OVER".
I'M NOT SHY ABOUT
TAKING CREDIT FOR IT.
IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR TOMMY,
IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR ME,
IF IT HADN'T HAVE BEEN
FOR JOE PONZI,
THEY'D STILL BE
WALKING FREE TODAY.
Fisher:
EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA THOUGHT
THEY HAD GOTTEN AWAY WITH IT,
AND HAD THEY KEPT
A LOWER PROFILE,
THEY WOULD HAVE
GOTTEN AWAY WITH IT.
Vecchione: MY FEELINGS ABOUT
EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA
ARE THAT THEY ARE AKIN
TO THE DEVIL, QUITE FRANKLY.
THEY TAKE A SHIELD
TO WHICH PEOPLE PUT TRUST
AND BETRAYED IT.
THEY'RE AKIN TO SATAN.
I HATE THEM.
I HATE THEM.
I DON'T THINK THAT ANYBODY
COULD GIVE YOU A FAIR ESTIMATE
OF HOW MUCH DAMAGE THESE TWO
PEOPLE DID TO THE NYPD.
THERE'S NO WAY OF ASSESSING
THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF DAMAGE DONE.
[ GUNSHOT ]
Narrator:
AS LOU EPPOLITO'S FAMILY
HAD CONNECTIONS TO THE MAFIA,
ONE QUESTION HANGS IN THE AIR --
WAS EPPOLITO ACTUALLY
A MAFIA SLEEPER?
DID THE MOB PLACE HIM
IN THE NYPD,
OR WAS HE JUST
A GOOD COP GONE BAD?
BASED UPON EVERYTHING THAT
I KNOW ABOUT LOUIS EPPOLITO,
I DO NOT BELIEVE
THAT THE MOB PLANTED HIM
IN THE NEW YORK CITY
POLICE DEPARTMENT.
I THINK THAT HE HAD
THE BACKGROUND OF BAD GUYS
IN HIS FAMILY,
AND WHEN THE OPPORTUNITY
PRESENTED ITSELF
FOR HIM TO MAKE MONEY
AND BECOME A ROGUE, HE TOOK IT.
Narrator:
PERHAPS THE MOST BAFFLING
QUESTION IS "WHY?"
HAVING RETURNED TO LAS VEGAS,
EPPOLITO RISKED EVERYTHING
BY PUTTING HIS CAREER
IN THE PUBLIC EYE.
EPPOLITO REALLY BELIEVED
HE HAD GOTTEN AWAY WITH IT.
THERE ARE CERTAIN PERSONALITIES
WHERE ENOUGH IS NEVER ENOUGH.
HE WANTED TO BRAG ABOUT IT.
HE WANTED TO BE ABLE
TO TELEGRAPH TO THE WORLD
WHAT HE HAD DONE
WITHOUT ANYONE KNOWING
WHAT HE HAD DONE.
Narrator:
THE MOB COPS CASE REMAINS
THE MOST SHOCKING EXAMPLE
OF POLICE CORRUPTION
IN NEW YORK CITY'S HISTORY.
IT'S THANKS TO THE COURAGE
OF BETTY HYDELL
AND TO THE EFFORTS
OF DETECTIVES DADES,
VECCHIONE, AND PONZI
THAT THE BAD COPS FINALLY GOT
THE JUSTICE THEY DESERVED.
THE RUTHLESS AND UNREPENTANT
MAFIA COPS
HAVE EXHAUSTED ALL APPEALS.
EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA
WILL NEVER BE RELEASED
FROM FEDERAL PRISON.
DURING THE '80s AND '90s,
THE MAFIA CONTROLLED
NEW YORK'S CRIMINAL UNDERWORLD.
IT'S WELL-KNOWN THAT THE MAFIA
PAY OFF NEW YORK COPS
TO TURN A BLIND EYE
TO THEIR RUTHLESS CRIMES.
BUT BY THE EARLY 2000s,
A SERIES OF KILLINGS REVEAL
THAT THE MAFIA HAS GONE
MUCH, MUCH FURTHER.
TWO COPS WHO WERE HIT MEN FOR
THE MOB, I MEAN, IT'S JUST...
IT WAS NOT LIKE ANYTHING
THAT WE HAD EVER SEEN BEFORE.
Narrator:
THE BODY OF A BUSINESSMAN TIED
TO THE LUCCHESE CRIME FAMILY
DUMPED IN A MAKESHIFT GRAVE.
THE BRUTAL MURDER OF AN INNOCENT
YOUNG MAN ON CHRISTMAS DAY.
THE SLAYING OF A GAMBINO HIT MAN
AND CLOSE ASSOCIATE
TO THE INFAMOUS JOHN GOTTI.
THE MURDERS LEAD A TEAM
OF DEDICATED DETECTIVES
INTO A GAME OF CAT-AND-MOUSE...
...WITH TWO OF THEIR OWN --
AND WITH THEM, THE MOB.
THIS WAS THE BIGGEST
CORRUPTION CASE
IN THE HISTORY OF THE
NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT.
*
CAPTIONS PAID FOR BY
DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS
*
*
[ SIRENS WAILING ]
Narrator: NEW YORK.
COPS DISCOVER
THE BODY OF EDDIE LINO,
A CAPTAIN IN THE GAMBINO
CRIME FAMILY.
LINO WAS WELL-KNOWN TO
THE POLICE AS A MOB HIT MAN.
LINO HAD RECENTLY BEEN CONNECTED
TO THE KILLING
OF PAUL CASTELLANO,
AN ASSASSINATION THAT CLEARED
THE WAY FOR JOHN GOTTI
TO BECOME HEAD OF
THE GAMBINO FAMILY.
*
POLICE GO DOOR-TO-DOOR
AND FIND A WITNESS.
ALTHOUGH TOO FAR AWAY
TO IDENTIFY THE KILLERS,
SHE SAW ENOUGH TO ALLOW POLICE
TO PIECE TOGETHER WHAT HAPPENED.
[ SIREN WAILING ]
IT WAS A WITNESS WHO REPORTED
THAT THEY HAD SEEN
WHAT APPEARED TO BE
A POLICE LIGHT
AND WHAT LOOKED LIKE
A ROUTINE POLICE STOP.
Narrator: THE KILLING BORE ALL
THE HALLMARKS OF A MAFIA HIT.
THE TWO SHOOTERS
POSING AS POLICE --
IT'S A TACTIC THAT'S BEEN
USED MANY TIMES BEFORE.
*
THERE WERE MANY REPORTED EVENTS
OF POLICE IMPERSONATION,
AND IT WASN'T OUTSIDE THE REALM
OF WHAT ORGANIZED CRIME
MEMBERS WERE CAPABLE OF,
AND THAT IS TO, YOU KNOW,
BRANDISH SHIELDS,
TO GET A CAR THAT LOOKED
LIKE A POLICE CAR,
TO USE FLASHING LIGHTS.
*
Narrator: POSING AS COPS
TO KILL INFORMANTS
HAS BECOME AN
UNEXPECTED DOWNSIDE
OF THE SUCCESS
OF THE RICO LAW.
[ GUNSHOT ]
THE RACKETEER INFLUENCED
AND CORRUPT ORGANIZATIONS ACT,
OR RICO, MEANT THAT
ONCE-IMMUNE MOB BOSSES
CAN NOW BE INDICTED FOR CRIMES
CARRIED OUT IN THEIR NAME.
[ SIREN WAILING ]
FACING 20-YEAR SENTENCES
FOR RACKETEERING,
THE NUMBER OF MAFIOSI
BREAKING THE CODE OF SILENCE
AND TALKING TO THE POLICE
HAS RISEN DRASTICALLY.
*
IT LOOKED LIKE LINO
HAD BEEN SILENCED,
AND WITH THE EYEWITNESS
INFORMATION INCONCLUSIVE,
THE CASE WAS DROPPED.
WITHOUT NEW INFORMATION,
THERE WAS REALLY NOTHING
FOR THE LAW-ENFORCEMENT
AUTHORITIES INVESTIGATING
TO PURSUE.
Narrator: BUT IT'S NOT ONLY
THE SUCCESS OF THE RICO ACT
THAT IS BEING
FATALLY UNDERMINED.
THE NYPD HAVE AN UNEASY FEELING
THAT SOMEONE IS FEEDING
THE NAMES OF WITNESSES TO THE
MOB BEFORE THEY CAN TESTIFY.
DURING MY YEARS, I'VE NEVER
LOST AN INFORMANT,
BUT I KNOW THAT PEOPLE HAVE.
[ SIRENS WAILING ]
Narrator:
SUSPICIONS GROW THAT THERE'S
A MOLE WITHIN THE NYPD.
BUT WHO IS IT?
WITH 10,000 POLICE
IN THE DEPARTMENT,
IDENTIFYING A BAD APPLE
WON'T BE EASY.
WHEN THE POLICE RAID THE HOME
OF MOBSTER ROSARIO GAMBINO,
THEY MAKE A BREAKTHROUGH.
ROSARIO WAS A HEROIN TRAFFICKER
FOR THE NOTORIOUS
GAMBINO GODFATHER, JOHN GOTTI.
*
ROSARIO GAMBINO WAS A MADE MAN
INSIDE THE GAMBINO CRIME FAMILY.
HE HAD REAL POWER
WITHIN THAT FAMILY.
HE WAS A MAN OF RESPECT,
AS THEY LIKED TO CALL HIM.
Narrator: HIDDEN IN HIS HOUSE
ARE POLICE DOCUMENTS --
COPIES OF
CLASSIFIED NYPD REPORTS
CONTAINING INTELLIGENCE
ON THE GAMBINO FAMILY.
THE INFORMATION COULD ONLY
HAVE BEEN FED TO HIM
BY SOMEONE WITHIN THE FORCE.
[ GRUNTS ]
*
WHEN THE DOCUMENTS
ARE DUSTED FOR FINGERPRINTS,
POLICE SUSPECT THE WORST.
Vecchione:
WHEN THEY WERE PROCESSED
FOR FINGERPRINTS,
THE FINGERPRINT
OF LOUIS EPPOLITO
WAS FOUND ON ONE
OF THE DOCUMENTS.
Narrator:
LOUIS EPPOLITO HAS ALWAYS WORKED
UNDER A CLOUD OF SUSPICION
BECAUSE HIS FAMILY HAS TIES
TO THE GAMBINO FAMILY.
ALTHOUGH HE HAS A REPUTATION
FOR BEING A HARD COP
WHO GETS RESULTS,
HIS GRANDFATHER WAS
A FRIEND OF LUCKY LUCIANO,
AND HIS FATHER
WAS A MADE MAN.
IT WAS NOT SHOCKING TO SOME
PEOPLE IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT
THAT LOUIS EPPOLITO'S
FINGERPRINTS
WERE FOUND ON THAT DOCUMENT
BECAUSE THERE WAS ALWAYS
THE SUSPICION THAT HE HAD,
YOU KNOW, THESE MOB CONNECTIONS.
[ TELEPHONE RINGS ]
Narrator:
EPPOLITO PROTESTS HIS INNOCENCE,
BUT NO ONE IS READY TO LISTEN.
THE DETECTIVE IS SUSPENDED
PENDING THE OUTCOME
OF AN INTERNAL INVESTIGATION.
WHEN EPPOLITO IS GIVEN
A STRAIGHTFORWARD CHOICE
BETWEEN RETIRING ON FULL PENSION
OR FACING A TRIAL,
HE SURPRISES EVERYONE.
HE WANTS TO GO TO TRIAL TO CLEAR
HIS NAME IN FRONT OF A JUDGE.
IN APRIL 1985, HE GOES TO TRIAL,
DETERMINED TO STOP THE RUMORS.
HE WAS VERY, VERY ANGRY
WITH THE POLICE DEPARTMENT
FOR BRINGING
THE ROSARIO-GAMBINO CASE
BECAUSE IN HIS MIND, IT PROVED
THAT THEY NEVER TRUSTED HIM.
Narrator: THE CASE RESTS
ON THE FINGERPRINTS.
THE POLICE CLAIM THAT
THEY CAN PROVE
THAT EPPOLITO HANDED
THE DOCUMENTS TO THE MOB.
BUT EPPOLITO PUTS FORWARD
A SIMPLE DEFENSE.
EPPOLITO WAS ABLE TO
MAKE AN ARGUMENT
THAT HE HAD LOOKED
AT THESE DOCUMENTS
FOR A CASE HE WAS WORKING ON
AND THEN PUT THEM BACK.
THERE WAS NO WAY
OF DISPROVING THAT.
THE EVIDENCE WAS INSUFFICIENT,
AND HE WAS ULTIMATELY
CLEARED OF THOSE CHARGES
AND RESTORED TO FULL DUTY.
*
Narrator:
EPPOLITO IS VINDICATED,
BUT DESPITE BEING CLEARED,
THE WHISPERS CONTINUE
TO HAUNT HIM.
*
THERE WERE FACTIONS
WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT
AND WITHIN
THE LAW ENFORCEMENT COMMUNITY
THAT FELT THAT HE MIGHT
HAVE DODGED A BULLET.
*
Narrator:
FOR 10 YEARS, EPPOLITO LIVES
UNDER A CLOUD OF SUSPICION.
WHEN HE EVENTUALLY RETIRES TO
A GATED COMMUNITY IN LAS VEGAS,
HE'S STILL ANGRY
ABOUT HIS TREATMENT
AT THE HANDS OF FELLOW COPS.
HE DECIDES IT'S TIME TO SHARE
HIS STORY WITH THE WORLD
AND WRITE A BOOK ABOUT BEING A
DETECTIVE WITH MOB CONNECTIONS.
HE GIVES THE BOOK
THE IRONIC TITLE "MAFIA COP".
THE BOOK IS A HIT,
AND EPPOLITO GETS INVITED
ON THE TALK SHOW CIRCUIT.
IF EPPOLITO HOPED TO
EXORCISE HIS DEMONS,
ONE TELEVISION APPEARANCE WILL
BRING THEM BACK TO HAUNT HIM.
IN STATEN ISLAND, A WOMAN
CALLED BETTY HYDELL
SITS DOWN TO WATCH DAYTIME TV.
WHEN SHE SEES EPPOLITO,
IT HITS HER LIKE A SLEDGEHAMMER.
SHE RECOGNIZED HIM IMMEDIATELY.
Narrator:
10 YEARS EARLIER, HYDELL'S SON
JIMMY HAD DISAPPEARED.
SHE VIVIDLY REMEMBERS THAT
ON THE DAY HE VANISHED,
TWO MEN CLAIMING TO BE COPS
CAME LOOKING FOR JIMMY.
SHE REMEMBERS SO CLEARLY
BECAUSE THEY ROUGHED UP
HER YOUNGER SON.
THERE WAS SOMETHING ABOUT THOSE
TWO MEN THAT NEVER SAT RIGHT.
BETTY HAD ALWAYS BEEN CONVINCED
THAT THEY WERE INVOLVED
IN HER SON'S DISAPPEARANCE.
*
*
NOW, 10 YEARS LATER,
HYDELL BELIEVES SHE IS LOOKING
AT ONE OF THE MEN
ON THE TELEVISION.
*
HYDELL HEADS TO THE LOCAL STORE
IN SEARCH OF "MAFIA COP".
Ponzi:
SHE WENT OUT AND PURCHASED
THE BOOK, AND LO AND BEHOLD,
IN THE BOOK WAS A PHOTOGRAPH
OF STEVE CARACAPPA,
A VERY CLOSE ASSOCIATE
OF DETECTIVE EPPOLITO'S,
AND SHE REALIZED QUICKLY THAT
THAT WAS THE SECOND DETECTIVE
THAT SHE HAD SEEN OUTSIDE
THE HOUSE THAT DAY.
Narrator: CONVINCED
THAT EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA
WERE THE MEN
LOOKING FOR HER SON,
HYDELL GOES TO THE POLICE.
SHE IS INTERVIEWED
BY COLD-CASE SPECIALIST
DETECTIVE TOMMY DADES,
A DECORATED 20-YEAR
VETERAN OF THE NYPD.
*
DADES LISTENS CLOSELY
TO HYDELL'S STORY.
BETTY IMPARTED SOME
INFORMATION TO TOMMY
THAT SHE HAD NEVER TOLD ANYONE
IN LAW ENFORCEMENT BEFORE,
AND THAT WAS, ON THE DAY
THAT HER SON JIMMY DISAPPEARED,
LOU EPPOLITO AND STEVE CARACAPPA
WERE OUTSIDE HER HOUSE
LOOKING FOR HER SON JIMMY.
Narrator:
DADES HAS TO BE CAUTIOUS.
HYDELL IS ACCUSING
TWO RETIRED COPS
OF INVOLVEMENT
IN A SUSPECTED HOMICIDE.
BUT DADES IS IMPRESSED WITH
THE CLARITY OF BETTY'S MEMORY
AND HER CONVICTION
THAT EPPOLITO WAS INVOLVED.
SOMETHING IN HIS GUT
TELLS THE DETECTIVE
THAT HYDELL IS
TELLING THE TRUTH.
HIS INVESTIGATION
WILL LEAD HIM TO UNCOVER
THE MOST SHOCKING
ABUSE OF THE BADGE
IN THE HISTORY OF THE NYPD.
*
Narrator:
IN 2003, NEW YORK COLD-CASE
DETECTIVE TOMMY DADES
SUSPECTS THAT 10 YEARS EARLIER,
RETIRED NYPD COP LOU EPPOLITO
AND HIS ASSOCIATE
STEPHEN CARACAPPA
WERE INVOLVED IN
THE DISAPPEARANCE
OF WANNABE MOBSTER JIMMY HYDELL.
EPPOLITO HAD FAMILY TIES
TO THE GAMBINO CRIME FAMILY,
AND AT THE TIME,
HE WAS UNDER SUSPICION
FOR FEEDING INFORMATION
TO THE MAFIA.
DADES TAKES HIS CONCERNS
TO THE HEAD OF THE BROOKLYN
RACKETS DIVISION,
ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY
MIKE VECCHIONE.
*
VECCHIONE LISTENS CAREFULLY
AS DADES OUTLINES THE STORY
HE GOT FROM BETTY HYDELL.
HE CAME TO ME ONE MORNING,
AS HE DID MANY TIMES BEFORE,
AND SAID, "I THINK I GOT
SOMETHING ON EPPOLITO.
ARE YOU INTERESTED?"
I SAID, "YEAH, TELL ME ABOUT IT.
WHAT DO YOU HAVE?"
AND HE TOLD ME
ABOUT BETTY HYDELL,
THAT SHE CALLED HIM AND SAID,
"YOU KNOW, THERE'S SOMETHING
THAT I MEANT TO TELL YOU,"
AND SHE RELATED TO HIM
THE INCIDENT
INVOLVING EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA
ON THE DAY THAT
JIMMY HYDELL DISAPPEARS.
SO WE SAID, "I THINK
THAT THAT'S ENOUGH".
HE SAID, "DO YOU THINK
IT'S ENOUGH TO OPEN UP
AN INVESTIGATION INTO, YOU KNOW,
JIMMY HYDELL'S DEATH?"
AND I SAID, "YEAH, I DO,"
AND THAT'S HOW WE STARTED
THE INVESTIGATION.
Narrator:
MAYBE SOMETHING WAS MISSED
IN THE INITIAL INVESTIGATION
INTO HYDELL'S DISAPPEARANCE,
SO DADES ORDERS THE OLD NYPD
AND FBI CASE FILES.
THE INITIAL HOPE WAS TO SOLVE
THE MURDER OF JIMMY HYDELL.
Narrator:
BUT GIVEN JIMMY HYDELL'S
CONNECTIONS TO THE MAFIA,
THE INVESTIGATION
QUICKLY BROADENS
TO INCLUDE OTHER CASES
THAT INVOLVE THE MOB.
Vecchione:
TOMMY FOUND OUT THAT THERE
WERE BOXES AND BOXES OF MATERIAL
THAT WERE KEPT THERE AS PART
OF ALL OF THE INVESTIGATIONS
THAT WERE GOING ON INTO THE MOB
AROUND THAT TIME FRAME,
10 YEARS BEFORE,
SO WE WERE ABLE TO GET
PERMISSION FROM THE HEAD
OF THE ORGANIZED CRIME SECTION
OF THE U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
TO FIND THE ONES THAT
HE THOUGHT WOULD BE PERTINENT
TO AN INVESTIGATION
INTO CARACAPPA AND EPPOLITO.
AND HE DID -- HE FOUND,
I THINK IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN
ABOUT 10 BOXES'
WORTH OF MATERIALS.
Narrator:
JOE PONZI WAS AT THE HEART
OF VECCHIONE'S INVESTIGATION.
Ponzi: ONCE WE RECEIVED ALL
THE REPORTS AND DATA,
WE CREATED A WAR ROOM
IN THE BROOKLYN
DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE.
MY CURIOSITY WAS PIQUED.
I HAD MADE UP MY MIND THAT THIS
WAS GOING TO BE EXAMINED
AND, ONCE AGAIN, PUT TO REST
ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.
Narrator:
IN THE HUNT FOR EPPOLITO'S NAME,
THEY HAVE TO CAST THE NET WIDE.
*
THE SEARCH TAKES THEM
TO A CHARACTER
AT THE HEART
OF THE FBI CRACKDOWN
ON THE FIVE BIG CRIME FAMILIES
BACK IN THE 1980s.
THE RICO ACT HAD FORCED
MANY TOP MAFIOSI
TO BREAK THE VOW OF SILENCE
AND TURN INFORMER.
ONE OF THEM
WAS A BRUTAL UNDERBOSS
OF THE LUCCHESE CRIME FAMILY,
ANTHONY "GASPIPE" CASSO.
FACING THE REST OF
HIS LIFE IN PRISON,
CASSO OFFERED UP
EVERYTHING TO THE FEDS.
HE DECIDED TO BECOME
A GOVERNMENT WITNESS.
Narrator:
CASSO HELD NOTHING BACK,
AND NONE OF HIS FORMER
ASSOCIATES WAS SAFE.
THE WAY THAT THE GOVERNMENT
DEBRIEFS PEOPLE LIKE HIM IS,
THEY SIT HIM IN A ROOM FOR DAYS
AND THEY GO THROUGH
HIS ENTIRE HISTORY.
SO NOT ONLY IS HE GIVING UP
HIMSELF,
HE'S GIVING UP EVERYBODY ELSE
WHO HE HAS EVER
BEEN INVOLVED WITH.
Narrator: DADES AND PONZI ARE
INTRIGUED TO DISCOVER
THAT AMONG THE MANY NAMES
THAT CASSO GIVES UP
ARE THE NYPD COPS LOU EPPOLITO
AND STEPHEN CARACAPPA.
GIVEN EPPOLITO'S COURT VICTORY
AND HIS BLEEDING-HEART
BIOGRAPHY,
THE INVESTIGATORS
ARE STUNNED TO FIND
CASSO CONNECTING HIM
TO THE LUCCHESE UNDERBOSS.
Ponzi: I FOUND THAT
INCREDIBLY SHOCKING.
I STRUGGLED WITH THE IDEA
THAT THIS COULD BE TRUE.
Narrator: CASSO FIRST MENTIONS
THE TWO COPS IN CONNECTION
WITH THE ABDUCTION OF A MAN WHO
WAS HANDED OVER TO THE MAFIA.
CENTRAL TO THE STORY WAS A CLOSE
ASSOCIATE CALLED BURT KAPLAN.
KAPLAN TOLD CASSO THAT BACK IN
THE '80s, HE HAD A BIG PROBLEM.
IT WAS THE HEIGHT
OF THE INFORMANT EPIDEMIC.
AND KAPLAN BELIEVED HE WAS
GOING TO BE RATTED ON,
SO KAPLAN WANTED
THE RAT TO DISAPPEAR.
HE WAS GOING TO BE THE WITNESS
THAT PUT KAPLAN AWAY.
KAPLAN WANTED HIM GONE.
HE WANTED TO HAVE THAT PROBLEM
DISAPPEAR FROM THE EQUATION,
SO TO SPEAK.
Narrator:
AND KAPLAN HAD THE MEANS
TO MAKE IT HAPPEN.
WHILE HE WAS INSIDE
PENNSYLVANIA'S ALLENWOOD PRISON,
HE MET AN INMATE WITH A STORY
TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE.
THE INMATE KNEW
TWO CROOKED NYPD COPS
WHO COULD TRACK DOWN INFORMANTS.
AT THE TIME,
KAPLAN WAS CAUTIOUS.
AT FIRST BLUSH,
BURT WASN'T INTERESTED.
HE WAS DISTRUSTFUL OF COPS.
HE FELT THAT TWO COPS THAT
WERE WILLING TO GO TO THAT LEVEL
TO BETRAY THEIR OWN OATH
AND BADGES
PROBABLY COULDN'T BE TRUSTED.
*
Narrator:
BUT NOW HE HAD A RAT THREATENING
TO PUT HIM BEHIND BARS.
KAPLAN GOT BACK IN TOUCH
WITH HIS OLD PRISON BUDDY.
IN RELATIVELY SHORT ORDER, HE
SAID THEY'RE WILLING TO DO IT,
AND A $25,000 FEE
WAS AGREED UPON
FOR THE ABDUCTION AND MURDER OF
ISRAEL GREENWALD.
*
Narrator:
IN THE TRANSCRIPTS, CASSO STATES
THAT IN FEBRUARY 1986,
THE TWO COPS PULLED
THE RAT OVER.
THEY HAD TOLD HIM
THAT HE WAS THE SUBJECT
OF A HIT-AND-RUN INVESTIGATION,
THAT HE HAD TO ACCOMPANY
THEM BACK TO BROOKLYN
TO STAND IN A LINEUP.
GREENWALD COMPLIED,
GOT IN THE UNMARKED POLICE CAR.
Narrator: BUT THE COPS DIDN'T
DRIVE HIM TO THE STATION.
EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA DROVE
THE MAN TO A BROOKLYN GARAGE
AND HANDED HIM OVER TO THE MOB.
*
[ GROANS ]
*
THE MOBSTERS
SHOT THE MAN DEAD...
[ GUNSHOT ]
...AND FORCED THE GARAGE OWNER
TO DIG A GRAVE IN THE DIRT FLOOR
AND BURY THE BODY.
PONZI CAN BARELY BELIEVE
WHAT HE'S READING.
I WANTED TO STEP OUT OF THE ROOM
AND VOMIT IN A GARBAGE PAIL
WHEN HE STARTED TO GET INTO
THE DEPTH OF THE CONSPIRACY.
Narrator: BUT DADES
WAS TO DISCOVER FAR WORSE,
AS CASSO REVEALS THE REAL ROLE
THE TWO COPS PLAYED
IN THE DISAPPEARANCE
OF BETTY HYDELL'S SON JIMMY.
*
Narrator:
IN 2003, DETECTIVES FROM
THE D.A.'s OFFICE IN NEW YORK
ARE INVESTIGATING TWO
RETIRED NYPD DETECTIVES,
LOU EPPOLITO
AND STEPHEN CARACAPPA.
THE FBI TRANSCRIPTS
OF AN INTERVIEW
WITH FORMER LUCCHESE UNDERBOSS
GASPIPE CASSO
INCLUDE DISTURBING ALLEGATIONS
THAT THE NYPD COPS
WERE HIRED BY ANOTHER MOBSTER
TO ABDUCT A VICTIM
AND DELIVER HIM INTO THE HANDS
OF A MAFIA HIT SQUAD.
NOW CASSO REVEALS THAT HE HAD
HIRED THE COPS HIMSELF.
BURIED IN THE FILES,
CASSO'S CONFESSION REVEALS
THE FULL STORY
BEHIND THE DISAPPEARANCE
OF BETTY HYDELL'S SON JIMMY.
AND, ONCE AGAIN, THE NYPD COPS
APPEAR TO BE AT THE HEART OF IT.
THE STORY STARTS WITH A FAILED
ATTEMPT ON CASSO'S LIFE.
*
Ponzi:
CASSO HAD MADE AN APPOINTMENT
TO MEET AN ASSOCIATE OF HIS
FOR A DISCUSSION ABOUT
SOME STOLEN TREASURY BILLS,
BUT, IN FACT,
HE HAD BEEN SET UP.
WHILE HE WAS SITTING IN
HIS OWN CAR, SHOTS ERUPTED.
[ GLASS BREAKING ]
Narrator:
CASSO IS INJURED BUT MANAGES TO
ESCAPE INTO A NEARBY RESTAURANT.
CASSO, HE WAS OUT OF HIS MIND
WITH RAGE AND ANGER
AND WAS WILLING TO DO ANYTHING
TO EXACT REVENGE
ON THE INDIVIDUALS
WHO WERE RESPONSIBLE
FOR THAT ATTEMPT ON HIS LIFE.
Narrator:
THIS TIME, CASSO ASKS HIS OLD
PRISON CONTACT BURT KAPLAN
TO CONTRACT THE POLICE
DETECTIVES,
EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA,
TO FIND OUT
WHO TRIED TO KILL HIM.
KAPLAN AND CASSO LIKED USING
EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA
BECAUSE THEY WERE A KNOWN
RELIABLE ENTITY
IN TERMS OF GETTING
WHAT THEY NEEDED.
Narrator:
AS FATE WOULD HAVE IT,
EPPOLITO WORKED
IN THE VERY NYPD PRECINCT
WHERE THE ATTEMPT ON
CASSO'S LIFE HAD TAKEN PLACE.
WITH AN INVESTIGATION
ALREADY UNDERWAY,
IT WAS EASY FOR HIM TO DISCOVER
WHO THE POLICE THOUGHT
WAS BEHIND THE ATTACK.
DETECTIVE EPPOLITO PASSES
THE NAMES TO KAPLAN,
WHO FORWARDS THEM TO CASSO.
ONE OF THE NAMES ON THE LIST WAS
BETTY HYDELL'S YOUNG SON JIMMY.
BUT THE COPS' INVOLVEMENT
DIDN'T END THERE.
THEY ALSO TOOK CASSO'S MONEY
TO FINISH THE JOB.
THAT WAS WHEN
EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA
WENT TO JIMMY HYDELL'S
HOUSE IN STATEN ISLAND
AND GRABBED JIMMY'S BROTHER,
FRANKIE, BY MISTAKE.
*
WHEN THEY REALIZED
THEY HAD THE WRONG BROTHER,
EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA
LEFT FRANKIE GO,
BUT NOT BEFORE THEY WERE SEEN
BY FRANKIE'S MOTHER, BETTY.
*
DURING HIS CONFESSION, CASSO
EXPLAINS WHAT HAPPENED NEXT.
LATER THAT DAY,
EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA FINALLY
TRACKED DOWN JIMMY HYDELL.
THEY ARRESTED HIM ON THE STREET
AND BUNDLED HIM
INTO THEIR POLICE VEHICLE.
THEY MET HIM AND PUT HIM
IN THEIR CAR, HANDCUFFED,
AND TOLD HIM THAT
THEY WERE TAKING HIM BACK
TO THE POLICE STATION.
THEY WERE GOING TO ASK HIM
SOME QUESTIONS.
ALL SEEMED TO BE ABOVEBOARD
FOR A BAD GUY LIKE JIMMY HYDELL.
I MEAN, HE WAS ALWAYS
A HANGER-ON, A WANNABE,
IN TERMS OF MOBSTER,
SO GETTING PUT IN A POLICE CAR
IS NOTHING UNUSUAL FOR HIM.
THE PROBLEM FOR HIM WAS
THAT HE WAS NOT GOING
TO A STATION HOUSE.
HE WAS TAKEN TO A HOUSE,
TIED TO A CHAIR IN THE BASEMENT
OF A HOUSE, AND TORTURED.
*
Narrator:
KAPLAN AND CASSO TORTURED
JIMMY HYDELL FOR HOURS...
*
NO, NO, NO! PLEASE!
Narrator:
...UNTIL THE KID GAVE UP THE MEN
BEHIND THE FAILED HIT ON CASSO.
*
[ GUNSHOTS ]
JIMMY'S BODY IS EVENTUALLY
BURIED IN THE BASEMENT.
CASSO HAS THE NAMES OF THE MEN
WHO TRIED TO KILL HIM --
NICKY GUIDO AND EDDIE LINO...
*
...TWO NAMES
THAT RANG A STRONG BELL
WITH THE INVESTIGATION TEAM.
IT WAS LIKE A ROAD MAP FOR US
INTO THE ACTIVITIES
OF THE MAFIA COPS.
Narrator:
NOW THE LUCCHESE UNDERBOSS
HAD TO FINISH THE JOB.
HE WANTED TO SHOW HIS ENEMIES
THAT IF THEY WANTED TO KILL HIM,
THEY BETTER DO THE JOB PROPERLY.
THE FIRST TARGET FOR HIS REVENGE
WOULD BE NICKY GUIDO.
CASSO SENDS HIS TWO NYPD
MOLES TO TRACK HIM DOWN.
HE HAD A TOOL THAT NONE OF
THE OTHER FAMILIES HAD,
WHICH IS WHY HE OFTEN
AND SOMEWHAT EUPHEMISTICALLY
REFERRED TO THEM
AS HIS CRYSTAL BALL.
IT ALLOWED HIM THE OPPORTUNITY
TO SEE THINGS
THAT NO ONE ELSE COULD SEE.
Narrator:
DETECTIVE CARACAPPA FINDS
SEVERAL MEN CALLED NICKY GUIDO
IN THE AREA.
HE PASSES ON THE BEST
MATCHES TO CASSO.
ON CHRISTMAS DAY 1986,
CASSO SENDS GUNMEN
TO NICKY GUIDO'S ADDRESS.
THEY FIND GUIDO OUTSIDE,
TALKING WITH HIS UNCLE
IN A CAR PARKED NEAR HIS HOUSE.
NEITHER MAN PAYS ANY ATTENTION
TO THE APPROACHING VEHICLE.
CASSO'S MEN STRAFE THE CAR
WITH BULLETS.
WITHIN SECONDS,
NICKY GUIDO IS DEAD.
ONLY, THIS IS
THE WRONG NICKY GUIDO.
CASSO'S MEN KILLED
AN INNOCENT KID
SHOWING HIS UNCLE
HIS NEW CAR ON CHRISTMAS DAY.
ACCORDING TO CASSO, EVEN THOUGH
THE WRONG GUIDO HAD BEEN KILLED,
EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA
WERE REWARDED FOR THEIR HELP.
THE TWO COPS WENT ON
THE MAFIA PAYROLL.
CASSO AND KAPLAN PAID THEM
4 GRAND A MONTH,
WITH A BONUS CHECK FOR
EACH MURDER THEY COMMITTED.
Vecchione: WHEN I FOUND OUT THAT
THEY WERE ON THE MOB PAYROLL,
I WAS FLABBERGASTED.
I HAD NEVER HEARD OF ANYTHING
LIKE THAT
IN ALL THE YEARS THAT I HAD BEEN
INVOLVED IN LAW ENFORCEMENT.
THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY CALLED IT
THE MOST SERIOUS CASE
OF POLICE CORRUPTION
IN THE HISTORY OF THE
NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT.
*
[ SIREN WAILING ]
Narrator:
CASSO'S CONFESSION IS DYNAMITE.
THE MORE VECCHIONE DISCOVERS,
THE MORE HE WONDERS
WHY THE FEDS DIDN'T ACT.
I WAS SHOCKED THAT THE FBI
DIDN'T BRING IT TO THE ATTENTION
AT LEAST OF
THE INTERNAL AFFAIRS BUREAU
OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.
Narrator:
A LITTLE DISCREET DIGGING
GIVES THEM AN ANSWER
THEY DON'T WANT TO HEAR.
THE FBI DID NOT TAKE
FULL ADVANTAGE
OF THE INFORMATION
THEY GOT FROM GASPIPE
BECAUSE HE WAS CRAZY.
GASPIPE CASSO MADE
OUTRAGEOUS CLAIMS.
SOME WERE TRUE,
AS IT TURNED OUT,
OTHERS WERE NOT TRUE.
HE ALSO HAD SOMETHING TO GAIN.
HE WAS IN PRISON
FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE,
AND THE ONLY POSSIBILITY
HE EVER HAD OF GETTING OUT
WAS TRADING INFORMATION.
AND I THINK
THE FBI FINALLY DECIDED
THAT YOU COULD NEVER PUT HIM
ON THE WITNESS STAND.
Vecchione: THE FBI
WERE NOT HAPPY WITH GASPIPE
AS FAR AS HIS CREDIBILITY
IS CONCERNED,
SO THEY WERE NOT GOING TO
BASE ANY PROSECUTION
ON GASPIPE ALONE.
Narrator:
IF CASSO'S WORD ISN'T ENOUGH,
DADES NEEDS SOMETHING TO PROVE
HE'S TELLING THE TRUTH.
THEN IT HITS HIM.
IF CARACAPPA HAD
TRACKED DOWN GUIDO,
THEN HIS SEARCH SHOULD BE LOGGED
IN THE POLICE COMPUTER SYSTEM.
WHEN ANY OFFICER MAKES A SEARCH,
IT'S LISTED UNDER
HIS TAX NUMBER.
AS DADES WORKS THROUGH
CARACAPPA'S SEARCHES,
HE FINDS
WHAT HE'S LOOKING FOR --
HARD EVIDENCE TO BACK UP
CASSO'S CONFESSION.
Vecchione:
I'LL NEVER FORGET THE DAY
TOMMY CAME RUNNING DOWN
TO MY OFFICE
AND SAID, "WE GOT HIM NOW.
WE DEFINITELY HAVE HIM".
AND I SAID, "WHAT ARE YOU
TALKING ABOUT? WHAT DO YOU GOT?"
HE SAID,
"YOU SEE THIS PRINTOUT?"
I SAID, "YEAH".
HE SAID, "LOOK WHO RAN IT".
I SAID, "WELL, ALL I SEE
IS THE TAX NUMBER.
WHOSE TAX NUMBER IS THAT?"
HE GOES, "IT'S CARACAPPA'S
TAX NUMBER.
LOOK DOWN THE LIST.
LOOK AT THE NAMES
THAT HE LOOKED FOR".
Narrator: CARACAPPA HAD SEARCHED
FOR ONE NICKY GUIDO.
Vecchione: I WAS THRILLED.
THAT'S THE FIRST TIME THAT WE
HAD SOMETHING OTHER THAN WORDS.
WE HAD NOW SOMETHING
WHICH TIED CARACAPPA
TO THE MURDER
OF AN INNOCENT VICTIM.
IT WAS THAT MURDER,
QUITE FRANKLY,
MORE THAN ANY
OF THE OTHERS IN THE CASE,
THAT REALLY GOT TO ME AND KIND
OF KEPT ME GOING AND DIGGING.
AND IT AFFECTED ALL OF US,
AND WE REALLY WANTED
TO GET THESE GUYS.
Narrator:
DAYS BEFORE AN INNOCENT BOY
IS SHOT DEAD BY THE MOB,
CARACAPPA HAD COPS SEARCH
FOR HIS ADDRESS
IN THE POLICE DATABASE.
BUT IT'S STILL NOT ENOUGH.
EPPOLITO HAD ALREADY ESCAPED
ONE HALF-BAKED COURT CASE.
WITH SO MUCH AT STAKE,
THEY WANTED TO MAKE SURE
ANY FUTURE CASE
WAS ABSOLUTELY WATERTIGHT.
DADES RETURNS
TO CASSO'S CONFESSIONS
TO SEE IF THERE WAS MORE.
AND SURE ENOUGH HE FINDS IT,
AND IT'S HORRIFYING.
THE ROGUE COPS WENT FROM BEING
THE MOB'S DELIVERYMEN
TO THEIR EXECUTIONERS.
Narrator:
IN 2003, DETECTIVE TOMMY DADES
IS INVESTIGATING
TWO CORRUPT NYPD COPS.
HE'S FOUND SHOCKING EVIDENCE
BURIED IN THE ARCHIVED
CONFESSIONS
OF LUCCHESE UNDERBOSS
ANTHONY "GASPIPE" CASSO
THAT THE TWO COPS USED
THEIR BADGES TO ABDUCT PEOPLE
AND HAND THEM OVER TO THE MAFIA.
BUT THEN DADES DISCOVERS
SOMETHING ELSE
IN THE CONFESSIONS
WHICH, IF TRUE,
DRAGS THE NAME OF THE FORCE
DOWN TO A NEW LOW.
AFTER THE FAILED ASSASSINATION
ATTEMPT ON GASPIPE CASSO,
THE UNDERBOSS SWORE REVENGE ON
THE MEN WHO TRIED TO KILL HIM.
HE HIRED EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA
TO HUNT DOWN
HIS WOULD-BE ASSASSINS.
AFTER CAPTURING, TORTURING,
THEN MURDERING THE SECOND
OF THE SHOOTERS, JIMMY HYDELL,
THEY GOT THE NAMES
OF TWO MORE FAILED ASSASSINS.
THE FIRST REVENGE ATTACK
LED TO THE DEATH
OF AN INNOCENT YOUNG MAN,
NICKY GUIDO,
BUT ALTHOUGH THE WRONG MAN WAS
KILLED, CASSO WAS UNREPENTANT.
HE WANTED THE THIRD
SHOOTER DEAD, TOO --
A HIT MAN NAMED EDDIE LINO.
LINO WAS A CLOSE FRIEND OF
NEW YORK CRIME BOSS JOHN GOTTI,
SO HE WAS A HARD MAN TO GET TO.
CASSO TURNS, ONCE AGAIN,
TO THE CORRUPT COPS
EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA.
*
THEY PULL LINO OVER
ON A DESOLATE ROAD,
LIKE HE'S COMMITTED
A ROUTINE TRAFFIC VIOLATION,
BUT WITH THE MOB COPS,
NOTHING IS ROUTINE.
CARACAPPA PULLS A GUN AND SHOOTS
LINO AT POINT-BLANK RANGE.
LINO DIES INSTANTLY.
[ POLICE RADIO CHATTER ]
THE DETECTIVES HAVE
TURNED A CORNER.
THEY'RE NOW
FULLY FLEDGED KILLERS.
THE FEDS CALL CASSO UNRELIABLE,
BUT VECCHIONE'S TEAM BELIEVE
CASSO'S REVELATIONS ARE
JUST TOO DETAILED TO BE IGNORED.
WITH CORROBORATING EVIDENCE
HARD TO COME BY,
THE DETECTIVES DECIDE
TO FIND ANOTHER SOURCE
TO BACK CASSO'S CLAIMS.
AND THERE WAS ONE NAME
IN CASSO'S CONFESSION
THAT CROPPED UP
TIME AND AGAIN --
CASSO'S GO-BETWEEN, BURT KAPLAN.
Ponzi: KAPLAN WAS
THE MISSING INGREDIENT.
HE WAS ABSOLUTELY
THE ESSENTIAL PIECE
ON PUTTING THIS ENTIRE
CONSPIRACY TOGETHER.
Narrator:
AT THE TIME, KAPLAN IS SERVING
27 YEARS IN PRISON
ON A DRUGS CHARGE
AND SO FAR HAS RESISTED
ALL ATTEMPTS TO FLIP HIM.
HE SIMPLY REFUSES
TO TURN INFORMANT.
HE WAS JUST A HARD-BOILED,
STUBBORN, OLD WISE GUY
THAT WOULD NEVER BREAK THE CODE.
HE HONESTLY BELIEVED THAT
COOPERATION WAS NEVER AN OPTION.
Narrator: VECCHIONE
DOESN'T GIVE UP HOPE.
HE KNOWS ONE MAN WHO CAN TURN
EVEN THE TOUGHEST MOBSTERS.
BUT HE'S ALREADY ON THE TEAM.
VECCHIONE GIVES JOE PONZI
THE CHALLENGE OF HIS CAREER --
CRACK KAPLAN.
I'VE KNOWN JOE PONZI
FOR PROBABLY 35 YEARS,
AND HE WAS A GUY
WHO CAN TALK TO PEOPLE.
FOR WHATEVER REASON,
THEY OPEN UP.
Narrator: PONZI STARTS BY TRYING
TO PUT THE SQUEEZE ON KAPLAN.
THE FIRST STEP WAS TO GET
BURT OUT OF HIS ELEMENT
AND MOVE HIM CLOSER.
ON MY FIRST MEETING,
I MADE IT CLEAR TO HIM
THAT HE MIGHT BE
THAT MUCH MORE UNCOMFORTABLE
OVER AT RIKERS ISLAND,
A LOCAL CITY PENITENTIARY
THAT MOST INMATES
JUST HATED TO BE HOUSED IN.
I QUICKLY LEARNED
THAT THREATENING BURT
WAS NOT THE WAY TO GO.
HE RAISED UP ON ME AND SAID,
"YOU MOVE ME THERE,
I COULD SELF-MEDICATE MYSELF
AND KILL MYSELF ANYTIME I WANT.
YOU MOVE ME THERE,
I'LL KILL MYSELF INSTANTLY,
AND THAT'LL BE ON YOUR HEAD".
HE MADE IT PERFECTLY CLEAR THAT,
YOU KNOW, THAT STYLE OF,
YOU KNOW, SORT OF
THREATENING APPROACH
WAS NOT GOING TO WORK.
Narrator:
PONZI TRIES A DIFFERENT TACK.
IF HE CAN'T THREATEN HIM, MAYBE
HE CAN APPEAL TO HIS CONSCIENCE.
I FELT THAT MAYBE IF I THREW
SOME NAMES AT HIM,
MAYBE IF I, YOU KNOW, HIT HIM
WITH SOME OF THE NAMES
OF THE HOMICIDE VICTIMS
THAT WE BELIEVED WERE,
YOU KNOW, PART OF
THIS ENTIRE CONSPIRACY
THAT THAT WOULD
HAVE SOME IMPACT.
Narrator: AT FIRST, IT SEEMS
TO BE GOING NOWHERE.
I BEGAN WITH JIMMY HYDELL.
I WENT TO EDDIE LINO.
Narrator: KAPLAN ISN'T CRACKING,
BUT DETECTIVE PONZI IS
HOLDING ONE NAME BACK.
NOT A MOBSTER, NOT AN INFORMANT,
BUT AN INNOCENT KID RIDDLED WITH
BULLETS ON CHRISTMAS DAY --
NICKY GUIDO.
I SAW HIS FACE JUST TURN FROM
A SCOWL TO ALMOST BEET RED,
AND HE SAID, "THAT'S WHAT
I CAN'T STAND ABOUT YOU GUYS.
YOU THINK YOU KNOW THINGS
THAT YOU DON'T KNOW.
YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING
ABOUT NICKY GUIDO".
AND HE GOT UP,
AND IT APPEARED AS IF HE WAS
GOING TO WALK OUT THE DOOR,
AND I SAID, "WAIT, MR. KAPLAN.
MAYBE I DON'T KNOW.
TELL ME WHAT I DON'T KNOW.
SIT DOWN AND EXPLAIN TO ME
WHAT I DON'T KNOW".
AND HE SAT BACK DOWN.
Narrator: KAPLAN OPENS UP.
PONZI HAS ACHIEVED
WHAT NO ONE ELSE EVER HAS --
HE HAS FOUND A WAY OF GETTING
THIS HARDENED CRIMINAL TO FLIP.
NICKY GUIDO, A KID
WHO WAS SHOWING HIS UNCLE
HIS BRAND-NEW, SHINY, RED CAR
ON CHRISTMAS MORNING --
THAT'S WHAT ULTIMATELY
GOT TO BURT KAPLAN.
AND HE AGREED TO TESTIFY.
Narrator:
IN A SERIES OF INTERVIEWS,
ONE BY ONE, KAPLAN CORROBORATES
ALL OF CASSO'S ALLEGATIONS...
...THE ABDUCTIONS, THE MURDERS,
EVEN THE COPS GOING
ON THE MAFIA PAYROLL.
AND IN RETURN FOR
A REDUCED SENTENCE,
HE EVEN AGREES
TO TAKE THE STAND.
Vecchione:
HE GAVE UP EVERYTHING.
BURT KAPLAN GAVE UP
EVERY SINGLE THING
THAT HE KNEW ABOUT
EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA,
WHICH INCLUDED
ALL OF THE MURDERS,
EVERYTHING THAT THEY HAD DONE
TO BETRAY THE BADGE THAT
THEY WERE BOTH CARRYING.
Narrator: IT'S THE BREAKTHROUGH
THE TEAM HAVE BEEN WORKING
SO HARD TO ACHIEVE.
IN LAS VEGAS, MARCH 2005,
LAW ENFORCEMENT FINALLY
HAVE ENOUGH EVIDENCE
TO INDICT EPPOLITO
AND CARACAPPA,
AND THEY SWOOP IN.
[ SIREN WAILING ]
BUT WILL THE HARDENED
COPS GO QUIETLY,
OR WILL THEY GO DOWN SHOOTING?
[ SIRENS WAILING ]
*
Narrator: MARCH 2005.
RETIRED COPS LOU EPPOLITO
AND STEPHEN CARACAPPA
HAVE BEEN EXPOSED
AS MOB KILLERS.
LAS VEGAS POLICE SWOOP IN
TO ARREST THE CROOKED COPS.
THEY GIVE THEMSELVES UP
WITHOUT A FIGHT.
*
MARCH 2006 -- WHEN THE TWO COPS
STAND TRIAL IN NEW YORK
FOR KIDNAPPING AND MURDERING
FOR THE MAFIA,
THE CASE CAUSES A SENSATION.
I THINK IT IS THE BIGGEST
CORRUPTION SCANDAL
IN THE HISTORY OF THE
NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT.
THE ACTS THAT THEY PERFORMED
AND THE INVESTIGATIONS
THAT THEY COMPROMISED
AND BREACHED IN TOTALITY
MAKES THIS, WITHOUT QUESTION,
THE BIGGEST
POLICE CORRUPTION CASE
IN THE HISTORY
OF NEW YORK CITY.
Narrator: EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA
FACE A LONG LIST OF CHARGES,
INCLUDING MURDER,
OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE,
NARCOTICS DISTRIBUTION,
AND MONEY LAUNDERING.
IT'S A LONG LIST OF CRIMES --
ALL SUPPORTED
BY MOB INFORMANT BURT KAPLAN'S
CRITICAL TESTIMONY.
*
Ponzi: THE SPECIFIC NATURE
OF HIS INFORMATION
WAS SO DETAILED, SO FINE,
JUST SO INCREDIBLY
AND IMPECCABLY LAID OUT
AND CORROBORATED INDEPENDENTLY
SO MANY DIFFERENT WAYS
THAT WE WERE ALL VERY CONFIDENT
GOING FORWARD
THAT THIS WOULD RESULT
IN A SUCCESSFUL PROSECUTION.
THERE ARE SOME
ORGANIZED CRIME AUTHORITIES
WHO SAY THAT HE WAS
QUITE POSSIBLY
THE MOST POWERFUL
COOPERATING WITNESS
THEY EVER SAW TESTIFY.
[ SIREN WAILING ]
Narrator:
THE EVIDENCE AGAINST THE
CORRUPT COPS IS OVERWHELMING,
AND IN APRIL 2006, AFTER JUST
10 HOURS OF DELIBERATION,
THE JURY RETURNS THEIR VERDICT.
EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA ARE
FOUND GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS.
THEY'RE BOTH SENTENCED
TO LIFE IN PRISON
WITH NO POSSIBILITY FOR PAROLE.
*
Vecchione: I WAS ELATED.
I KNEW THAT THAT WAS THE END
OF THE ROAD FOR THEM.
I KIND OF EXHALED AND SAID,
"OKAY, IT'S FINALLY OVER".
I'M NOT SHY ABOUT
TAKING CREDIT FOR IT.
IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR TOMMY,
IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR ME,
IF IT HADN'T HAVE BEEN
FOR JOE PONZI,
THEY'D STILL BE
WALKING FREE TODAY.
Fisher:
EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA THOUGHT
THEY HAD GOTTEN AWAY WITH IT,
AND HAD THEY KEPT
A LOWER PROFILE,
THEY WOULD HAVE
GOTTEN AWAY WITH IT.
Vecchione: MY FEELINGS ABOUT
EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA
ARE THAT THEY ARE AKIN
TO THE DEVIL, QUITE FRANKLY.
THEY TAKE A SHIELD
TO WHICH PEOPLE PUT TRUST
AND BETRAYED IT.
THEY'RE AKIN TO SATAN.
I HATE THEM.
I HATE THEM.
I DON'T THINK THAT ANYBODY
COULD GIVE YOU A FAIR ESTIMATE
OF HOW MUCH DAMAGE THESE TWO
PEOPLE DID TO THE NYPD.
THERE'S NO WAY OF ASSESSING
THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF DAMAGE DONE.
[ GUNSHOT ]
Narrator:
AS LOU EPPOLITO'S FAMILY
HAD CONNECTIONS TO THE MAFIA,
ONE QUESTION HANGS IN THE AIR --
WAS EPPOLITO ACTUALLY
A MAFIA SLEEPER?
DID THE MOB PLACE HIM
IN THE NYPD,
OR WAS HE JUST
A GOOD COP GONE BAD?
BASED UPON EVERYTHING THAT
I KNOW ABOUT LOUIS EPPOLITO,
I DO NOT BELIEVE
THAT THE MOB PLANTED HIM
IN THE NEW YORK CITY
POLICE DEPARTMENT.
I THINK THAT HE HAD
THE BACKGROUND OF BAD GUYS
IN HIS FAMILY,
AND WHEN THE OPPORTUNITY
PRESENTED ITSELF
FOR HIM TO MAKE MONEY
AND BECOME A ROGUE, HE TOOK IT.
Narrator:
PERHAPS THE MOST BAFFLING
QUESTION IS "WHY?"
HAVING RETURNED TO LAS VEGAS,
EPPOLITO RISKED EVERYTHING
BY PUTTING HIS CAREER
IN THE PUBLIC EYE.
EPPOLITO REALLY BELIEVED
HE HAD GOTTEN AWAY WITH IT.
THERE ARE CERTAIN PERSONALITIES
WHERE ENOUGH IS NEVER ENOUGH.
HE WANTED TO BRAG ABOUT IT.
HE WANTED TO BE ABLE
TO TELEGRAPH TO THE WORLD
WHAT HE HAD DONE
WITHOUT ANYONE KNOWING
WHAT HE HAD DONE.
Narrator:
THE MOB COPS CASE REMAINS
THE MOST SHOCKING EXAMPLE
OF POLICE CORRUPTION
IN NEW YORK CITY'S HISTORY.
IT'S THANKS TO THE COURAGE
OF BETTY HYDELL
AND TO THE EFFORTS
OF DETECTIVES DADES,
VECCHIONE, AND PONZI
THAT THE BAD COPS FINALLY GOT
THE JUSTICE THEY DESERVED.
THE RUTHLESS AND UNREPENTANT
MAFIA COPS
HAVE EXHAUSTED ALL APPEALS.
EPPOLITO AND CARACAPPA
WILL NEVER BE RELEASED
FROM FEDERAL PRISON.