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Monday, February 10, 2014

GUILTY: Rabbi Victor Koltun Convicted on Three Counts of First-Degree Murder


GOSHEN - An Orange County jury on Monday convicted Brooklyn Rabbi Victor Koltun of three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of conspiracy and a felony weapon charge in the 2010 shooting deaths of Gerald and Francis Piscopo.

The bodies of Gerald, 28, and Francis, 49, were found shot execution-style in a vacant house in Newburgh the night of Nov. 4, 2010.

Following three weeks of testimony and about a day of deliberations, the jury convicted Koltun, 44, of three out of the four first-degree murder counts he faced as well as convicting him on two counts of conspiracy to commit murder.

Francis Piscopo had been trying aggressively to collect a debt Koltun owed to a friend. Prosecutors argued that Koltun decided to hire ex-cons Frank Lewis and Craig Fennell to end those efforts. Gerald Piscopo had driven his uncle Francis to the meeting, where Lewis shot them.

Senior Assistant District Attorney David Byrne, aided by Assistant District Attorney Steven Goldberg, presented a complex, detailed case to the jury. 

They used phone and GPS records and security video footage to substantiate testimony of witnesses such as Koltun's driver, who drove the conspirators around on the day of the slayings.

Read More At: Recordonline

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