Detective says rabbi pinned deaths on 2 co-defendants
GOSHEN — Gerald Piscopo begged for his life before he was shot, according to police testimony in a pretrial hearing on Wednesday for three men charged with first- and second-degree murder in his death and that of his uncle.
Gerald Piscopo, 28, of Highland, and his uncle, former Lloyd police Officer Francis Piscopo, 49, were shot to death on Nov. 4 in a house at 12 Liberty St. in Newburgh's Washington Heights. Rabbi Victor Koltun, 42, Frank Lewis, 56, of Brooklyn, and Craig Fennell, 52, of Manhattan, were in Orange County Court Wednesday for a pretrial hearing in the case.
Paying off a debt
Koltun told the court Tuesday that he'd hired a new lawyer, but no one has heard from that lawyer; James Winslow is still representing him.
Wednesday's testimony focused on a long interview with police on Nov. 6, and statements Koltun made Jan. 21 at the district attorney's office — against Winslow's advice — putting the onus of the shooting on his co-defendants.
Under questioning from Senior Assistant District Attorney David Byrne, City of Newburgh Detective Thomas Nafey testified that when city detectives and state police first spoke to Koltun two days after the double slaying, he told them he'd been in Newburgh on Nov. 4 to talk to a business associate named Pedro, and to pay off a debt to a man he knew as Angelo Rizzi. He arranged to meet Rizzi at 12 Liberty St. in the city's Washington Heights because, he told cops, he'd had a violent run-in with Rizzi in the past at a Chinese restaurant in Brooklyn and Rizzi had shown up at his home in New Jersey shouting about the debt.
Detective says story changed
On Jan. 21, Nafey testified, Koltun changed his story to include Lewis and Fennell. He said he brought Lewis as backup and Fennell came along, that Lewis had a 9 mm handgun and Koltun had a revolver. Koltun said he and Lewis went to Liberty to get money from Koltun's father; they stopped at the Trading Post to get things Lewis suggested — zip ties, rubber gloves, acid. They returned to the house in Newburgh.
According to Nafey, Koltun said when the Piscopos arrived the younger man grabbed him and he got hit; then he heard shots and saw the older Piscopo, the man he knew as Rizzi, on the floor, shot.
"The younger male was begging, 'please don't kill me,'" Nafey recounted. "Mr. Lewis put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger."
After court, Winslow said Nafey's testimony about parts of Koltun's statements was inaccurate.
The defense lawyers will be able to cross-examine Nafey when the hearing resumes on Tuesday.
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