Iacoviello Trial Over, Sentencing Tomorrow

Robert Iacoviello (My Fox Boston)

With Tuesday's guilty verdict handed down, the picture of what happened that night back in 2008 on the fields behind Revere High School between a group of off-duty police officers and gangsters has finally come into focus.

As came out in trial testimony, the officers had been drinking since leaving the shooting range at Fort Devens when Officers Soto, Franklin, and Talbot cracked open a few beers (with Soto driving.)They continued to drink at local watering hole Margarita's, and then after that brought some alcohol to the bleachers behind Revere High School. This is where they would fatefully encounter Derek Lodie, who was cutting through the high school fields.

When the group saw Lodie, testimony states that the group began to harass him. In his testimony ex-Sergeant Franklin stated that, at most, they were just looking for a fistfight with Lodie, whom Talbot recognized from his work in the gang unit at Revere PD. During these taunts, Talbot yelled numerous things at Lodie, including "gangster," "slob," and "BK." Lodie, who was associated with Blood gang members, would have taken these statements as Talbot pledging allegiance to the Crips street gang (it should be noted here that rumors of hand signs have been going around - testimony during trial indicated that while off-duty Talbot would "clown around" and make gang symbols with his hands, but as far as it taking place that night, there's no testimony to support that.) Slob is a put-down that Crips direct at Bloods, and BK stands for Blood Killer, another Crips identifier. Lodie, who believed that he was being targeted by a group of Crip gang members, called up some of his Blood friends, which included Robert Iacoviello.

After Lodie made the phone call to his gangster friends, Iacoviello showed up with Thomas Papandrea, who was the prosecution's main witness against Iacoviello, and Dararin "Johnny" Heang (James Heang's younger brother.) At this point the gangster contingent began hurling insults back to the off-duty officers. When this began Talbot left the bleacher area to confront Lodie and his associates, despite several warnings and pleadings from the other officers and his fiance to stop. This is when Iacoviello pulled out a Hi Point 9mm that he brought with him and shot Talbot in the head, which would kill him hours later. The gangsters fled, with Officer Soto returning fire without hitting anyone.

I've already gone over what the officers did post-shooting, and now we know more about what Iacoviello and his friends did. Iacoviello returned to the party he left and in the hours and days that followed enlisted the help of numerous people to help break down the Hi Point and get rid of other evidence, such as shoes and clothes. This is where Gia Nagy comes in; her DNA was found in the knot of a rubber glove holding pieces of the murder weapon. This is the only DNA/fingerprint evidence found on the murder weapon as the gun was heated with a blowtorch and Cloroxed after it was used to kill Talbot. However, the elder Heang was convicted of accessory after the fact for his role in breaking down the gun and depositing it in storm drains in Revere.

On top of all this, Iacoviello apparently confessed to a jailhouse confidant, Randy Furtado. Furtado got his sentence reduced from 5-7 years to 2.5 years on unrelated drug charges for his testimony in which he stated that Iacoviello told him that he fired at Talbot thinking he was a Crip and did not mean to hit him.

All in all, Robert Iacoviello was found guilty of second degree murder for being the triggerman, Derek Lodie pleaded guilty to accessory before the fact and received 8-12 years, Gia Nagy pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and received 1-2 years, and James Heang was found guilty of accessory after the fact with Iacoviello. Iacoviello's attorney, who says that Iacoviello did not kill Talbot, says his client will appeal the verdict.

Both parties involved here were in the wrong. To pretend to be a rival gangster while looking for a fistfight with a kid who you know is associated with Bloods behind a public high school at 1:30am after you've been drinking for the majority of the evening shows incredibly bad judgment and, in this case, got Daniel Talbot killed. Did he deserve to be killed for his errors? Absolutely not, and that is why Robert Iacoviello will be behind bars for at least a decade and a half.

Daniel Talbot Murder Accomplice Changes Plea

Gia Nagy (Boston Herald)

Now for those of you who follow this blog semi-regularly, you know that I've been following the Daniel Talbot case quite closely. The last development was a big one, when Derek Lodie, who had been charged as an accessory before the fact of Daniel Talbot's murder, changed his plea to guilty and received a sentence of 8-12 years. Given that accessories before the fact of a felony in Massachusetts receive the same punishment as the principle if convicted, 8-12 years, at least on the surface, looks like a very good deal for Lodie.

Today Nagy has changed her plea on the indicted charge, which is accessory after the fact to murder. She is charged with helping her boyfriend Robert Iacoviello, the alleged shooter, to break down the alleged murder weapon (a 9mm) and dispose of it while providing an alibi for Iacoviello.

This brings the number of people involved in this case who have pleaded guilty to five (by my count.)  There's Lodie and Nagy, as well as three unidentified individuals who are apparently well-known in Revere and were offered deals in pending, unrelated cases to testify about their knowledge in the case. One was also allegedly put into witness protection and flown out to Vegas. Of the three, two have since had run-ins with the law and, according to the Revere Journal, one is now behind bars.

Judge Brady handed down a sentence of 1-2 years for Nagy, which is what the Suffolk DA's office was looking for. As far as Nagy testifying against Iacoviello during his upcoming trial next month, the DA's office says that Nagy did not sign a cooperation agreement with them. As of right now I've yet to receive comment from Nagy's lawyer as to whether she plans to testify against Iacoviello.

So how does this change things for Iacoviello? Will he still go to trial in January as planned or will he be looking to cut a deal now that two people have pled to accessory charges in related to his alleged crime? Iacoviello's lawyer had no comment.

A trial would force the DA to show their entire hand, hopefully meaning that more details would come out about what happened, because the official story of what happened seems a bit off to me. I'm not saying that the DA's office is lying or anything like that, but this particular incident is so filled with questions of "Why?" that for it to make sense would not make sense, if that makes sense. But then again, violent deaths tend to conjure up more questions than answers.

New Development in Daniel Talbot Case: Lodie Changes Plea

Derek Lodie (Boston.com)

It was announced today that Derek Lodie, the teenager charged as an accessory to murder in the slaying of Revere Police Officer Daniel Talbot almost two years ago, has changed his plea to guilty of accessory to manslaughter before the fact and received 8-12 years in prison. The charges have stemmed from a September 29, 2007 incident in which Lodie allegedly was walking behind Revere High at 1:30 am when he got into a verbal altercation with Daniel Talbot. Talbot apparently was taunting Lodie about being a member of the Bloods street gang and allegedly led the suspect to believe that he and his fellow officers were members of a rival gang (Lodie's attorney suggested this, and the D.A.'s office has stated to me that "The evidence does not suggest that Lodie knew Officer Talbot and his compatriots were police officers, but nor does it suggest that anyone led Lodie to believe they were members of a rival gang.").

The prosecution says that Lodie then called up Robert Iacoviello, a suspected Blood member, who then ambushed Talbot while Talbot and Lodie argued. Two other individuals have been charged - Gia Nagy and James Heang - as accessories after the fact for storing and helping to get rid of the murder weapon (which has not been found - see comment below, the alleged murder weapon has been recovered).

The story of what happened still does not make perfect sense, and the prosecution's refusal to make public tapes of the incident from Revere High's surveillance cameras (on public property, paid for with public funds) only further clouds the whole thing. One officer, Sergeant Evan Franklin, who was with Talbot at the time (five people have been confirmed as being there - Talbot, Talbot's fiancee, Franklin and two other Revere Police officers) has been fired for directing a responding unit to not respond to the scene but rather take an inebriated Franklin home. Couple that with the fact that four police officers are behind a public high school at 1:30 am drinking and a 20 year old with no formal firearms training is able to shoot one of the officers in the head while escaping from returning fire unscathed, and we have a very tragic and confusing situation.

In all, Lodie is getting off pretty easy, considering that in Massachusetts if you are an accessory before the fact in a felony you are punished in the manner of the principal (i.e. he who committed the felony.) So, in essence, Lodie got 8-12 years for killing a cop, which is a pretty lenient plea deal given the alleged crime.

It's hard to say what role Lodie's plea change will play in Iacoviello's upcoming January trial. The media is not saying whether Lodie will testify for the prosecution, though I cannot think of another reason to give Lodie 8-12 years for this. The DA's office, however, states that Lodie did not sign a cooperation agreement. Hopefully during trial the videotapes of the event (there is some fear that they have been damaged or destroyed) are made public so that we know what truly happened that fateful morning behind Revere High.

Daniel Talbot's Murder Gets More Complicated

First of all, shots to Chris King over at Chris King's First Amendment Page, as he used this blog as a source for some updates on Daniel Talbot's murder. King's also got some great material on the Bruce McKay/Liko Kenney mess. Additionally, King pointed me in the direction of even more updates concerning the Talbot murder, and since then even more has come out from various media outlets. Of course the information is scarce and a lot of speculation surrounds it, but nonetheless I will try to decipher it as best I can.

It was reported on December 15 that a third arrest had been made in the Talbot murder. The arrested, Gia Nagy, was charged with accessory to murder after the fact, which carries a punishment of up to 7 years in prison. She is alleged to have helped Iacoviello after he allegedly killed Talbot. Prosecutors say that she helped break down the 9mm gun used to kill Talbot and then helped hide the pieces in a storm drain. The article says that numerous people have testified that they saw Nagy break the gun down and that Iacoviello had told other people that Nagy helped him with the gun (the latter of which, of course, is hearsay and thus in the majority of cases inadmissable in court).

Only five days later it was reported that a fourth arrest had been made in the case. 17 year old James Heang from Revere is being charged with accessory after the fact and unlawful possession of a firearm. There is no word yet, though, on what his role (if any) was in the murder of Talbot.

I will stress again the need for transparency in this case. The DA has been less than forthcoming with information from the onset of the case and something just does not seem right about this. The details are hazy, and some of the logic seems astounding. Hopefully some documents from the case are available at the Suffolk Clerk's office so I can try to get a better grip on what the hell went on on September 29 behind Revere High. Until then it seems that the prosecution will continue to feed us tiny bits of information to keep us pacified until trial. Peace.

Photos - Daniel Talbot (WHDH-TV), Gia Nagy (WBZ-TV)