| Guilty Plea in '79 Fatal Stabbing Man admits killing friend By Chau Lam Staff Writer September 23, 2003, 9:01 PM EDT Twenty-four years after he helped kill his best friend and then left town, a former Valley Stream man pleaded guilty yesterday to manslaughter. Amerigo Vespucci, 56, admitted that he, along with another man who has since died, stabbed and killed Richard Hogan, 28, outside a bar in Oct. 28, 1979. Assistant District Attorney Frank Schroeder declined yesterday to say who wielded the knife, but one of Hogan's sisters, Patricia Bartels, said prosecutors told her family they believed Vespucci stabbed her brother while a second man, Dennis Carney, held him down. The murder weapon was never found. Prosecutors had said the stabbing occurred shortly after Vespucci argued with Hogan for giving authorities information about a robbery that Vespucci's brother allegedly committed. Vespucci, who was charged with two counts of second-degree murder, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of first-degree manslaughter. In an agreement worked out between prosecutors and Vespucci's defense attorney, Thomas Liotti, of Garden City, Vespucci will serve 3 to 9 years in prison for his crime. "The amount of time is not as important as him taking responsibility for murdering Richie," Bartels said yesterday. Sentencing has been set for Nov. 7 before Nassau County Court Judge Donald E. Belfi in Mineola. Vespucci, who has been held without bail at the Nassau County Correctional Facility in East Meadow since his arrest, has already served 2 years and is eligible for parole in a year. According to prosecutors, Vespucci skipped town the day Hogan's body was found sprawled face-up on a local sidewalk near a pub where the men and Carney had been drinking. Vespucci emptied his bank account, and his car was found abandoned near the Ronkonkoma train station. Initially, police arrested Carney and charged him with killing Hogan but later dismissed the charges. Vespucci was named as the prime suspect. Vespucci first fled to Florida, where he lived for many years, according to Liotti. Later, Vespucci moved to Montana and lived on an Indian reservation. He was arrested on Sept. 9, 2001, when he returned to Valley Stream to attend his brother's funeral. Liotti said Vespucci accepted the plea deal because had Vespucci gone to trial and found guilty of murder he would have faced 25 years to life in prison. That, Liotti said, was something Vespucci was not willing to gamble with. Schroeder said his office agreed to the deal, in part, because that was what Hogan's family wanted. Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc. |
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