Scared Monkeys Discussion Forum

The Monkey Lounge => The Monkey Lounge => Topic started by: Jacqueline on November 14, 2006, 01:59:20 PM



Title: COLD CASE SOLVED AFTER 34 YEARS...SOMEONE FINALLY SPOKE UP.
Post by: Jacqueline on November 14, 2006, 01:59:20 PM
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/14/nyregion/14arrest.html


Title: COLD CASE SOLVED AFTER 34 YEARS...SOMEONE FINALLY SPOKE UP.
Post by: 2NJSons_Mom on November 14, 2006, 05:47:11 PM
His brother was one who is speaking to the authorities...


Title: COLD CASE SOLVED AFTER 34 YEARS...SOMEONE FINALLY SPOKE UP.
Post by: Jacqueline on November 15, 2006, 08:21:02 AM
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1163571334150640.xml&coll=1

Brother begs rest of family who know something to speak up.


Title: COLD CASE SOLVED AFTER 34 YEARS...SOMEONE FINALLY SPOKE UP.
Post by: lainey on November 19, 2006, 01:01:09 AM
New article on this
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1163914991194340.xml&coll=1


Title: COLD CASE SOLVED AFTER 34 YEARS...SOMEONE FINALLY SPOKE UP.
Post by: Jacqueline on December 10, 2006, 08:37:37 PM
From outset, brother was suspected in Lodi slaying      Sunday, December 10, 2006

By CAROLYN SALAZAR
STAFF WRITER
 
To some investigators, the gruesome killing of 6-year-old Vincent Barbarino was never a mystery.

As soon as the nude body of the missing boy was found at a deserted construction site in Lodi, detectives suspected that whoever stabbed him three times across his stomach and shoulder was no stranger.

 
A few feet from a red fuel truck where a search party made the discovery, 15-year-old Joseph Barbarino reacted strongly.

Seeing his dead brother, he shouted something like, "I'm going to kill the person who did this!" and then ran off, said Lou Loscialpo, then a rookie Lodi police officer who was part of the search team.

Although everyone responds differently in such instances, he said, Joseph Barbarino's actions seemed a bit off.

"It was as if he was positioning himself to be the poor victim," said Loscialpo, now a private investigator and part-time professor. "But something about the way he was behaving seemed inappropriate to me. I suspected it was him right then."

Barbarino later failed a lie-detector test, said Herbert Allmers, who administered the exam in 1972 and later became deputy chief of detectives for the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office.

Investigators had no direct evidence, however. The bloody knife was never found. There were no fingerprints, no eyewitnesses. The family wasn't talking.

"The parents seemed to be sheltering the kids," said Allmers, who is retired and living in Florida.

Now, 34 years later, authorities say things have changed.

Family members and others have been interviewed. New forensic evidence is available that wasn't before, says county Prosecutor John L. Molinelli.

The new evidence -- along with statements from a third brother, Michael, who says he witnessed the killing when he was 4 years old -- has reignited what has been a difficult case for investigators to solve and for the community to understand.

Arrested last month, Joseph Barbarino faces murder and felony murder charges in connection with the April 5, 1972, killing, as well as sexual assault charges filed after investigators uncovered evidence of a physical relationship with an 11-year-old girl.

Ray Beam, Barbarino's attorney, wouldn't comment on the case other than to say that his client maintains his innocence.

Those who worked on the case in 1972 say there wasn't sufficient proof then to pursue anyone.

Joseph Barbarino was known as a troubled kid who was sheltered by his family, said Ozzie Siconolfi, a retired Lodi police officer who was a juvenile detective at the time of the killing.

"Prior to that case, he was always known as the bully of the family," Siconolfi said. "But his family always protected him."

The Barbarino family, which has lived in the same Lodi house since before the killing, has remained relatively tight-lipped since Joseph Barbarino's arrest. Family members haven't returned repeated phone calls seeking comment. Michael Barbarino is the only one who has spoken publicly about the incident.

Michael first gave investigators what he calls "incriminating evidence" in 1988. At that time, records show, a grand jury was convened for the purpose of compelling the family to testify under oath. According to police reports, however, those family members who did appear before the grand jury gave unreliable testimony.

With no further evidence and conflicting stories by family members, the case never moved forward.

Molinelli won't discuss the 1988 probe, which helps form the basis of his office's current case.

The prosecutor also has asked the two investigators involved in the 18-year-old review, Vincent Markowski and Thomas Goldrick, not to grant media interviews. Reached by phone, both Markowski and Goldrick declined to comment, saying they might be called to testify.

Why it took authorities this long to bring a case nonetheless remains an open question.

Michael Barbarino said former Lodi Police Chief Andrew Voto, the chief investigator in the case, had close ties to the family and didn't want to lock up his brother.

When the case was reopened briefly in 1988, Michael says, Voto privately said to him: "You should leave it alone, and let things be."
"I believe it was a coverup," Michael said. "I went through the horror and the counseling for many years, due to the fact of all this going on. I believe if Joey was immediately locked up, my life would be totally different. I really, honestly believe that."

But former colleagues of Voto, who died two years ago, said any speculation that there was anything sinister behind Voto's actions is unfounded and undeserved.

"I didn't always see eye to eye with Chief Voto, but those rumors are unfair. He really tried to put that kid away," Loscialpo said. "I remember [Voto] used to go to the cemetery all the time to visit Vincent Barbarino's grave. He really tried hard to come up with evidence, but he couldn't come up with any. And he took that really hard."

The current chief, Vincent Caruso, said the charges against Joseph Barbarino resulted from more thorough police work this time around.

"My department and the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office have really pushed this case," said Caruso, who became a borough officer in 1987. "We interviewed a lot more people, and have dug a lot deeper than was previously done when this case was investigated."

Staff Writer Jason Tsai contributed to this article. E-mail: salazar@northjersey.com

* * *
Case timeline

April 5, 1972 (10:25 p.m.): Six


Interesting comparisions can be made between this Barbarino fellow and Joran....