Police: DeSimone killing not mob-related

New Jersey police believe Thursday's daytime shooting murder of Frank DeSimone Jr., 41, was related to a personal dispute and not to the Mafia, according to a story by Jason Tsai and Kibret Markos of the Record.

While some of DeSimone's relatives, including his 75-year-old father, have Mafia connections, police have not linked Frank Jr. to the underworld organization. Frank DeSimone Sr., however, is a made member of the Lucchese Crime Family. Another relative, Tommy DeSimone, was the inspiration for actor Joe Pesci's character in the 1990 movie Goodfellas.

Roosevelt Withers, 43, of Manhattan, has been charged with Frank Jr.'s killing. A parolee with an extensive criminal history, police say Withers shot DeSimone in his car at close range with a .38-caliber revolver. Police are investigating connections between the two men. DeSimone, a used car salesman, is known to have recently sold a Dodge Durango SUV to Withers. Withers was convicted of drug dealing in 1990 and of armed robbery in 1993. He was paroled last March.

Police apprehended Withers about 20 minutes after the DeSimone shooting. Withers was driving toward New York City, when he crashed his car in heavy traffic at the entrance to the George Washington Bridge. He fled on foot and was caught near a toll booth.

Withers pleaded not guilty to a murder charge in Bergen County Superior Court on Friday (see photo above from Dec. 28 issue of The Record).

Mafia killing conviction could be overturned

Anthony DeSimone, 40, could be freed from prison due to a federal judge's ruling this week, according to an Associated Press report published in the Boston Herald.

U.S. District Judge Charles Brieant said that, during DeSimone's 2000 trial, the Westchester County NY district attorney's office failed to turn over important evidence to the defense. That evidence pointed to the guilt of another party, noted Brieant.

DeSimone was convicted of killing college student Louis Balancio, 21, during a gang fight on Feb. 4, 1994, outside the Strike Zone bar in Yonkers NY. The fight reportedly involved the Tanglewood Boys gang, an organization believed to be affiliated with the mob. Balancio was stabbed at least a dozen times.

Lucchese Crime Family figures were associated with the crime and were believed to be working to silence witnesses. Anthony and Alfred Santorelli were convicted of aiding DeSimone after the killing.

It took three years for prosecutors to secure an indictment against DeSimone, and then another two years to track him down. He turned himself in to Yonkers police in November 1999, according to the New York Times. DeSimone was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Judge Brieant threw out the conviction in 2005. A federal appeals court later reinstated the conviction but asked Brieant to review the material prosecutors withheld from the defense.

Brieant has allowed prosecutors just 20 days to win a stay from an appeals court in order to keep DeSimone in prison.