Feds drop death penalty against Joe Waverly for murder of NYPD cop
Joel "Joe Waverly" Cacace, 61, reputed acting boss of the Colombo crime family, won't face death penalty at trial for 1990s murder of NYPD cop Ralph Dols. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder ordered federal prosecutors in Brooklyn not to pursue Cacace's execution in the case.
The feds will no longer seek the death penalty against a former Colombo mob boss for ordering the 1997 murder of NYPD cop Ralph Dols, it was disclosed Monday.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder ordered prosecutors in Brooklyn to withdraw its intention for the ultimate punishment against former acting boss Joel "Joe Waverly" Cacace, who is still awaiting trial in the case.
Last year two of Cacace’s underlings, Thomas "Tommy Shots" Gioeli and alleged shooter Dino Saracino, were cleared by a Brooklyn jury of the off-duty cop’s killing. Prosecutors contend that Cacace marked the cop for death because he had married the mobster’s ex-wife, Kim Kennaugh.
Officer Ralph Dols, 28, was shot to death in August 1997. Authorities allege that Cacace ordered a hit on him because Dols was dating his old flame.
“Nobody should face the death penalty in a case when there is no forensic evidence and only two witnesses whose mothers don’t even believe them,” said defense lawyer Susan Kellman who had asked the attorney general to reconsider the death penalty issue after last year’s acquittals.
A spokesman for the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association could not be reached for comment Monday.
Dols was ambushed by a hit team outside his Sheepshead Bay apartment building.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/feds-switch-death-penalty-mob-case-article-1.1317619#ixzz2QdOgvUNr
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