Murder for hire plot outlined during Philadelphia trial
It sounds like the plot from a Shakespearean play, but with
a decided South Philadelphia twist.
A father, upset because his daughter is dating a man he
neither likes nor trusts, sends two henchmen to kill the unwanted suitor. If
Shakespeare had written the story, the assassins would have carried swords or
daggers.
Ronald Walker said he used a .25 caliber semi-automatic
pistol.
Walker took the stand this afternoon during the opening day
of testimony in the murder-for-hire trial of Ronald Galati, a South
Philadelphia auto body shop owner with a checkered criminal past that includes
alleged organized crime connections.
But neither Galati's past nor his suspected mob ties are
expected to figure in the trial. Instead, the case will focus on the allegation
that last year Galati, 63, hired three men to kill Andrew Tuono who was dating
Galati's daughter Tiffany at the time.
Tuono survived the hit and is listed as a potential witness.
So is Tiffany Galati.
"It's a simple case," Assistant U.S. Attorney
Jason Richardson said in his opening statement to the jury of 10 women and two
men this morning. "Mr. Galati wanted Mr. Tuono dead." The reason,
Richardson said, was also rather mundane. "Mr. Galati didn't like Mr.
Tuono."
Testimony and evidence in the trial, which is expected to
last about two weeks, may provide a more complicated and convoluted explanation
for the Nov. 30, 2013, shooting in Atlantic City that left Tuono bleeding from
bullet wounds to the stomach, back and hand.
"I shot four times," Walker, a stocky 49-year-old
with an extensive criminal record for drug dealing, assault, attempted murder
and robbery, told the jury. "They said I only hit him three times."
Asked why he stopped shooting, Walker replied, "Because
there weren't no more bullets."
Walker said he was hired by Galati and promised $20,000 for
the hit. He said Alvin Matthews, a boyhood friend, was with him during the
shooting and that another longtime friend, Jerome Johnson, had set the murder
up at Galati's request. Both Matthews and Johnson, like Walker, have pleaded
guilty to murder-for-hire and conspiracy charges and are cooperating with the
government. They are also expected to testify.
"This is a case about people, family and
relationships," Anthony Voci, Galati's defense attorney, told the jury in
a comment that hinted at the soap opera like nature of the case. How much the
jury hears about Galati's strained relationship with his daughter and the
reasons why he allegedly wanted Tuono killed may depend on whether Tiffany
Galati is called as a witness.
What the jury won't hear is testimony about Galati's alleged
criminal relationships with Johnson, Walker and Matthews. All three are accused
of playing similar roles in another murder-for-hire case pending in Common
Pleas Court. In that case, Galati is charged with ordering the murders of two
rival auto body shop owners, a father and son, who he suspected were
cooperating in an insurance fraud investigation that had targeted him.
Galati, his wife, his son and a dozen others, including the
son of mob boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi, are also under indictment
in Common Pleas court in a multi-million dollar insurance fraud case. Johnson,
Matthews and Walker allegedly damaged cars as part of the fraud scheme.
Authorities say Walker and Matthews were also involved in arson at Galati's
behest.
But Judge Joseph Rodriguez, based on motions filed by Voci,
said none of that information can be used in the current trial because it has
nothing to do with the attempted murder of Tuono.
Galati, jailed since his arrest in the case, said little as
he sat at the defense table next to his lawyer. In his opening statement, Voci
told the jury there "was not a shred of physical evidence" tying his
client to the case. Voci is expected to argue that there were other reasons why
Tuono was targeted, reasons that had nothing to do with Galati.
The government's case, in fact, is built almost entirely on
the word of Walker, Matthews and Johnson. Voci is expected to use his
cross-examination to challenge the credibility and motivation of those
witnesses and to raise questions about their involvement and Tuono's
involvement in the drug underworld.
Walker and Matthews were arrested within minutes of the
shooting and quickly gave up Johnson and Galati to law enforcement. Johnson
eventually opted to cooperate as well. All three are expected to tell basically
the same story.
Walker said Galati wanted Tuono dead.
"He said he had a problem with a guy and he needed it
taken care of," Walker said, adding that Galati often talked in riddles
and that at one point he told the auto body shop owner, "Say what you
mean."
"He said he wanted me to kill the guy. He wanted him
dead...but he didn't want it come back on him."
Walker said Galati at first suggested that they bury Tuono's
body, but Walker balked. He said he eventually agreed to carry out the hit, but
not dispose of the body. He said Johnson took him to two different locations in
South Philadelphia where Tuono was believed to be staying, but that the target
was not there either time.
Finally, on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, he said was
driving in a car with Johnson when a call came in from Galati informing them
that Tuono was at the townhouse he owned in Atlantic City. Walker said he had
Johnson drive him to a few drug deal deliveries that day and that they stopped
at a Church's Fried Chicken restaurant
for lunch before heading down the Shore to carry out the hit.
Prosecutors displayed surveillance camera shots from the
fried chicken store that showed both Johnson and Walker placing orders at the
counter that day. Matthews, Walker said, joined them for the trip to Atlantic
City.
He said Johnson dropped them off near Tuono's Carson Avenue
townhouse. They waited on the darkened street and up an alley for several
minutes before Tiffany Galati and Tuono walked out the door.
Walker said he had been told by Johnson, "do not touch
the girl."
Walker told the jury that Matthews called out to Tuono,
"Yo, my man. I wanna talk to you."
"About what?" Tuono replied, according to Walker
who said he then walked up to the target, pulled a gun and told him,
"Don't run."
Tuono ran, Walker said, and Walker opened fire.
Tiffany Galati showed little emotion, Walker said when
questioned by Voci. In fact, he confirmed an earlier statement he had made to
police that "She just stood there as if she knew what was going on."
Tuono, lying on the ground bleeding, yelled for her to
"call 9-1-1, call the police," Walker said. Instead, he told the
jury, she got into a BMW that was parked in front of the townhouse and drove
away.
Walker said he and Matthews began to run from the shooting
scene, but when they turned a corner they saw a police officer pointing his gun
and ordering them to stop. Instead, they kept running. Walker said he tripped
and stumbled and that the police officer quickly caught up with him.
Matthews was arrested within minutes a few blocks away.
Both men began cooperating almost immediately. Walker
admitted that at first he told authorities that Matthews was the shooter, but
he said he later changed his story and admitted he was the one who fired the
shots.
Walker said he did not know Tuono's name and did not ask
Galati why he wanted him dead.
"It wasn't my business to know why," he said.
http://www.bigtrial.net/2014/09/a-murder-for-hire-plot-that-bard-would.html#sxoE5H8bIHDMLBT7.99
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