A detective testifies "I completely forgot about" a tape that finally cleared two jailed 16 months on capital murder charges.
By Associated Press
Published October 2, 2003
FORT LAUDERDALE - A detective said he kept evidence at home in his sock drawer for eight months while two suspects who could have been cleared by the audiotape sat in jail facing possible death penalties.
Broward sheriff's Sgt. Thomas "Bill" Murray testified he forgot about the recording of two informers naming the real killers. He said he turned the tape over to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement when asked for it.
"I completely forgot about it," said Murray, a former Deerfield Beach detective. "I didn't do it intentionally."
Murray testified Tuesday in a civil lawsuit claiming he and two other detectives forced witnesses to identify the wrong men and hid or ignored evidence pointing to two other suspects.
Stephen Rosati and Peter Roussonicolos were wrongly charged in the 1986 murder of Joseph Viscido Jr., shot during a drug ripoff. They were jailed 16 months before they were cleared in 1992.
James Traina was later convicted of the slaying and Kerry Carbonell committed suicide in jail before his trial.
The tape made in 1988 recorded an informer talking with a man who had information about the murder. The conversation named the murderers as Carbonell and "Papa Jim," thought to be Traina.
Murray said he listened to the tape but thought the information was wrong because the men identified were about 20 years older than witnesses' descriptions indicated.
Murray also testified he made a mistake when he filed a sworn police report saying the murder witnesses were unable to identify Carbonell from a photo lineup. He later admitted he never showed them Carbonell's photo.
