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The men already are serving life sentences in federal prison. Now they will face state charges in a woman's death.
By CARY DAVIS
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 1, 2001
NEW PORT RICHEY -- Two men charged with the 1997 murder of a New Port Richey retiree pleaded not guilty Tuesday as prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty against both defendants.
Anthony Carcione, 31, and Ottavio Volpe, 42, were indicted by a Pasco grand jury in April. Both are charged with first-degree murder in the September 1997 slaying of 78-year-old Jean Schwarzkopf in her Gulf Harbors home.
Prosecutors on Monday filed court papers announcing their intention to seek the death penalty for Carcione. Pasco homicide prosecutor Mike Halkitis said Tuesday that his office also plans to push for the death penalty for Volpe if he is convicted.
Volpe and Carcione already are serving life sentences on federal charges stemming from Mrs. Schwarzkopf's slaying. Both men were recently brought to Pasco from federal penitentiaries to stand trial on the state murder charges.
Volpe, an illegal Italian immigrant and one-time owner of La Cosa Nostra Bakery in New Port Richey, coveted Mrs. Schwarzkopf's eight-carat diamond ring and hatched several plots to rob her, according to testimony from Carcione's federal trial in October.
Carcione, an unemployed Chicago man with a history of violent crime, flew to Florida, then bought duct tape and a bouquet of flowers before knocking on the door of Mrs. Schwarzkopf's home on Topsail Trail, authorities say.
The next day, she was found wrapped head to toe in duct tape with a bundle of red silk flowers stuffed down her throat. She suffered a broken neck and died "drowning in her own blood," a medical examiner said.