Case Against Ex-FBI Agent Unravels After Reporter Reveals Tapes
Updated: The murder trial of a former FBI supervisor has been halted and charges against him dismissed because a reporter for the Village Voice came forward with old tape recordings in which the star witness contradicted her current accusations.
Roy Lindley DeVecchio was on trial in New York for allegedly helping a Mafia informant murder four rival informants. The main witness against DeVecchio was former Mafia mistress Linda Schiro. She had contacted several reporters over the years in an effort to sell a book about her life.
Tom Robbins was one of them. A law enforcement official told the New York Times prosecutors will dismiss the charges after reporter Tom Robbins posted the tapes on the Village Voice Web site and then allowed lawyers from both sides to make copies. In the 1997 recorded interviews, Schiro says DeVecchio had no role in the murders.
Robbins had promised Schiro confidentiality. He told the Times the decision to reveal the tapes was difficult. “I did not know what else to do,” he said. “No journalist ever wants to go against a source. It’s against our creed.”
DeVecchio walked out of court this morning as supporters applauded after prosecutors dropped the charges, the New York Times reports.
Updated 11/1/2007 at 12:10 PM.
