The Restless Sleep:

Attending a Mob Trial

Not this:

But this:

Retired NYPD detectives Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa were recently found guilty of murdering for the mob. I went to the courtroom one day because one of the cold case detectives I wrote about in my last book worked on this case. "You gotta go," he told me. "It's great." I didn't believe him. I've been to mob trials before. Mob trials are BORING. When journalists write about how fascinating and riveting it all is, I have to wonder if we were even in the same courtroom. Who are they trying to kid?? Murder is ugly and stupid and listening to these losers drone on and on about their loser lives is beyond painful and not at all riveting. It's hours and hours and hours of tedium. The reason the HBO TV show The Sopranos works so well is because they come closest to telling the truth about the mob. Although there are exceptions, for the most part it's a bunch of fat, old guys, who were never the best or the brightest, even within the context of the mob (although Caracappa, for the record, is trim). Unfortunately, at the trial they don't have Hollywood writers to keep the action moving. There are however, smaller, quieter dramas, if you stop looking for The Godfather.

The people who are part of the trial, the witnesses, the attorneys, the judge, and so on -- they're all in this very weird, exposed position -- it's a stage. How do they handle that? Are they nervous and awkward? Or confident? One defense attorney tried to come off well-mannered and elegant, but he over-acted. He was more cartoonish than refined. The judge in this case, however, was sharp—way more interesting than the mob guys. Like when he sometimes told the cartoon lawyer in so many words to just "shut up."

The really fascinating characters though, were the ones I was sitting with. I want to say the "audience", but that can't be the right word. Here's what it looks like. You walk into the courtroom. And whenever anyone walks into the courtroom, everyone turns to check them out. They look at you like they were expecting someone more exciting to show up. Next you see signs directing you to where you can sit: press and law enforcement to the left, the family and "public" to the right. The press and the family get the best seats, the front rows.

The seating space itself is small and crowded. People who probably hate each other are packed in together tightly. The FBI and the NYPD, who have a famously uneasy alliance, are pushed up against each other, shoulder to shoulder. When I was writing The Restless Sleep, whenever an FBI guy walked into the room you could tell instantly that he wasn't a cop. The feds love to lord it over the cops. They'd walk in like they owned the place. I'm guessing they would say there is a reason for this approach, I'm just describing how it looked like to an outsider. When I dealt with the FBI outside the NYPD, they were great. I liked them. I don't want to get into an FBI vs NYPD thing. They both work very hard, they're doing the best they can, as far as I can tell. And these cases are happening mostly due to the diligence and hard work of the feds (including the federal prosecutors). They are very persistant. I wouldn't want them after me. But you could see why cops might have a problem with them. Anyway these days, with their state-of-the-art counter-terrorism bureau, the NYPD is getting to give some of that attitude back.

The cops are also sitting inches from the press, who I know they would just love to clock sometimes. The defendant's families, who bicker among themselves, and sometimes laugh, are only a couple of feet from the very men who arrested their fathers, brothers, sons and husbands. Not once did I catch them looking over. The most poignancy is in the faces of law enforcement. For them, this is the culmination of years of work. They watch so intently. More intently than the families of the men who are on trial for their lives. Like people who have been watching a long running television show since the beginning, and who know and are invested in the characters, this trial is more engrossing to them.

In the halls, when we broke for lunch, I watched a detective blow off a DEA agent. The federal agent wanted information from the local detective, but didn't have a clue how to approach him. He acted like they were friends when they weren't, so the detective turned his back, walked off, leaving the agent twisting in the wind, in front of everyone. Given their history, I can see how it was a proud moment for the NYPD guy, but I just cringed for both of them. When I left with my detective friend for lunch the first place we stopped at was filled with wiseguys and we had to find someplace else.

So my detective friend was half right. Mob trials can be interesting but not because of some tired, old, mob myths.

Looking for Sylvia Krumholz

One of the unsolved murders I wrote about was Jean Sanseverino, who was murdered in Brooklyn on State Street in 1951. This is a picture of her estranged husband Raymond, who was one of the people police suspected at the time. It was taken when he was 17. (I don't think it was Raymond, myself.)

While writing the book I tried to track down everyone the police talked to at the time. The person I wanted to find the most I never did. That was her roommate Sylvia Krumholz.

I thought I'd post what I know about her here. You never know. Maybe someone out there can find her for me. I don't know if she knows who murdered Jean, but perhaps she knew more than she told the police at the time.

Here's everything I know about Sylvia.

Name: Sylvia Krumholz, aka Sylvia Brooks
DOB: Aprox. 1929, 22 years old (may have been older, or younger)
Last Addr: 366 State Street, Brooklyn, NY in 1951
Occupation: Waitress

At one point she said her name was Sylvia Brooks and that she was married, but that may have been an alias. She also said she was 22, but I discovered that a couple of the women questioned lied about their ages in both directions, so maybe she did too. This is not a lot to go on, I know.

Places I've Already Tried:

- Called all the Krumholz's in the New York, New Jersey, Florida phone books.
- The 1930 Census records, (found two, one in New York and one in New Jersey but this hasn't helped me find her yet).
- The New York Times (Proquest).
- The Daily News and the Brooklyn Eagle for Feb, March, April, 1951 only.
- Searches on Autotrack and Accurint.
- New York City and State prison records.
- Various church records all around Brooklyn.
- Checked the Social Security Death Index.
- Checked libraries in New Jersey for death notices.
- Checked various cemetery records in New York.

I've been looking for a while, and I may be forgetting things I've tried.

Expanding DNA Collection

These two men, Frederick R. Bieber, a medical geneticist:

And Charles H. Brenner, a forensic mathematician:

... led a study which found that we'd find more bad guys if we start collecting the DNA profiles of relatives of known criminals.

From a Washington Post article by Rick Weiss about the study:

"In one recent case, for example, a specimen from a 1988 murder scene was found to have a DNA pattern similar to that of a 14-year-old boy whose DNA was on file with the police. Investigators obtained a sample from the teenager's uncle, which perfectly matched the crime scene specimen and led to his conviction."

I want to catch murderers as much as the next guy, but I don't know. What are the dangers of misuse here, and what controls could be put into place to mitigate them?

New Cold Case Organization

There's a new cold case organization called the Cold Case Forum. From their website:

"The Cold Case Forum, LLC has been founded to provide training to police departments and other law enforcement agencies whose personnel are asked to carry out the serious job of solving oen or unsolved homicides. They are most often asked to do this with little, if any, training that could enhance their skills.

I see they have a seminar coming up on June 5th in Rhode Island, where they're based.

The director, Andrew Rosenzweig, in his younger days (love old police photos, which is NOT the same as calling you old, Andy, if you're reading this):

Declining Clearance Rates - Part 3

Perhaps clearance rates are going down slowly because police departments are also slowly improving their crime reporting practices? (Am I stating the obvious here?)

By the way, there was a great piece about "New York Killers" in the Times recently. Good work, Jo Craven McGinty. The section about clearance rates had some problems, which I'm going to address in the next couple of weeks, hopefully, but still. Good job.