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A man in custody in connection with a 2012 Marconi slaying will not face an immediate retrial for his supposed actions.
Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey P. Minehart announced last week that Anthony Nicodemo will have a new pretrial conference Dec. 1 yet did not disclose a solid date for his return appearance. The status conference hearing became necessary May 20 when the initial legal proceeding ended in a mistrial following suspicion that someone had approached a juror.
Nicodemo is facing the scrutiny because of beliefs that he gunned down Gino DiPietro Dec. 12, ’12 as the latter stood by his pickup truck on the 2800 block of South Iseminger Street. Assistant District Attorney Brian Zarallo noted the existence of an investigation into jury tampering in a case that had already had enough interesting elements. Prior to the mistrial, the jury had lost two alternate members through exposure to pretrial publicity. Overseers can continue a criminal trial with 11 jurors, but the prosecution and the defense could not agree to do so for the Nicodemo matter, which the former had not contended is an organized crime incident.
Instead, a report on the case states that someone “executed [DiPietro] in the street” and that Nicodemo was entrusted with helping the executioner to escape and ditch the gun. A search of his vehicle uncovered the .357-caliber Magnum revolver that authorities contend killed DiPietro, and police arrested Nicodemo at his home on the day of the murder.
Contact Managing Editor Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
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