Post by Critique on Feb 5, 2007 12:50:18 GMT -5
February 3, 2007
By LORENA MONGELLI
February 3, 2007 -- WALTERBORO, S.C. - Investigators have recovered chilling surveillance video that captures a retired NYPD sergeant shooting his ex-wife in the head in Staten Island, law enforcement sources said yesterday.
A South Carolina judge ordered John Galtieri, 61, held without bail as the suspect told the court he intended to fight extradition back to New York, where second-degree murder charges were filed.
Galtieri was picked up in South Carolina Wednesday after fleeing the crime scene, police said.
As he was led from the courtroom, Galtieri - who retired from the NYPD in 1980 - only smirked at reporters when asked if he had killed his ex-wife, Jeanne Kane.
NYPD investigators who had come down to bring Galtieri back said they had interviewed him, but he refused to talk.
"He just kept asking for a lawyer," a source said.
A police report, filed by the officers who stopped Galtieri as he drove south on I-95, said the suspect had told them he had a gun in the trunk of his car. However, none was recovered.
An NYPD source said investigators were not too concerned that they didn't have the murder weapon.
"We have more than enough evidence. We have videotape," said the source. "Besides, there were no shell casings, so we don't know what kind of gun."
Appearing in an orange prison jumpsuit and handcuffs, Galtieri told Magistrate Judge Kesha Gadsden that he declined to waive his right to an extradition hearing and complained that he had not been allowed to speak to a lawyer.
"I have asked to speak to an attorney for the last two days, and no one would allow me to call an attorney," he said. "My wife in Florida called the local legal aid or the public defender. He instructed her to have me call him this morning, and no one would allow me to call him."
Gadsden scheduled a full hearing in the state capital, Columbia, sometime next week.
Police say Galtieri shot Kane, 58, on Tuesday as she sat in a car in a Staten Island parking lot waiting to pick up their daughter.
Galtieri had long battled with Kane over alimony payments since they divorced in 2003, following a rocky 27-year marriage.
Galtieri had been in Staten Island Tuesday to show cause in court for a lawsuit he had filed against Kane arguing that she was illegally tapping his NYPD disability pension, following several other similar lawsuits that had been dismissed.
Kane's funeral is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. today at Our Lady of Angels Church, 7320 Fourth Ave., Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.
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