Thomas Capano
Thomas Capano | |
---|---|
Born | Thomas Joseph Capano October 11, 1949 First degree murder |
Criminal penalty | Death, commuted to life imprisonment without parole |
Thomas Joseph Capano (October 11, 1949 – September 19, 2011)[1][2] was a disbarred American lawyer and former Delaware deputy attorney general who was convicted of the 1996 murder of Anne Marie Fahey, his former lover.
Background
Thomas Capano, a prominent Republican, was one of four brothers. Capano belonged to a prominent family of
In 1994, Capano was a partner at the Wilmington office of
Fahey's disappearance and investigation
Fahey was last seen alive on June 27, 1996, when she went to dinner with Capano in Philadelphia. Fahey's family reported her missing on June 30. After an extensive search, the FBI joined in the investigation in July and a federal grand jury heard evidence for over a year.[5] Capano, the last known person to have seen Fahey alive, was the prime suspect. He was arrested for her murder in November 1997, over sixteen months after her disappearance. However, Fahey's body was never found, and prosecutors were unable to establish the cause or manner of her death.
Prosecutors alleged that Capano murdered Fahey at the house he rented and, with the assistance of his brother Gerry, dumped her body in the Atlantic Ocean. Gerry owned a boat and, when it was sold, its two anchors were missing. On November 8, 1997, Gerry was interviewed by detectives and told them that Capano had borrowed the boat and admitted that he had murdered someone who was attempting to extort him. They went to Stone Harbor, New Jersey, with a large cooler that contained Fahey's body,[citation needed] sailed 62 miles (100 km) out to sea, and pushed the cooler overboard. Gerry told police that Capano shot the cooler in order to sink it, but that the cooler remained afloat in the water. Capano then retrieved the cooler, removed the body, and wrapped the anchor chains around it. He also asked Gerry to help dispose of a blood-stained sofa and carpet into a dumpster, which was managed by a third brother, Louis. Capano instructed Louis to empty the dumpsters outside of their regular schedule. The empty cooler was found on July 4, 1996, by a local fisherman.[6]
Investigators did not have a murder weapon or a body, nor any evidence that Capano had purchased a gun. However, Capano's other mistress, Debby MacIntyre, had bought a gun and admitted having supplied the weapon to Capano.[2]
Trial and appeals
The highly publicized case went to trial on October 26, 1998, and lasted twelve weeks.
In January 2006, the
Death
Capano, aged 61, was found dead in his jail cell at 12:34 p.m. on September 19, 2011, by an officer performing a routine security check at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center state prison in Smyrna, Delaware.[1][2] The medical examiner determined that Capano died of sudden cardiac arrest. He also had "atherosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease, and that obesity was a contributing factor in his death".[10] Following Capano's death, his brothers Louis and Joseph engaged in a bitter court fight over their family's multimillion-dollar real estate empire.[11]
Portrayals
Several books were written about the case, including Above the Law by Brian J Karem. Published by Pinnacle Books in September 1999; And Never Let Her Go: Thomas Capano: The Deadly Seducer by Ann Rule, The Summer Wind: Thomas Capano and the Murder of Anne Marie Fahey by George Anastasia, and Fatal Embrace: The Inside Story of the Thomas Capano/Anne Marie Fahey Murder Case by Cris Barrish and Peter Meyer. In 2001, a television movie based on Rule's book was made, And Never Let Her Go, starring Mark Harmon as Capano and Kathryn Morris as Fahey.[12]
A 2000 episode of
References
- ^ a b Barrish, Cris (September 19, 2011). "Tom Capano found dead in prison cell". Delaware Online.
- ^ a b c Barrish, Cris (September 20, 2011). "Thomas Capano found dead in prison cell". Delaware Online. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015.
- ^ Anastasia, George. "In their own words". www.inquirer.com. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
- ^ Time magazine, November 24, 1997. p. 25
- ^ a b Capano v. State, 781 A.2d 556, 582, 2001 WL 980939 (Del. 2001).
- ^ Meyer, Peter. Fatal Embrace: The Inside Story Of The Thomas Capano/Anne Marie Fahey Murder Case, St. Martin's True Crime (January 2, 2007), p. 1
- ^ Katherine Ramsland. "The Rise and Fall of Thomas Capano". crimelibrary.com. Archived from the original on April 3, 2014.
- ^ Capano v. Carroll, No. 06-58 (Denial of petition filed April 15, 2008)
- ^ "". ABC News. [dead link]
- ^ "Examiner: Capano died of sudden cardiac arrest". The Star Democrat. September 22, 2011
- ^ Maureen Milford (July 21, 2013). "Capano brothers clash over Delaware family's real estate empire". delmarvanow.com. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014.
- ^ "And Never Let Her Go (TV Movie 2001)". IMDb,com.
- ^ The FBI Files: Deadly Obsession, IMDb
External links
- Ramsland, Katherine. "The Rise and Fall of Thomas Capano". Crime Library
- FATAL ATTRACTION: BEHIND THE FACADE, Capano: Politically Powerful, Charismatic, 48 Hours, CBS News, 14. October 1999