Crazy old man or Mafia kingpin? Jury gets Gigante case

July 23, 1997
Web posted at: 4:25 a.m. EDT (0825 GMT)

From Correspondent Peg Tyre

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Tuesday marked one of the last days Vincent "The Chin" Gigante will be wheeled into federal court in Brooklyn, muttering and shaking.

Both the prosecution and defense gave their closing arguments Tuesday in the 21-count indictment on federal murder and racketeering charges against Gigante, the alleged iron-fisted boss of the Genovese crime family.

Six mobsters-turned-informants testified, as did a dozen law enforcement agents, during 19 days of testimony.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Weissman insisted the six Mafia turncoats who took the stand had a good reason to tell the truth -- they would forfeit their freedom if they lied.

"In the old world, lying was a way of life," Weissman said. "After they made a deal with the government, lying risked everything."

The defense, which declined to put on a case, set up charts reminding the jury how many people the government witnesses had admitted killing and warned them not the believe "the works of six madmen."

For the prosecution, it was the culmination of more than a decade of work. When the government successfully prosecuted the heads of the major crime families, only Gigante, they said, remained untouched.

The alleged crime boss is charged with ordering seven murders, plotting to kill three other people, rigging business bids and extortion.

His attorneys, however, say Gigante, who's known for wandering around Greenwich Village in a tattered bathrobe, is incapacitated by mental illness. Authorities say Gigante feigns mental illness to avoid prosecution.

The prosecution's witnesses, including Sammy "the Bull" Gravano, all testified Gigante played at being crazy and was coherent enough to run a construction racket and order murders to settle mob scores.

Now it's up to the 12 men and women on the jury to sift through the testimony of FBI agents and admitted killers to determine whether Gigante is a crazy old man or a Mafia kingpin.

Related stories:

• Former Mafia hitman fingers 'The Chin' - July 10, 1997
• Mob turncoat describes Gigante as Genovese boss - June 30, 1997
• Opening remarks heard in Gigante trial - June 25, 1997
• Gigante arraigned on charges of racketeering and murder - September 6, 1996
• Judge: Mob boss fit to be tried - August 29, 1996
• Judge to rule on alleged mobster's competence - August 22, 1996
• New Jersey says organized crime has ties to health care - August 21, 1996 
• Gigante could be tried for murder - March 5, 1996

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