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The Murder Book: A True Crime Podcast
Each week, The Murder Book will present unsolved cases, missing persons, notorious crimes, controversial cases, and serial killers, exploring details of the crime scenes and the murderer's childhood. Some episodes are translated into Spanish as well. The podcast is produced and hosted by Kiara Coyle.
The Murder Book: A True Crime Podcast
Murder of Stan Cohen VII
What if a gang inspired by a Chuck Norris movie held the key to a shocking murder mystery? Join us as we unravel the twists and turns of Detective Spear's intense investigation into the murder of Stanley Cohen. We start with a gripping interview in Broward County with Frank Angelo Zuccarello, a member of the notorious Riccitelli gang, who reveals chilling details about the crime, inconsistencies and all, and implicates several key figures, including Joyce Cohen and her boyfriend Lynn Barkley. Despite Zuccarello's fluctuating narratives, his cooperation offers a glimpse into the dark underbelly of organized crime and the strategic maneuvers within plea bargaining.
In our second segment, you'll be on the edge of your seat as Detective Rios meticulously extracts the truth from Zuccarello, leading to a harrowing confession. Zuccarello admits his role in a murder plot orchestrated by Joyce Cohen, painting a vivid picture of the planning and execution of Stan Cohen’s murder. From the strategic meetings to the chilling details of the crime, this confession propels the investigation forward, revealing the disturbing orchestration behind the fatal act and providing a significant breakthrough for the detectives.
The episode also delves into the relentless pursuit of justice by the detectives, despite numerous obstacles. Listen as we discuss the suspicions of Jerry Cohen-Huffman, the legal battles faced by Stan's children, and the relentless effort to link Joyce Cohen to the crime. We also explore Joyce's life post-murder, her budding romance with Robert Dietrich, and the ongoing legal disputes over Stan's estate. With a compelling mix of legal drama and personal turmoil, this episode leaves you questioning the true extent of Joyce Cohen's involvement in her husband's death. Prepare for an intense journey through one of the most complex murder investigations we've ever covered.
Host: Clint McNear and Tyler Owen discussing topics, issues, and stories within the...
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Welcome to the Murder Book. I'm your host, kiara, and this is Part 7 of the Murder of Stanley Cohen. Let's begin so now. As he drove north to Broward County to interview the would-be informant, spear pondered what he had learned about the guy. Would-be informant Spear pondered what he had learned about the guy. He knew his name, frank Angelo Zuccarello, and he claimed to have connections to the Gambino organized crime family and he had been arrested on March 11 for a home invasion robbery committed the day before in Broward County.
Speaker 1:Zuccarello was already well known to cops in Broward because he was a member of the Riccitelli gang, and the Riccitelli brothers, scott and Jay, have come to Florida from a rough neighborhood called the Cove in New Haven, connecticut, and one night they were drinking beer, watching television in their Fort Lauderdale apartment when they saw something inspiring. It was a Chuck Norris movie about criminals who victimized other criminals by breaking into their homes, robbing them from drugs, money and jewelry. Criminals were perfect victims because they had liquid assets and would not run to the police for help. South Florida, the Riccitelli brothers knew, was awash in drugs, drug dealers and their booty, and nearly every week, it seemed, television news cameras roamed the treasure troves of busted dealers. It looked like easy pickings. So they were inspired and these brothers, the Riccitelli brothers, formed a loose-knit gang of transplants from the old New Haven neighborhood to imitate the art they have seen on the small screen. And their method was simple Locate the homes of reputed drug dealers through pay informants, usually home improvement workmen, and get in through some ruse and then grab the goods.
Speaker 1:They develop effective disguises to get in the door. Sometimes one gang member impersonated a mailman with a special delivery letter for the occupant. Sometimes they pose as cops wearing private security company uniforms and carrying badges and police radios they have stolen. To disguise their cultural identities as Italians, they use Spanish aliases. Jay Richie Tellis was a Hector and spoke with fake Spanish accents during robberies. In that way, if any victim were interviewed by the cops, they would say they had been hit by Cubans or Colombians, and the gang always brought lots of firepower to back them up once they got in the door. The Richie Tellis method inspired the term home invasion robbery dream up by a Miami Herald reporter.
Speaker 1:The Riccitelli brothers' gang had some hits and some misses. Once they raided the wrong house by mistake, terrorizing a hapless family who had the misfortune to live next right door to a man the gang suspected was a rich bookie. That caper earned them the nickname the gang that couldn't shoot straight in the press. But some of the robberies were extremely violent. They tie up victims or immobilize them with duct tape, pistol whip them, threaten to kill them. During the March 10 home invasion for which Zuccarello had been arrested, they shoved a loaded pistol up a victim's rectum and threatened to fire.
Speaker 1:When Detective Spear finally got a look at Frank Zuccarello, he was surprised. Zuccarello had a splendor built and a small head capped by curly dark hair that trailed over his collar in the back and his facial features were fine. They have dark eyes, thin lips and although he tried to appear composed and confident, there was a trice tremor of the hands that gave him away. Zuccarello was only 21 years old and he was very scared. Spear wasn't the only cop who wanted to talk to Zuccarello. As soon as he put out the word that he was willing to talk, zuccarello became the focus of cops from all over South Florida who were eager to clear unsolved home invasion robberies in their jurisdictions. He had already identified more than 30 home invasion robberies in which he or other Richie Telly gang members had taken part, but he didn't want to tell all he knew until he saw what kind of deal he could cut for himself with prosecutors. Zuccarello was already a sophisticated player of the plea bargaining game. He understood the golden rule of the game the first to flip or turn state's evidence always gets the best deal for himself.
Speaker 1:When Zuccarello started to talk about the Coim homicide, he didn't give Speer much at first, just enough to bait the hook. He knew about the murder, he claimed, because he had overheard gang members planning it Anthony Caracciolo, the burly leader on that job, and Tommy Jocelyn, aka Tommy Lamberti. And Lamberti, he said, was the son of Louis Donald Duck Lamberti who was a reputed master also connected to the Gambinos. Lamberti sported a large full-color tattoo of Donald Duck on his fight forearm in honor of his father's nickname. So Carrillo told Spear that Carvaciolo and Lamberti had been hired by Joyce Cohen. He had seen her once when she met with Caracciolo and there was a boyfriend, zuccarello claimed, who helped plan the murder. He identified Joyce Cohen from a photograph, but Spear wasn't impressed. Her picture had been plastered over the newspapers and television for weeks. Zuccarello could have seen her in the picture anywhere, and that was one thing. But he was impressed when Zuccarello chose another photograph from among several spears showed him, and this Zuccarello client was the boyfriend, and the man in the photograph was Lynn Barkley. It was the break investigators had been waiting for.
Speaker 1:But over the next three months, during interminable hours of interviews, zuccarello continually revised his story. First he said he had seen Joyce Cohen and Lynn Barkley meet Caracciolo at a surf shop in Coconut Grove in January 1986. And this was impossible because Joy had been in Steamboat Springs the entire month, spear knew. And then Zuccarello said the meeting had taken place at a 7-Eleven in North Miami in February. And as his story progressed, zuccarello was careful to emphasize that he did not participate in the crime. He was nowhere near the Coimbe house that night and he insisted. A typical snitch, spear thought. Gradually an informer gives up more and more of the truth. He places himself closer and closer to the crime, but he never of course admits committing the crime. It was always someone else. Spear wasn't convinced that Zuccarello was telling the truth and he seemed to have information that only the murderer would know. Yet he flatly denied any involvement in the crime.
Speaker 1:Spear arranged for Miami homicide detective Ron Ehlert to polygraph Zuccarello on June 7th 1986. Eilert immediately picked him as a slick character, a smooth talker who had spent lots of time around crime and criminals. He prepared a series of test questions based on Zuccarello's story. Did you fire the shots that killed Stan Cohen? Did you kill Stan Cohen? Socorro answered no to both questions when he took the test and Eilert scored those responses. No psychological reaction indicative of deceptions. He thought Socorro was telling the truth so far. So then Eilert asked Were you present inside or outside the house when Stan was killed? Were you at Stan's house the night he was killed? Do you know for sure who killed Stan Cohen? So Corrello answered no to each question. But this time Eilert saw that he was trying to distort the polygraph charts. He had pressed his toes tightly together and puckered up his rear end Cobbman attempts to throw off a polygraph. The responses on the chart were inconsistent. Eilert marked it inconclusive, but he thought Zuccarello was lying and finally he discontinued the test. Zuccarello's story didn't hold up. He was still trying to deceive the detectives. He shouldn't be tested further, eilert felt, until he settled on a final version of the story or of the crime. Final version of the story or of the crime.
Speaker 1:Over the next few weeks, spear became Frank Zuccarello's frequent companion. He signed him out of jail for drive-bys of the surf shop, the 7-Eleven store, where he claimed to have seen Joyce Cohen and Dean Barkley meet with Carasiello. Spear drove him through the Cohen neighborhood where Zuccarello excitedly pointed out the Cohen's big limestone house on the corner. He took Zuccarello out for a haircut and for dinner and once Spears chauffeured him to visit his girlfriend, gina. After days of interviews 11 or 12 hours long Spears felt Zuccarello was ready for another test. This time they would do an interrogation polygraph, use the test as an investigative tool to find the truth. Lieutenant Robert Rios from the Broward Sheriff's Department would administer the polygraph.
Speaker 1:Around 1 pm on Saturday June 21st, rios took Zuccarello into the polygraph room at the Miami Police Department. Spear watched through a two-way mirror and, after he obtained some background information about Socorro Ross, launched into his standard pre-test spiel and he said let me explain to you a little bit about the polygraph. My suggestion is if you can't pass it, don't take it, don't waste your time, don't waste my time. But Zuccarello insisted he was telling the truth and he wanted to be tested and he knew he would pass. Rios hooked Zuccarello up to the machine and he read aloud Zuccarello's latest version of the crime. And then he asked is everything you're telling me in this statement true? Zuccarello responded yes. Rios looked over the chart. It says deceptive. He said you didn't do too well and you know. Zuccarello shook his head, but Zuccarello said nothing.
Speaker 1:Rios took him off the machine and then he began the pace-taking process of working back through the details of Zuccarello's statement. He said what specifically were they saying? And Rios asked about conversations. Zuccarello claimed he overheard. And Zuccarello said well, I don't know. I don't know if I was in the room at the time. Rios shook his head back and forth to let Zuccarello know he wasn't buying it. Don't give me something that's not true. He warned you already know that you can't be this thing. You already scrambled once, stumbled once. Know that you can't be this, the thing. You already scrambled once, uh, stumbled once. And succarello revised his story slightly. Rios hooked him up and tested him on his new version deceptive again. Rio took him off of the machine.
Speaker 1:Throughout the long afternoon and into the evening rios patiently worked. Succarello the young man was an intelligent, skilled opponent in the verbal cat and mouse game they play. But eventually Zuccarello backed down. He didn't tell the truth. On the first polygraph, he admitted finally because he had gone into the home that night with Lamberti and Caracciolo. He remembered planters on the patio outside the front porch, an arch inside the front door, steps leading up to the master bedroom. He had followed Caracciolo upstairs. It was Caracciolo who shot Stan Cohen. Zuccarello ran into the bedroom right after he did it. How many shots? Rios asked. Zuccarello wasn't sure. He said maybe two, three. Rios hooked him up to the machine again. This time he concluded that Zuccarello was telling the truth when he said he didn't know how many shots were fired. It was the only portion of the polygraph that Zuccarello passed. They took a break for pizza and cokes.
Speaker 1:Zuccarello was exhausted. He didn't want to be tested anymore that night. He said it was after 11 pm. He had already spent more than 10 hours with Rios. But Speer was elated. At last he thought they were getting the truth out of Zuccarello. He called prosecutor David Waxman, who hurried down to the homicide office despite the late hour. It was near midnight when they brought in a stenographer. They wanted a sworn statement from Zuccarello right then and they finally had the truth and they didn't want to lose it. Frank Zuccarello was granted a complete immunity from prosecution in the Cohen homicide. He started talking at 11.51 pm and finished about two hours later when he was transcribed his swarm statement went 97 pages.
Speaker 1:Zuccarello said that he first heard of Stan Cohen in December 1985 when Anthony Carasiello, tommy Lamberti and Jay Rischitelli were discussing a hit or home invasion robbery. It was an inside job. Stan's wife, joyce, had hired them to rob him and she would pretend to be a victim. In late February 1986, the plan changed from robbery to murder and Caracciolo had told them I'm going to lay it on the line, we're going to have to joke this guy. There's a lot of money involved. And Zuccarello asked what's? The guy got A healthy life insurance policy and Caracciolo replied well, as a matter of fact, he's got two. They would be paid at least $10,000 each for the job. Caracciolo has said it wasn't a lot, zuccarello thought, considering how rich the Coens were. Jay Riccitelli wanted no part of the new plan. He dropped out, but the others stayed in. They would make the killing look like a home invasion robbery gone bad.
Speaker 1:Z38, gavassiolo waited on his motorcycle for a planned meeting with Joyce Cohen in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven store in North Miami. Finally she drove up in a white Jaguar accompanied by a man with gray and blonde hair. She jumped out of the car and hugged and kissed Caracciolo as if they were old friends. Then her companion handed Caracciolo a map of her home showing the layout, the stairs and the locations of the alarm systems panic buttons in the master bedroom. Although Zuccarello couldn't hear what was said, caracciolo told him later that Joy said she would let them in the master bedroom. Although Zuccarello couldn't hear what was said, caracciolo told him later that Joy said she would let them in the house, turn off the home's burglar alarm and pen up the dog. This is how I want it done. Joy's companion has said to Caracciolo, or this is the way it's supposed to be done.
Speaker 1:Zuccarello identified a photograph of Joyce Cohen as the woman who met Caracciolo in the parking lot. So Carrillo identified a photograph of Joyce Cohen as the woman who met Carasiello in the parking lot. Then he picked out a photograph of her companion, lynn Barkley. The plan was to use the victim's own gun to kill him. So Carrillo continued, and that Joyce was going to give it to Carasiello or tell him where to find it. But just in case they took their own weapon along with, they brought a dart gun to use on the dog if necessary.
Speaker 1:And the three men arrived at the Cohen house shortly after 2 am on March 7. And Zuccarello recalls seeing the time on the digital clock on the dash of the black El Camino he was driving. Joyce Cohen met them at the door. She was wearing a light colored robe and she said let's get this over with as quick as possible. And she let them in and she said get it over with. Once inside, lambert's job was to show Joyce Cohen how to fake a break-in so she could claim intruders had killed her husband. Then, while Zuccarello stood guard at the front door, cavasiolo went upstairs and shot the sleeping Stan Cohen.
Speaker 1:Socorro ran up the stairs and into the master bedroom just as the last shot was fired and then they fled in the El Camino During back to Broward County. They have argued and he said Anthony, what happened? What's so many shots? Zuccarello demanded to know and he said I thought I heard two and I panicked. And Caracciolo yelled back you panic, I'm the one that had to pull the trigger. I could have missed him one time. He thought he had dropped the gun somewhere as they fled.
Speaker 1:After leaving Cavasiello and Lombardi at Cavasiello's apartment, zucchini, drove himself home, smoked a joint, went to bed and when he woke up he went to the beach to play paddle ball. And they said I think it was Spear, detective Spear that finally asked did Anthony Caracciolo tell you why Jules Cohen wanted to have her husband killed? And his response was well, for two reasons, he stated. For the reason she didn't love him anymore and for the money. She got everything.
Speaker 1:It was nearly two o'clock in the morning when Waksman telephoned Jerry Cohen-Huffman at home. She was probably sleeping, but he knew she wouldn't mind being awakened when she heard what he had to say and he told her about Socorelli's statement. Jerry had trouble getting back to sleep that night. After four long months her suspicions about her stepmother had finally been confirmed. If she had not actually pulled the trigger of the gun that killed her father, she had hired somebody else to do it. She would pay for the crime, and then this nightmare would be over. She had hired somebody else to do it. She would pay for the crime, and then this nightmare would be over. We'll be right back.
Speaker 1:When Sergeant John Watterson heard about Fran Ciccarello's story, he was stunned From his first minutes in the Cohen house on the morning of the murder. He had suspected that Joyce was the killer, but he never envisioned anything more complicated than her shooting her sleeping husband in the back of the head and throwing the weapon in the yard. And what is her answer when are you going to arrest her? It's as if that was solved. Joyce just smiled and shook his head.
Speaker 1:Zuccarello's story alone wasn't enough. Speer and Waxman had agreed. Zuccarello had, as they put it, a lot of baggage. He was an admitted home invasion robber, a career criminal at age 21. If a jury had to choose between Frank Zuccarello and Joyce Cohen, society woman and grieving widow, zuccarello would lose and Joyce would walk. But Waxman had a plan Now that they had Zuccarello, they would arrest Carasiello and Lombardi and persuade them all to testify against Joyce Cohen in exchange for plea deals With all three gang members.
Speaker 1:They would have a stronger case against Joyce. Then they would arrest her and try her for the contract murder of her husband. She was the one they really wanted. At first it looked easy. They already had Anthony Carasiello and it turned out he had been arrested on April 24th for a string of home invasion robberies. Spear went to interview him in jail and Caracciolo, who was also in his 20s, a little taller and heavier than Zuccarello and he had sort of a slightly menacing air. Caracciolo knew Zuccarello and Lamberti. Of course he admitted participating in some home invasions. But when Speer brought up the Cohen homicide he hit a blank wall. Caracciolo flatly denied any involvement in the murder. He would never even met Joyce Cohen. He claimed, never heard of Stan Cohen, never saw the Cohen House in Coconut Grove and Speer left disgusted.
Speaker 1:Waksman decided to interview Caracciolo himself. Speer brought him into the interview room still in his handcuffs. Then he read Caracciolo his Miranda rights from the printed form and asked him to sign it. And Caracciolo replied I'm not talking to you and he refused to sign the form. Waxman decided to give Caracciolo a little speech. He said I don't know why you're protecting this woman. She's going to jail, she's not going to have any money and you are going to jail. Caracciolo tried to interrupt, but each time Waxman stopped him. He said you're not allowed to talk. You didn't sign the Miranda form. You're not allowed to say nothing. He tried to go to Caracciolo into signing the rights form, but it was futile. Finally Speer took Caracciolo back to the Dade County Jail.
Speaker 1:Waxman decided not to charge Caracciolo with the Cohen homicide. Yet After all, he wasn't going anywhere with the home invasion charges pending. Maybe they would have better luck with Tommy Lamberti. There was an arrest warrant out for him on the same home in Bateshins. Spear discovered that, but Lamberti was nowhere to be found and it looked as if he had skipped the state. Now Spear would have to go out and find him.
Speaker 1:While detectives worked to track Lombardi, waxman wondered how else they could connect that. This Miami Society woman, this Mrs Joyce Cohen with three goons in Broward County, perhaps, though long-distance telephone calls. Waxman subpoenaed telephone records from any telephone that Joyce had access to her home, her office, her hairdresser, her manicurist, boussions, biscayne Baby. He spent countless hours staring at voluminous printouts of long-distance calls, but he came up with nothing. Waksman took another tag, but he came up with nothing. Waksman took another tag, but how did Joyce Cohen ever meet these guys in the first place? So he asked Zuccarello.
Speaker 1:Zuccarello named Josephine Macaluso, a former girlfriend of Anthony Caracciolo's, who lived in the grove near the Coens. She and Joyce partied together in Biscayne Bay. He said Macaluso had called the cops on Caracciolo once or twice for beating her up, so she owed him no allegiance. And this could be the connection. This could be a break, and that's what Waxman thought.
Speaker 1:Speer found Josephine Macaluso and brought her in, and she was a woman that tended to use rough language and a loud, abrasive Brooklyn accent and she sounded like a longshoreman and acted like one, according to Waxman. Waxman asked her about Caracciolo, lamberti and Zuccarello. She knew Caracciolo. She said, yes, that they have him arrested once, um, but she never heard of Lombardi or Zuccarello. How about Joyce Cormham? And Macaluso said I don't know her. And he said I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know nothing. And she marched out of Waxman's office.
Speaker 1:Spears stopped by Biscayne Baby and spoke with John Locke, the doorman, who remembered Joyce Cohen well. He also recognized a photograph of Josephine Macaluso, a monthly New York bra, according to Lowe, and she had tried to bluff her way into the champagne room one night by claiming to be Joyce Colham. And she said I say no, you're not Colham. And she raised a bitch. He told Spear he wouldn't let her in until the real Joyce Colham show up. Mrs Colham, is this your guest? Low had asked Joyce when she arrived and she said yes, it is. And so Low said okay, come on in. And Joyce Cohen and Josephine Macaluso went up to the champagne room together.
Speaker 1:When Waksman had John Low's storm statement in hand, he invited Josephine Macaluso in for another chat. With the statement in hand, he invited Josephine Macaluso in for another chat and this time he had Frank Socorro stashed out of sight in an interview room. Wassman asked Macaluso again do you know Frank Socorro, tommy Lombardi, joyce Cohen, ever been to Biscayne Babies? And she was no, no, I don't know nothing about anything. And she insisted on that. So Waxman calls Zuccarello into the room. He walked right over to Macaluso and look her up and down and Josephine, he said they know the whole story. And Macaluso demanded Waxman, who is this guy? And Zuccarello continued he said Josephine, it's over, it's over. They know the whole story. I told them the whole story. They're going to give you immunity, don't worry, they'll take care of you. And Macaluso screamed and she said Waxman, get this guy away from me.
Speaker 1:Josephine Macaluso came back once more and this time with her lawyer, michael Chavez. Waxman placed her under oath and then asked her again whether she knew Joyce Cohen. Again, she denied it. Waxman turned to Sergeant Steve Vincent, who was standing nearby, and Waxman asked Sergeant Vincent, have you just seen a felony committed? And Vincent said yes, and Waxman instructed him and said do your duty.
Speaker 1:And Vincent arrested Josephine Macalusi for perjury. That ought to do it. Waspin thought Now she'll talk, but Macaluso said nothing. As Sergeant Vincent slapped handcuffs on her, macaluso's lawyer Chavia started yelling David, come on, I'll surrender her next week, get an arrest warrant. And Westman replied nope, she's going to jail. We have given her like three chances already.
Speaker 1:And Josephine Macaluso went to jail. But she was soon released on a bond and while the perjury charge was pending, she jumped bail and took a trip to New Jersey. There she and her three young children were picked up in a car with two Colombians and 40 taped packages of white powder, 42 kilos of cocaine with a street value of $2.3 million. She told cops her Colombian boyfriend, anthony Caracciolo, had arranged to write for her and she had no idea there were drugs in the car and she didn't know the two men in the car with her. Macaluso was arrested and eventually was returned to Dade County on a fugitive warrant for jumping bail on the perjury charge. She sat in jail for months but she wouldn't give in. Finally prosecutors dropped the perjury charge. Eventually the drug charges against Macaluso in New Jersey were dismissed also, but Waxman could never understand why Josephine Macaluso wouldn't roll over.
Speaker 1:During his long career as a prosecutor he had flipped a lot of people and generally he knew when push comes to shove you let someone else go to jail, you don't go to jail yourself. So why would Macaluso sit in jail for months in Miami to protect Joyce Cohen? Was it for money? It made no sense. When Anthony Caracciolo, lynn Barkley and now Josephine Macaluso were they all protecting Joyce? And if so, why? So Waksman was frustrated. He believes Socorro's story about Stan Cohen's murder, but it wasn't enough to take to a jury. They need a connection and they haven't been able to find one. So Gary Cohen and Jerry Cohen-Haffman came to see Waxman when they asked are you going to do something? When will Joyce be arrested?
Speaker 1:Stan Cohen's children lived with a daily torment of seeing their stepmother, the woman they believed was their father's killer, alive and well and apparently enjoying her life. Although they had managed to freeze their father's estate pending the criminal investigation, joyce was still living at Wolf Run Ranch in Stimbo Springs and sooner or later, unless the prosecutors did something, joyce and her lawyers would succeed in getting Stan's estate distributed. Except for modest bequests to Gary and Jerry and a few others. The entire estate would go to Joyce and then she could just disappear a rich woman. And Westman told Gary and Jerry we need to wait until something develops, because at this point we put it on and if a jury doesn't believe Socorello, Joyce is gone. We need something to convince a jury that Zuccarello is telling the truth. And all you got is Zuccarello. It might not be enough. And if we put her on and lose, it's history and it's gone. You put a guy on the stand like Zuccarello and he's going to say I did a hundred robberies with the boys and, by the way, I did this murder and I'm getting nothing for the murder. And, by the way, is that that's a nice society woman here who pay us or for us money to do it, and she's Miss Prim and proper. Look, this is Westpin talking to them. I just got a call from a North Miami Beach detective who got some new evidence on a 1984 case and I said it really doesn't matter what you found now the guy's free as a bird. That's what I'm trying to tell you. We just have to wait until something develops. And Gary and Jerry, of course, were heart sick.
Speaker 1:Alan Ross heard rumors like distant thunder from Frank's among the Broward County Criminal Defense Bar. They said that the Miami detectives were now focusing on a Broward home invasion gang. In the Cohen case there was an informant named Zuccarello and he and his buddies were all pointing fingers at each other as to who committed the murder. No one mentioned Joyce Cohen. So Ross was relieved. Finally he thought the police were onto something other than they're suspicious about Joyce. He called his client and steamboat spring with the good news and he said thank God, joyce, they're going to solve this crime. And then he asked her if she knew someone named Socorello. She never heard of him. Joyce replied never met him. Then Ross called Waksman and he said hey, I still represent Mrs Cohen. We are aware of your investigation. If you ever want to talk to her, please call me first. Waksman said nothing. Ross would keep tabs on the investigation, but he thought Joyce Cohen was finally free to get on with her life and put the tragedy behind her.
Speaker 1:Out in Steamboat Springs Joyce and Sean Cohen had settled into the big house at Wood Wood Run Ranch. Sean had been kicked out of Tennessee Military Institute in May. He had sneaked out of the dorm once too often and wound up in a high-speed car chase with the local cops. With nothing else to do, he decided to hang out in Steamboat with his mother. One day Sean told his mother about this package. He had me move from the secret cupboard in the bathroom in the house on South Bakershire Drive. It was cocaine and Joyce said oh good, I'm glad you took it. If the police had found it they would have charged me with drugs. Sean never asked his mother how it got there or whose coke it was. He assumed it was hers. Besides, the coke was long since gone. Sean had used it himself. It wasn't the first time he had found cocaine in that house. Actually, the first time it was cut. An inert substance used to dilute cocaine before selling it. It was in his mother's dresser and Sean still laughed when he remembered snorting cut. After that he knew the difference, despite borrowing from various friends.
Speaker 1:Joyce was running out of money, so she asked her friend Kathy Dickett to stay with her at the ranch and help out with expenses. Soon the women were bringing friends home to party. Sean noticed that the men were mostly young, closer to his age than his mother's. Joyce made it clear that she didn't want her new friends to know how old she was. Sean was disgusted to see his mother with all those different men, and night after night it was parties and men. Kathy Dickard Sean thought was not a good influence on his mother.
Speaker 1:One night Sean heard his mother sobbing in her bedroom. He peeked in the door and saw her with a man, a low-class cowboy with a thick country accent. This was not a kind of guy Sean expected to see his mother with. Not after Stan, his mother was drunk, the guy was drunk and they had been fighting. Sean felt sorry for her but he wondered how his mother could carry on this way so soon after Stan's death. It really left a bad taste in his mouth, he said.
Speaker 1:Sean decided to move out of the house. He got a job as a dishwasher in a restaurant in town and began to hang out with a fast crowd. Soon he moved into a house trailer with some of his new friends. Joyce forbade him to bring them to the ranch. She was afraid there was still something he said. Once again, on a weekend when Joyce was out of town, sean took several friends to the ranch house for an impromptu party to celebrate his 18th birthday. They ate, drank smoked pot, danced most of the night Upstairs the girls tried on Joyce's fur coats and jackets, giggling and preening, posing in front of the mirrors and parading around the house in her finery, and Sean thought it was hilarious. He knew his mother would have been furious, but she never found out To pick up a little cash.
Speaker 1:Joyce began to work as a hostess on occasional evenings at Matty's Silks, a trendy Victorian restaurant in Ski Time Square, the resort district at Steamboat Springs. She knew the owners, bill Gander and Jerry Stanford, and the restaurant had always been one of her favorites. It was named for Mattie Silks, aka Martha Reddy, denver's famous turn-of-the-century madam Stan and Joyce and their friends had spent many evenings at Mattie Silka and some nights the stools at the bar were piled high with their furs as they sat in laughing group in a table near the window watching large skiers drift down the slope. But it seemed those good times had died with Stanley Cohen. Now Joyce was working there and the people who knew her story felt sorry for her.
Speaker 1:Although most of her old friends and steamboat springs stood by Joyce, there were occasional ugly scenes. One evening a customer at Maddy Silk's handed Joyce a tip while she was working as hostess and the customer's wife said don't give her any money. She doesn't need it. She killed her husband. Now she's rich, but in fact money was still a very big problem for Joyce.
Speaker 1:Back in Miami there was a buyer for the house on South Bay Shore Drive. The price was only $225,000. This is just half of what Stan had hoped to get from the sale. But Joyce was ready to take it. She simply had to have some money. She had expenses and lawyers to pay.
Speaker 1:Gary and Jerry had other ideas. Frustrated at the slow progress of the investigation into their father's murder, they took another bold step. They filed a civil lawsuit against their stepmother for the wrongful death of their father. They accused her outright of conspiring with other persons, known and unknown, to kill Stan Cohen. Damage is claimed in the lawsuit $5 million. The civil suit was a kind of private prosecution that would produce its own investigation. Joyce and her friends could be questioned under oath. Leads could be pursued and if it was another mechanism through which to keep Joyce's hands off Stan's property, they would do it. They were willing to do anything.
Speaker 1:The attorneys who came up with this strategy were Erin Block and Joseph Sirota, both litigation partners at Fine Jacobson, the firm where Gary Cohen and Steve Helfman practiced law. Block was a savvy, experienced former prosecutor and Sirota was his protege and a rising star in the courtroom. After a month, joyce Cohen struck back. Her lawyers filed a counterclaim, accusing her stepchildren of conspiring to slander, shame and humiliate her. She sought damages of her own $50 million.
Speaker 1:The litigation sparked a flurry of activity. The parties all noticed each other for deposition, then each refused to be deposed for deposition, then each refused to be deposed. The prosecutors sought a stay of discovery in the civil case, claiming that the criminal investigation would be jeopardized. A stay was granted. Finally, a compromise was worked out to permit the sale of the Cohen house.
Speaker 1:But before the house could change hands, gary and Jerry wanted one last chance to investigate the murder scene. They were still hoping for the breakthrough that David Waxman said they needed. Jerry remember a fascinating private detective who had testified at a murder trial that she reported on the television news. He was Rod Englert, a homicide detective with the Portland Oregon Police Department and a specialist in reconstructing crime scenes and tracking serial killers. They contacted Englert and he agreed to come to Miami. Englert began by guiding them in preparing an outline of every incident, no matter how apparently insignificant, which had occurred On March 6th and 7th, a large sheet of white paper tacked to a wall. They constructed a meticulous timeline, pinpointed the sequence of each incident, looking for a pattern, a clue that might be hidden there. Next he suggested that they reenact the crime at the actual scene, the now deserted Cohen House on South Bayshore Drive. They would need more professional assistance for that phase of the investigation. At the Broadwoods County Sheriff's Office they found Chuck Ebel, a specialist in blood splatter analysis, and Ebel agreed to assist in their investigation.
Speaker 1:Of course Gary and Jerry needed permission to enter the house and they had to go back to court to get it. Their investigator could examine the house, the judge ruled, but Joyce Coyne's attorney also had a right to be present to ensure that no damage was done to the property. The judge also appointed attorney Gerald Richman to act as a referee in case any problems developed during the investigation. Neither Rosenblatt nor Richman would be permitted to interfere in the investigation, however, or even follow the investigators around. They came up with a plan the investigation would begin at 5.30 pm. Joe Sirota notified Gerald Richmond and Joyce Cohen's lawyer, robert Rosenblatt that would start with some measurements for an architectural model of the house. Then they would go upstairs to the master bedroom without Rosenblatt.
Speaker 1:When everyone arrived at the empty house, an architect, hired by Gary and Jerry, began the tedious task of measuring and making detailed drawings of the entire house inside and out and finally, bored, rosenblatt suggested that he and Richmond share a pizza while they waited for the investigators to finish pizza. While they waited for the investigators to finish. When they sat down to a snack, joe Sirota, chuck Ebel and his assistant headed for the stairs to the master bedroom. By now it was dark and the old house took on the ominous atmosphere Gary Cohen remembered from years earlier. It had been closed up since the murder and a musty stench hung in the still air. The stairs creaked and groaned as the small group moved toward the master bedroom where Stan had been killed.
Speaker 1:They clustered together in silence as Evo examined the empty, cavernous room. Then he set to work. First he sprayed the entire room with luminol, a substance that glows in the dark wherever it comes into contact with blood residue. Then he turned out the lights Like phosphorescent paint. Under black light, eerie trails glowed in the pitch-dark room, illuminating the deadly spattered accosted floor on the mirrored wall. Everywhere it pulled on the floor speckled the walls, mute testimony to Stan Cohen's violent death. Ebert pointed to a deep pool of fluorescents on the floor and that's where his head drained blood. He said it was a scene that none of them would ever forget.
Speaker 1:Downstairs, ebert and an assistant conducted a meticulous videotape reenactment of Joy's statement where she said she was standing when she heard the noise in the kitchen and how she turned on the burglar alarm and ran back to the dining room exactly where she was when she saw the shadowy figures run out the front door. When she saw the shadowy figures run out the front door. At the end of the investigation, chuck Evo came to the same conclusion. Detective John Spear had read months before. Joyce's story was a lie. It simply couldn't have happened that way. She couldn't have done what she claimed to have done, seen what she claimed to have seen, seen what she claimed to have seen from where she said she was standing. It was a physical impossibility. But they learned nothing new. Their investigation didn't answer the all-important questions of what Joyce had in fact done before, during and after her husband's murder. There was no new evidence and without some concrete evidence linking her to the crime she couldn't be arrested, her alone convicted.
Speaker 1:Things began to look up for Joyce. Two suitors appeared in Streamboat Springs. One was a businessman from Philadelphia who reminded Sean of Stan. He shook Sean's hand when they were introduced and he said, hi, how are you doing? And Sean liked him. He seemed like a nice guy and Joey said he was rich. He lent money. The other possibility was Robert Ditch. One day when Sean stopped by Wolf, one ranch for food, he heard his mother and kathleen dickard uh, dickett, sorry, uh talking about picking up these studs from virginia. They like this guy, they said. And sean liked robert dietrich too. When he met him, sean thought he was cool. Dietrich was definitely more into partying than the guy from Philadelphia. Maybe that was why his mother seemed more interested in Dietrich.
Speaker 1:Joyce had met Dietrich one evening while she was hosting at Maddy Silk's. He was good looking, gray and dark hair, large, luminous, dark eyes. Finally, you know he has some cute little features. Dietrich had been married several times but was unattached at the moment. Women always found him attractive. He seemed sensitive and intense and he was instantly smitten by Joyce. He asked her to have a drink with him after she finished work and she agreed. Maddie Silks was perfect for romance.
Speaker 1:D Trich told Joyce that he lived in the small town of Chexapete, virginia, in the Tidewater area near Norfolk, newport News and Virginia Beach. His family owned property there, a large mobile home park and some duplex houses. D Trich lived in a large brick house on the property and managed the business for his elderly parents who had retired in Florida. Dietrich was also a pilot who flew in his own small plane. As their romance blossomed, joyce told Dietrich about her marriage to Stan and his tragic death. She loved Stan very much and they had been happy together. And then he was murdered while she was right there in the house. The crime had not been solved and now her husband's children were saying that she was somehow involved in his death. And that was ridiculous. Of course she had had nothing to do with it. Of course she had had nothing to do with it. She herself was a victim of the tragedy and she couldn't understand why her stepchildren were treating her so cruelly. It must be Stan's money they were after. He had left nearly everything to her. Joyce told Dietrich and her lawyers in Miami were trying to strain things out. It would be resolved soon. And her lawyers in Miami were trying to strain things out. It would be resolved soon.
Speaker 1:At Christmas 1986, there was a huge Christmas tree in the big room next to the fireplace, just as there had been every year at Wolf Run Ranch. In that year's Christmas photo, joyce and Robert Dietrich cuddled in front of the tree. Dietrich looked like a happy Marlboro cowboy. He wore jeans, a lumberjack shirt and an enormous smile. As he drew Joy's clothes, she wore one of her stunning stylized all-white outfits pants, boots, a sort of long flowing cape and with her helmet of shiny dark hair and immaculate makeup. She had never looked more beautiful, but her face was enigmatic. She stared down at the floor rather than at the camera, a half-smile partying, you know. It was like playing on her lips. Soon after that, joyce led steamboat with Robert Dietrich and moved into his house in Chesapeake, virginia. Her worries about money would be over now and she had a man to protect her and took care of her. Alan Ross was right it was time to put the tragedy of Stan's death behind her and get on with her life. Thank you for listening to the Murder Book. Have a great week.
