Friday, March 18, 2005 | 3:52 a.m.
Jeff German's column appears Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays in the Sun. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-4067.
WEEKEND EDITION
March 19 - 20, 2005
The criminal case over the death of casino boss Ted Binion has never been short on cameo appearances by wise guys.
Reputed Chicago mob associate Joseph Cusumano, for example, once locked up the movie rights of the two defendants, Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish, and tried to put a movie deal together on their behalf in Hollywood.
So we should not be surprised to learn that a retired New York cop who befriended Murphy and made her a sympathetic character in a screenplay about Binion's 1998 death has now been linked to a string of Mafia hits.
This is the Binion case, after all, which can't seem to go a day without a dramatic twist.
And this is a twist that has caught the attention of prosecutors, who recently saw their murder case against Murphy and Tabish end in an acquittal at a retrial.
The latest subplot stars 56-year-old Louis Eppolito, co-author of the 1992 book "Mafia Cop," which describes his exploits growing up with the mob in Brooklyn and working there as a decorated cop.
The book, published two years after Eppolito retired from the New York Police Department, led him to Hollywood to dabble in screen-writing and acting. His biggest credit is writing the 2001 film, "Turn of Faith," starring Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini and Charles Durning.
For the last decade Eppolito has lived in Las Vegas, where he has hobnobbed with the rich and famous and those of lesser social standing.
The problem facing Eppolito now is that federal authorities in Brooklyn believe he never left the mob.
On March 9 they arrested Eppolito and his former NYPD partner, Stephen Caracappa, on charges of participating in eight murders for the Luchese crime family while their careers as cops were winding down.
Ray Dennis Steckler, a local low-budget movie producer, says he's still in shock over the arrest of Eppolito, the man he calls his "best friend for the last eight years."
Steckler says he knows nothing about Eppolito's reported life of crime and saw nothing close to that in the "kind-hearted" Eppolito he knew.
"He's a wonderful guy," says Steckler, who's known for his off-beat B-movies. "I have to tell you, I can't find one fault with him."
Steckler claims he read Eppolito's Binion script two years ago.
The filmmaker wouldn't talk about the script, other than to say Eppolito wanted Sandra Bullock to play Murphy's role.
But judging by what Steckler says the screenplay was entitled, "The Sandy Murphy Story," it's not hard to figure out how Eppolito portrayed the murder case against Murphy.
Eppolito, Steckler explains, was paid a large sum of money by her wealthy benefactor, William Fuller, to write the screenplay.
The ex-cop made as many as 30 visits to the Southern Nevada Women's Correctional Facility in North Las Vegas to interview Murphy before writing the script, Steckler says.
So Eppolito isn't just a casual Murphy acquaintance.
At the time of the visits, Murphy was serving a prison sentence for her 2000 murder conviction in Binion's death, and Eppolito buddy Caracappa was an investigator at the prison, which was run for the state then by a private corporation.
Trying to get anyone associated with Murphy to discuss her relationship with Eppolito isn't easy.
He surfaced publicly in the Binion case in 2003, about the time he wrote the script, as the spokesman for a mysterious, but well-financed, "citizens" group supporting Murphy.
Murphy's lawyer, Michael Cristalli, confirms that Eppolito wrote a screenplay on the case and that efforts were under way before Eppolito's arrest to land a movie deal.
Fuller, however, won't comment. His spokesman, John Prendeville, will only say that Fuller hired the former detective to do some work for him.
Prendeville describes Eppolito as a "charismatic man."
Steckler, meanwhile, sees much irony in Eppolito's arrest.
Big things, he says, were about to happen for Eppolito, including a network series on "Mafia Cop."
But everything's on hold now while Eppolito concentrates on beating a criminal rap that could keep him behind bars for the rest of his life.
That may include "The Sandy Murphy Story."
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