The altercation that cost Revere Police Officer Daniel Talbot his life began when the off-duty officer made disparaging remarks to a teenager about the Bloods street gang. Moments later Talbot was shot to death by an alleged member of that group, according to Suffolk County prosecutors and court records.
Prosecutors have readily acknowledged since the Sept. 29 fatal shooting of Talbot behind Revere High School that he got into a verbal disagreement with 17-year-old Derek Lodie. Talbot, three fellow officers and Talbot's fiancée went to the high school around 1:30 a.m. after going to a Revere restaurant and had a six pack of beer with them at the time, prosecutors have said.
But during yesterday's arraignment of Lodie and two other defendants in Suffolk Superior Court - including the alleged shooter, Robert Iacoviello, Jr., 20 - prosecutors gave their most detailed account of what sparked Talbot's killing.
Talbot, according to Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Edmond J. Zabin, made "disparaging remarks towards the individual [Lodie] and the Bloods street gang. Lodie apparently took exception."
Zabin said Lodie, who has not been identified as a gang member, used his cellphone to summon Iacoviello, who was listed as a suspected Bloods gang member in Chelsea District Court records when Revere police searched his home and discovered a 9mm handgun in 2006.
Lodie, according to Zabin, kept the verbal exchange going with Talbot. Zabin explained that Lodie lured the officer to a parking lot and closer to an armed Iacoviello. Prosecutors have said that Lodie and Talbot did not know each other and that the young people were not aware that Talbot and his group were off-duty police officers.
"As Talbot approached Lodie, who was continuing to taunt and in the process draw Talbot towards the parking lot, Iacoviello ambushed him," Zabin wrote in court papers.
Zabin said in court that Iacoviello fired two rounds and that Talbot, 30, drew his weapon. But the officer was struck in the head and killed before he could fire a shot, he said.
But Peter Krupp, Iacoviello's lawyer, said the government has not provided a complete and accurate account of the final moments of Talbot's life.
"There is a lot more to this case than meets the eye," said Krupp, who also said he is concerned that law enforcement might have destroyed or damaged audio and video tapes of witness interviews.
Lodie's lawyer, JW Carney Jr., said his client looks forward to being vindicated during a jury trial, and refused to comment further.
Also yesterday, James Heang,17, faces a charge of being an accessory after the fact of murder. Heang stored the gun used to kill Talbot in his Revere apartment, Zabin said.
After the shooting, Heang burned a sweat shirt Iacoviello wore during the shooting and helped dismantle the weapon and drop pieces into storm drains in Revere, Zabin said.
Heang's lawyer, Willie J. Davis, left without speaking to reporters.
The fourth person charged in the case, Iacoviello's girlfriend, Gia Nagy, 17, is scheduled to be arraigned next month on a charge of being an accessory after the fact, according to Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley's office. Authorities said Nagy also allegedly helped take apart the weapon and drop pieces into storm drains, where State Police later recovered them.
Several Revere officers and Talbot's relatives were in court when the three suspects were jointly arraigned, but they declined comment afterward.
All three defendants pleaded not guilty and were ordered held without bail by Trial Magistrate Gary D. Wilson, who set a tentative trial date of Dec. 22, 2008.
Under state law, Iacoviello faces life imprisonment without parole if convicted of first-degree murder as would Lodie if found guilty of being an accessory before murder. Heang and Nagy face up to seven years in prison.
