The key investigators from left: Clifton Police Dept. Lt. John Burke, FBI Special Agent Thomas A. Cottone, Jr., Clifton Police Dept. Det. Nick Donato, and Senior Investigator Peter T. Talarico, Jr. of the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office.
After the trial, Caposela received a letter of thanks from the Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, Robert Wilentz, which stated: “Your willingness to undertake such representation without any assurance of eventual compensation speaks well for the profession and its dedication to the system of justice.” Today, Caposela is a Passaic County Superior Court Judge. On June 25, 1993, Eric Napoletano was sentenced to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 30 years. Despite Carolyn Napoletano’s implication with various crimes, she was at first able to return to her job at the NYPD. Pienciak noted that the tape recorded conversation he had with Carolyn which played an integral part of the book was eventually used to get her fired from the NYPD. “That’s one of my greatest accomplishments,” said Pienciak. “We finally got Carolyn out of the police department.” In mid-1997, Pienciak returned as a writer for the Sunday New York Daily News and in December, 1998, he was named the paper’s metropolitan editor, where he directs all suburban coverage for the paper, managing some 70 editors and reporters. Over his career, he’s also been a national correspondent for the Associated Press and an investigative reporter for the New York Daily News. When looking back at the Napoletano case, Pienciak called the Clifton police the real heroes. “They stopped these people when no one else cared,” said Pienciak.
Next month, we’ll tell the story of how Clifton Detectives Tim Kaminski and Joel Smith have worked the still unresolved July 2009 case of the so-called Miracle Baby. November 2011 • Clifton Merchant
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