The feds have decided not to seek the death penalty against Joel “Joe Waverly” Cacace the one time reputed acting boss of the Colombo crime family.
Cacace is being charged with ordering the murder of NYPD cop Ralph Dols in the 1990’s. Federal prosecutors originally decided to seek the death penalty but now on orders from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder have decided to withdraw those intentions. The feds claim that Cacace wanted Dols killed because he had married his ex-wife Kim Kennaugh. Dols was shot to death outside of his apartment building in Sheepshead Bay in August of 1997 by a mafia hit team.
“Joel Cacace”
Two Colombo family mobsters and Cacace underlings Thomas “Tommy Shots” Gioeli and Dino Saracino were cleared at trial of the Dols murder. Saracino was believed to have been the shooter according to the feds but there was not enough evidence to prove the wiseguys involvement in the hit. Defense lawyer Susan Kellman said that “Nobody should face the death penalty in a case that contains no forensic evidence but only the word of two witnesses whose owns mothers don’t even believe them”.
