Mafia 'Oddfather' dies after faking madness

emad

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Wed Dec-21-05 10:09 AM
Original message

Mafia 'Oddfather' dies after faking madness

Gary Younge in New York
Wednesday December 21, 2005
The Guardian

Vincent "The Chin" Gigante, the mafia boss who pretended he was mentally ill for decades to avoid prosecution, died on Monday in a prison hospital in Missouri aged 77.

Gigante, the head of the Genovese mob family, used to wander around Greenwich Village in his pyjamas, bathrobe and slippers talking to himself to convince prosecutors that he was not mentally competent to stand trial.

Gigante, whose behaviour also earned him the nickname of the Oddfather, admitted that he had feigned mental illness in 2003 when he pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1671745,00.html

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yellowcanine

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Wed Dec-21-05 10:22 AM
Response to Original message

1. I know he was a criminal and a murderer but I gotta admit to some grudging

respect for pulling off such an innovative "defense" - at least for a while.

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emad

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Wed Dec-21-05 10:23 AM
Response to Reply #1

2. The 'Hamlet' defense as it is known.....

Edited on Wed Dec-21-05 10:31 AM by emad

Maybe that's what Dumbass and Cheney will resort to when Fitzie busts them....

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yellowcanine

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Wed Dec-21-05 10:29 AM
Response to Reply #2

3. If Bush were to claim he was insane and I was on the jury I might have

to believe him. I guess that disqualifies me as a potential jury member.

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1monster

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Wed Dec-21-05 10:40 AM
Response to Reply #3

4. No, now they have that unique "insane but guilty" anyway verdict. The

insane perp then is sentenced to a prison for the criminally insane...

You can still be on the jury.

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MsAnthropy

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Wed Dec-21-05 10:43 AM
Response to Original message

5. The energy it took to keep it up so long is amazing!

A strange, twisted sort of genius, that.

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