On a Christmas Day in 1986 that should have been filled with holiday cheer, a tragic case of mistaken identity led to the death of twenty-six-year-old Nicholas Guido. The young man, a telephone installer with no connections to the criminal underworld, was proudly showing off his new car outside his mother's home in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. As his mother was inside washing dishes after their Christmas dinner, the sound of gunfire suddenly shattered the festive peace.
When she ran outside, she found her son shot and lifeless in his new vehicle.
The senseless murder was the result of a colossal blunder by the mob. Guido shared the same name as a Gambino crime family associate who had been involved in a failed assassination attempt on Lucchese family underboss, Anthony 'Gaspipe' Casso. Seeking revenge, Casso hired two decorated New York City police detectives, Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, to help track down his would-be assassins. These 'Mafia Cops,' as they would later be known, were moonlighting for the mob, feeding them confidential information and even carrying out contract killings. It was Eppolito and Caracappa who provided Casso with the incorrect information that led the hit squad to the innocent Nicholas Guido.
For years, the true circumstances of Guido's death remained a painful mystery for his family. However, the sprawling corruption investigation into Eppolito and Caracappa eventually brought the truth to light. The two detectives, who had retired to Las Vegas, were arrested in 2005. Their subsequent trial exposed the depth of their betrayal, revealing they had participated in or aided at least eight murders while on the police force, all for the benefit of the mob.
In 2006, Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa were convicted on a slew of racketeering charges, including the murder of Nicholas Guido. Both men were sentenced to life in prison, bringing a measure of justice for their numerous victims. In the wake of these convictions, Guido's family filed a lawsuit against the city of New York for the role the corrupt detectives played in his death. In 2015, nearly three decades after that fateful Christmas Day, the city agreed to a five-million-dollar settlement with the family, a final acknowledgment of the tragic loss of an innocent man's life.
