NEW YORK, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- A federal prosecutor described killings dating back to 1976 as an accused mob hit man went on trial Thursday in New York.
Charles Carneglia killed Albert Gelb, a court officer, to keep him from testifying in a gun case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa Seifan told jurors. The Brooklyn courtroom was packed with a delegation of court officers and relatives of other victims, the New York Daily News reported.
"To the defendant, killing a court officer was a badge of honor," Seifan said.
She listed other crimes, including the shooting of Jose Rivera Delgado, an armored car guard, because he had "the audacity to fight back" during a holdup. In 1990, she said, Carneglia shot a mobster in the underground parking garage at the World Trade Center on the orders of boss John Gotti.
The jury will not hear evidence that Carneglia dissolved a body in acid and threw the finger bones into a mob boss's chicken soup as proof he had done the job. Prosecutors argued unsuccessfully Wednesday to allow the evidence in but U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein ruled it would be prejudicial.
