Vincent J. DeSimone, Jr. (1918–1979) was the chief of detectives of

Passaic County, New Jersey Passaic County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey that is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the population of Passaic County was enumerated at 524,118, an increase of 22,892 (4.6%) from t ...

, USA. In 1966, he was the lead detective who coached witnesses in the

homicide Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...

case at Lafayette Grill in Paterson, New Jersey, in order to implicate boxer

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter Rubin "Hurricane" Carter (May 6, 1937 – April 20, 2014) was an American-Canadian middleweight boxer, wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for murder, until released following a petition of habeas corpus after almost 20 years in prison. In ...

and John Artis. Carter and Artis were ultimately convicted and served nearly two decades in prison before the convictions were overturned in 1985. DeSimone's handling of eyewitnesses was criticized for its failure to maintain impartiality and the federal court later wrote about the improper treatment of key witness Alfred Bello by the police: " ello'smotivation was crystallized when, shortly after the trial, police officers and others tried to help him obtain a $10,000 reward offered to persons providing information that led to the arrest and conviction of the Lafayette Bar killers." — Vincent DeSimone's obituary In 1969, he resigned from his job as the result of a dispute about the way that a murder investigation was being handled (which was, according to an unnamed county attorney quoted in his obituary, "the only thing that a respectable law enforcement man could do" in the situation), and for a year worked as warden of the Passaic County jail, until he was re-hired by a new county prosecutor. The character Sergeant Della Pesca, based on Vincent DeSimone, was played by

Dan Hedaya Daniel G. Hedaya (born July 24, 1940) is an American actor. He established himself as a supporting actor, often playing sleazy villains or wisecracking supporting characters. He has had supporting roles in films such as '' True Confessions'' (198 ...

in the 1999 film, ''The Hurricane''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Desimone, Vincent 1918 births 1979 deaths People from New Jersey American police detectives American military personnel of World War II