Read Online Absent Friends by S. J. Rozan - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: S. J. Rozan
Tags: Fiction, General, thriller, Suspense, Psychological, Thrillers, Mystery & Detective, American Mystery & Suspense Fiction, Women Sleuths, Friendship, Secrecy, Fiction - Espionage, N.Y.), Fire Fighters, Women Journalists, September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001, Staten Island (New York
Ads: Link
organization. In that capacity she is the chosen representative of Lower Manhattan's cultural community to the Downtown Redevelopment Advisory Council, a citizens' watchdog group.
Gallagher and McCaffery were well known as a couple during their days in Pleasant Hills. “That's why I asked her to take this on,” Molloy told the Tribune. “Because she'd been close to Jimmy.” Gallagher refused to discuss the nature of her relationship with McCaffery. But in a reference to recent allegations that McCaffery was involved in dealings of an unspecified nature, financial and otherwise, with Edward Spano, Gallagher stated, “Jimmy McCaffery was completely honorable. If anything wrong was going on, he wasn't part of it.”
The rumors circulating about McCaffery center on events that took place more than two decades ago.
A 1979 shooting in Pleasant Hills resulted in the death of Jonathan “Jack” Molloy, 25, half-brother of Thomas Molloy. Mark Keegan, 23, admitted shooting Molloy but claimed he did so in self-defense. According to Keegan's statement, Molloy, who had a record of arrests on minor charges, threatened him with a gun and fired two shots. Keegan returned fire, killing Molloy with a single shot. No homicide charges were filed, but Keegan pled guilty to possession of an unlicensed handgun. He was sentenced to 16 months in prison, where he died after a fight with another inmate.
According to Keegan's widow, it was McCaffery who urged her to file a wrongful death lawsuit holding New York State responsible. Sally Keegan claims the suit was filed but withdrawn when the State offered a settlement under a policy compensating the families of prisoners injured or killed in custody. Six months after Keegan's death his family began to receive monthly payments of $1,000. In 1990 this amount jumped to $2,000. Payments continued until Keegan's only child, Kevin, now a firefighter, turned 18. They were made through Phillip Constantine, the attorney who had handled Keegan's criminal trial in 1979.
However, the Tribune has learned that New York State has no such family compensation program, nor did it ever have one.
Reached at his Lower Manhattan office, Constantine, a prominent criminal attorney, refused to comment on the payments' source. Asked whether a lawsuit was filed against New York State, he would only say, “Lawsuits are public record.” The Tribune failed to find any suit filed against the State on behalf of any member of the Keegan family.
Constantine refused further comment on such questions as the object of the deception or why it was taken to such lengths.
Asked whether Sally Keegan would have accepted money if she had known its source was a reputed crime figure, Victoria Molloy, former wife of Thomas Molloy, said, “Never.”
Sally Keegan refused to comment. Kevin Keegan would not answer a reporter's questions except to say, “Jimmy McCaffery was my godfather and my father's best friend. There's no way he was involved in anything dirty, with Eddie Spano or anyone else.”
Spano, reached at his office at Chapel Pointe, a luxury development going up on Staten Island, denied any knowledge of where or why the payments to the Keegan family originated. Asked about his relationship with McCaffery, Spano said, “I knew Jimmy when we were kids, that's all. Always admired the guy. A real hero.” Pressed about his motivation for contributing to the McCaffery Fund, Spano would only say, “I just wanted to help out.”
Spano called allegations of his own ties to organized crime “ridiculous.”
It is a matter of public record that Spano has been indicted twice, once on charges of extortion and once for racketeering under the state RICO law. He was paroled after serving 10 months of a 30-month sentence under a plea bargain on the extortion charge. The racketeering charge was dismissed for lack of evidence after a key witness disappeared.
Spano's role, if any, in the deception remains unclear, as does the exact role McCaffery
Gallagher and McCaffery were well known as a couple during their days in Pleasant Hills. “That's why I asked her to take this on,” Molloy told the Tribune. “Because she'd been close to Jimmy.” Gallagher refused to discuss the nature of her relationship with McCaffery. But in a reference to recent allegations that McCaffery was involved in dealings of an unspecified nature, financial and otherwise, with Edward Spano, Gallagher stated, “Jimmy McCaffery was completely honorable. If anything wrong was going on, he wasn't part of it.”
The rumors circulating about McCaffery center on events that took place more than two decades ago.
A 1979 shooting in Pleasant Hills resulted in the death of Jonathan “Jack” Molloy, 25, half-brother of Thomas Molloy. Mark Keegan, 23, admitted shooting Molloy but claimed he did so in self-defense. According to Keegan's statement, Molloy, who had a record of arrests on minor charges, threatened him with a gun and fired two shots. Keegan returned fire, killing Molloy with a single shot. No homicide charges were filed, but Keegan pled guilty to possession of an unlicensed handgun. He was sentenced to 16 months in prison, where he died after a fight with another inmate.
According to Keegan's widow, it was McCaffery who urged her to file a wrongful death lawsuit holding New York State responsible. Sally Keegan claims the suit was filed but withdrawn when the State offered a settlement under a policy compensating the families of prisoners injured or killed in custody. Six months after Keegan's death his family began to receive monthly payments of $1,000. In 1990 this amount jumped to $2,000. Payments continued until Keegan's only child, Kevin, now a firefighter, turned 18. They were made through Phillip Constantine, the attorney who had handled Keegan's criminal trial in 1979.
However, the Tribune has learned that New York State has no such family compensation program, nor did it ever have one.
Reached at his Lower Manhattan office, Constantine, a prominent criminal attorney, refused to comment on the payments' source. Asked whether a lawsuit was filed against New York State, he would only say, “Lawsuits are public record.” The Tribune failed to find any suit filed against the State on behalf of any member of the Keegan family.
Constantine refused further comment on such questions as the object of the deception or why it was taken to such lengths.
Asked whether Sally Keegan would have accepted money if she had known its source was a reputed crime figure, Victoria Molloy, former wife of Thomas Molloy, said, “Never.”
Sally Keegan refused to comment. Kevin Keegan would not answer a reporter's questions except to say, “Jimmy McCaffery was my godfather and my father's best friend. There's no way he was involved in anything dirty, with Eddie Spano or anyone else.”
Spano, reached at his office at Chapel Pointe, a luxury development going up on Staten Island, denied any knowledge of where or why the payments to the Keegan family originated. Asked about his relationship with McCaffery, Spano said, “I knew Jimmy when we were kids, that's all. Always admired the guy. A real hero.” Pressed about his motivation for contributing to the McCaffery Fund, Spano would only say, “I just wanted to help out.”
Spano called allegations of his own ties to organized crime “ridiculous.”
It is a matter of public record that Spano has been indicted twice, once on charges of extortion and once for racketeering under the state RICO law. He was paroled after serving 10 months of a 30-month sentence under a plea bargain on the extortion charge. The racketeering charge was dismissed for lack of evidence after a key witness disappeared.
Spano's role, if any, in the deception remains unclear, as does the exact role McCaffery
Similar Books
