Fear of Mob Kept Murder Witness Silent Since 1981

By Ali Trachta in News on May 9, 2008 5:00PM

Bella’s Pizza owner Michael Cosmano was arrested Wednesday for a murder that took place in 1981. The impetus was a phone call to police by a former pizza delivery driver who had witnessed the crime and kept silent all this time from fear that Cosmano had connections with the mob.

The story goes like this: Back in 1981, pizza delivery driver Milton Rodriguez had begun to organize his coworkers to strike over poor working conditions and low pay. One night he sparred with a restaurant manager over pay raises, and the dispute almost came to blows. Cosmano, who was allegedly coked up at the time, overheard the scuffle and had to separate the two, sending Rodriguez outside. While Rodriguez commiserated with fellow drivers in the alley out back, another employee informed Cosmano that Rodriguez had recently quarreled with one of the cooks, whom Cosmano was close to. Cosmano went into a rage, stormed outside to the alley and pulled a semiautomatic on Rodriguez, killing him with one bullet through the heart.

After almost 27 years, the burden became too much to bear for one of those back alley witnesses, who finally came forward last August despite the fear that Cosmano has mob ties. Since then, police have tracked down other delivery drivers who witnessed the crime and have gathered enough evidence for Cosmano’s arrest. His bail is set at $500,000.

Cosmano’s mob connections are so far unsubstantiated, but clearly they were substantial enough to witnesses that they kept silent for more than a quarter century. Cosmano’s attorney asserts, "It's unfortunate that anyone whose name ends in a vowel is connected with organized crime."

Allegedly Rodriguez’s last words as he laid dying were, “What about my family?” Rodriguez’s daughter, who was only three years old at the time of her father’s murder, is reportedly ecstatic that this crime is possibly on its way to being solved. [Trib]

Photo by julianrod