18 years later, an answer for one family

BY ROCCO PARASCANDOLA AND SARA KENNEDY

March 11, 2005, 7:37 PM EST

Nicholas Guido's family was never at peace. But for nearly 20 years they have lived their lives under the belief that whoever was responsible for gunning down the hardworking telephone installer was either in prison or dead.

On Thursday, the family's fragile state of mind was shattered.

First they heard the case had only just been solved. Then came word that two rogue cops were being blamed for the senseless murder, charged with passing along to a mob boss erroneoous information that marked the wrong Nicholas Guido for death.

"We never thought 18 years later this would turn up," said Guido's brother. "What makes it more appalling -- they were cops.

As the story of the two cops unfolded Thursday, the family wasn't sure what was going on. Guido's 77-year-old mother, watching television in Florida, heard about the developments but the details did not immediately register with her.

Later, her surviving son in New York City called to more fully explain what was happening. The son, meanwhile, was fielding other calls, from reporters and friends.

"We had left it alone," said the son, a 40-something stagehand. "Now, I've got people calling me all over the place, upsetting things."

The brother, like the mother, spoke to Newsday on the condition their names not be printed. They're not looking for publicity, they said, and the mother at least appeared shaken at the thought of discussing a case with such strong connections to organized crime.

Her son, as it is now clear, had nothing to do with mobsters or crooked cops.

On Christmas Day 1986, as the 26-year-old bachelor stepped outside the family's Windsor Terrace home to show his Uncle Tony his new sports car.

Guido, it turned out, had a namesake in the form of a Gambino family soldier involved in the murder attempt three months earlier of Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso. Casso later turned to accused rogue Det. Stephen Caracappa for help, authorities say.

Caracappa, according to court papers and police sources, had been asked to run Guido's name and pass along a home address to Casso.

On Nov. 11, Caracappa did just that, but there were at least a half-dozen Nicholas Guidos in Brooklyn at the time, one source said.

One -- Nicholas Guido the telephone installer, who was mildly retarded -- lived on 17th Street, in the area where the Gambino soldier was believed to have resided.

As the legitimate Nicholas Guido and his uncle slipped into Guido's new car, a gunman stepped up and fired nine times through the driver's side window.

Guido, police sources said, shielded his uncle from injury but was struck in the chest and killed.

Relatives, cleaning up inside after their holiday dinner, had not heard the commotion, but when the uncle ran inside all hell broke loose.

"He come running into the house," said the mother, speaking through tears in her kitchen as she held a small framed photo of her son. "We couldn't believe it."

The mother remembers running to the car and grabbing Nicholas' hand.

His palm was still warm, she recalls, but his fingers were already cold, a sure sign he had already died.

Later, when detectives arrived, "They made us feel like he was the guilty one," she said.

Not long after the murder, a lawyer for Nicholas Guido the Gambino soldier stepped forward and told authorities his client, who actually lived in New Jersey, had been targeted for death and the telephone installer was guilty only of having the same name.

That brought them a certain amount of comfort, and they assumed it was likely whoever shot him was later murdered or imprisoned.

Now, 18 years later, the family will relive the day many more times as they watch the case make its way through the headlines and eventually to court.

Rocco Parascandola is a staff writer. Sara Kennedy is a freelance writer.