ABC News revisits Long Island murder case
Daniel Pelosi, left, accused of killing the husband of a woman he was having an affair with, is escorted by his attorney, Gerald Shargel, into criminal court in Riverhead, N.Y., on Tuesday, March 23, 2004. Credit: AP / Ed Betz
The Hamptons-set ABC drama "Revenge" takes a break tonight at 10 in favor of a true-life revenge story from the East End.
"Revenge for Real: Murder in the Hamptons" recounts the case of Daniel Pelosi, the Manorville native convicted of murdering financier Theodore Ammon at his East Hampton estate in 2001. Ammon was in the midst of a bitter divorce with his wife, Generosa -- who has since died. Her boyfriend, Pelosi -- who has maintained his innocence -- was convicted of Ammon's murder in December 2004 and is serving 25-to-life at the Great Meadow Correctional Facility in Comstock, N.Y., where "Nightline" anchor Cynthia McFadden interviewed him for this broadcast. We spoke to McFadden yesterday.
Why are you interviewing Pelosi again? [She first interviewed him in 2003, before his conviction.]
He is filing his appeal, and that's the occasion to go back and talk to him. He contacted us and told us he was ready to reveal the details and evidence that he had held back at the time of the trial [he said to protect Generosa and the children, Greg and Alexa, the Ammons' adopted twins]. I told him, "You're never getting out." He said, "I'm a betting man -- I'm getting out."
What did he tell you?
He told us of that famous black box -- the security system recorder -- which he now admits he took out of the house. As you'll recall from the trial, it was hidden under the eaves of the house, and it was a big selling point for the prosecution that said he knew where it was. He did know where it was and took it out after Ted was killed and threw it in a canal in Lindenhurst. [The canal, says ABC, is on the corner of Shore Road and Grove Street, between Montauk Highway and Palm Street.] We hired a dive team and spent a long day in Lindenhurst, but I'm not telling what we found.
What exactly was this "black box"?
Generosa was convinced he [Ammon] was hiding assets and taking things out of the house, so she decided to have this security system installed [to surreptitiously watch Ammon from the Stanhope hotel in Manhattan where she was staying and from his sister's house]. Danny maintains that what went down that night is recorded. [Pelosi tells ABC that a friend, Chris Parrino, who drove him to the mansion that night, and Generosa were in the house at the time of the murder.]
What did you think of his story?
I have to say, the explanation . . . is somewhat limp, but it's worth saying that back in 2003, we had a first-rate investigative legal team, and we have the same legal team that's been following the case over these years; the result is a compelling, interesting look at this case.
Did you talk to the Ammons' children?
They are 21 now, and Greg has a documentary that he's hoping to have shown at a film festival [about his and his siter's ordeal]. It's a search to try to come full circle. But the kids did not want to talk on camera with us.
