Montauk man sentenced to 20 years in prison for 2019 killing, Tierney says

A Montauk man who pleaded guilty in July to the fatal bludgeoning of his ex-girlfriend's lover has been sentenced to 20 years in prison, Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

Joseph Grippo, 50, had faced a second-degree murder charge in the 2019 killing of Robert Casado, 38, of Montauk. Grippo's guilty plea deal resulted in a reduction of the murder charge to manslaughter. He was sentenced Wednesday, Tierney said.

Grippo bludgeoned Casado with the handle of a pickax just before 7 a.m. June 6, 2019 as the victim was on his way to work in Kirk Park in Montauk as a seasonal employee, prosecutors said. Grippo admitted ambushing Casado on Kirk Park Trail, according to court records.

Authorities said Grippo and Casado had both been romantically involved with the same woman, leading to the attack.

“No amount of incarceration will bring the victim back to his loved ones, but with this lengthy sentence, justice has been served and this defendant will no longer be able to harm others,” Tierney said in a news release Wednesday. “The lives of all Suffolk County residents are valued and such acts will be met with penalties implemented to the fullest extent of the law.”

Grippo’s Westhampton Beach attorney, Daniel Russo, could not be reached for comment.

Grippo admitted buying the 36-inch pickax weeks before he bludgeoned Casado in a planned attack, according to the district attorney. The pickax was never recovered. Grippo had said he disposed of it at a recycling center in Montauk, prosecutors said.

Grippo confessed that he was driven to the park by a witness, who left him nearby where the killing occurred, according to the release, and the driver had no knowledge of his plans. The witness later observed when he picked up Grippo, he had blood on his hands and held a wooden object and Grippo later said he had disposed of the pickax, prosecutors said. 

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.