Victim had bounty hunter badge, wife confirms in court

The widow of homicide victim Richard Baccus testified Monday she had seen a bounty hunter badge in a drawer, but that her husband denied having a gun to go with what authorities now say was a phony credential.

"I've seen it before in the house," Romona Baccus said, while holding the badge at Orlando Ortiz's murder trial in Mineola. "He said, 'It's only the badge.' He doesn't carry a weapon."

Prosecutors contend Ortiz, 32, of Valley Stream, shot the victim in the head nine times on Dec. 23 after the two neighborhood acquaintances argued at Ay! Caramba restaurant on West Merrick Road in Valley Stream.

Authorities have said Baccus, 50, of Rosedale, Queens, had the fake badge with him when police found his body in a BMW in the restaurant's parking lot.

Romona Baccus also testified Monday her husband of 27 years, who had a car-painting business at their home, told her a friend had gotten him the badge. She said she first saw it about two years before her husband's slaying, but didn't know how often he had left the house with it.

Calling the argument "much ado about nothing" in hindsight, a prosecutor previously told jurors Ortiz followed Baccus out of the restaurant after one last swig of beer and shot the unarmed victim point-blank in the head so he could "have his final say" before calmly walking away.

But the defense previously told jurors Baccus was drunk that night and trying to fight with Ortiz, who didn't believe Baccus' bail enforcement agent -- or bounty hunter -- badge was real. The defense has also questioned why it was an ambulance medical technician, and not also police, who documented that Baccus was holding a small tactical flashlight in one hand when found dead.

An NYPD officer who was among the first to respond to the shooting scene testified Monday that he never saw Baccus' left hand, and didn't see anything in his right hand before Nassau police took over at the scene bordering Queens.

A Nassau crime scene detective also testified Monday, saying he remembered seeing a black flashlight on the driver's seat after helping remove the body from the car.

Testimony is scheduled to continue Tuesday.