Weekend Buff
The Brotherhoods: The True Story of Two Cops who Murdered for the Mafia
The Brotherhoods: The True Story of Two Cops who Murdered for the Mafia, by Guy Lawson and William Oldham (2006)
As stories of corruption swirl around the highest offices of the NYPD, we wanted to take a look back at some of the bad old days of police corruption. Unfortunately, corruption is a constant battle for police agencies, and one that was being lost for decades. As detailed in a story from a few weeks ago, the NYPD had gotten the upper hand on the problem for decades after the Mollen Commission and with strong leadership by the likes of Bill Bratton and Ray Kelly.
The Brotherhoods harken back to some dark times in the NYPD, after the widespread systemic graft that existed before the Knapp Commission, but before the Mollen Commission, when the corrupt deeds of small groups of cops like Michael Dowd’s crew were allowed to run wild.
One of the most prolific stories of corruption didn’t come to light until over a decade after the Mollen Commission report. Two detectives flaunted their mafia connections, and little was done about it. Detective Stephen Caracappa and Louis Eppolito worked for both the NYPD and the Gambino and Lucchese Crime Family for years until their retirements in the early 1990’s.
Author Guy Lawson and former Detective William Oldham spin the tale of Caracappa and Eppolito’s corruption in this well researched book. Oldham was a 20-year NYPD vet who rolled over to the Eastern District of New York as an investigator. He worked the case against the two corrupt detectives, giving the book a first-hand account of the case.
Like many federal prosecutions, this one was made by flipping another perp and making him a cooperator. Anthony “Gaspipe” Casso initially gives up the two murderous cops, but it was the eventual cooperation of the lesser-known mobster, Bert Kaplan, that makes the case. Cooperator’s stories always have to be treated with suspicion, but the US Attorney for the Eastern District was able to confirm enough to make an airtight case.
Lawson and Oldham pen an incredibly detailed story of the investigation. Using Oldham’s prolific knowledge and damning documents, the two get into the nitty gritty of the case. It seems like the strategy was to show every single action that Caracappa and Eppolito took to further complement the testimony of Casso and Kaplan. It worked. Both perps/detectives died in prison.
The Brotherhoods will shock the conscious with the audacity of the two detectives. Eppolito had the nerve to pen his own book detailing his family associations with the Gambino Family. Naturally he left out the parts where he and Caracappa were on the payroll and committed murder. This book fills in those crimes in what reads like a ride-along with the dedicated investigators who brought them down.
You are not going to finish The Brotherhoods this weekend. It is over 500 pages. But it is a page turner. You will gain insight into the detail and hard work that goes into a major investigation, particularly one that is probing actions that are sometimes decades old. You can find the book on Amazon for $28 new or $11 used. Get the hardcover, it comes with some great photos and documents. The Brotherhoods is a reminder to all of us that a city out of control and a police department oblivious to corruption is a recipe for disaster.
Thanks for reading The Ops Desk. Stay Safe!