Reporter Tapes Kill Mob Hit Trial

The mob murder trial of a former FBI agent collapsed yesterday after lawyers listened to a journalist's taped interviews revealing that the key prosecution witness had lied, reports the New York Times. Prosecutors decided to drop the case against Roy DeVecchio after a conference room drama that could could have come straight from an episode of TV's "Law & Order."

A former mistress of a gangland assassin known as the Grim Reaper testified that DeVecchio participated in four murders. But a Village Voice reporter appeared at the courthouse to turn over interview tapes in which she denied DeVecchio was involved. "I didn't know what else to do," the reporter said. “No journalist ever wants to go against a source. It’s against our creed.” (More Roy Lindley DeVecchio stories.)