Joseph Grippo of Montauk, facing a trial for murder, took a plea deal on Monday to first-degree manslaughter for the killing of Robert Casado three years ago.
In Suffolk County Criminal Court before Justice Stephen Braslow, Mr. Grippo confessed to ambushing Mr. Casado in Montauk’s Kirk Park on June 6, 2019, out of jealousy that his former girlfriend had moved in with Mr. Casado. Passers-by called the police after they found the 38-year-old victim bleeding profusely on a trail in the park; he died soon after of blunt-force trauma and stab wounds at Stony Brook University Hospital. According to court documents, multiple Montauk residents contacted the county’s CrimeStoppers tip line with information that led to Mr. Grippo’s arrest two weeks later.
Under rapid-fire questioning by Eric Aboulafia, assistant district attorney with the county’s homicide bureau, Mr. Grippo admitted to buying a 36-inch pickax handle at Riverhead Building Supply, hiding in bushes waiting for Mr. Casado to walk by on his way to work, then bludgeoning him until blood and brain matter were splattered on the ground. Mr. Grippo, 50, who was employed by a landscaping company at the time, acknowledged being jealous of Mr. Casado.
“Therefore, you planned his murder?” Mr. Aboulafia asked.
“Yes, sir,” Mr. Grippo replied. He later admitted discarding the murder weapon at the town recycling center in Montauk after the attack.
According to Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, the weapon was never recovered. Mr. Tierney said on Tuesday that his office had been contacted by a man who picked Mr. Grippo up in his car after the attack. “The witness observed Grippo had blood on his hands and a ‘wooden object,’ also stained in blood, in his possession,” the D.A. said.
Earlier this year, Mr. Tierney’s office had offered the defendant a plea deal of 18 years in prison. He angrily rejected it, cursing at the judge in the courtroom and insisting that he wanted to stand trial, which would have meant 25 years to life in prison if convicted on the original charge of second-degree murder.
On Monday, having apparently reconsidered, Mr. Grippo asked the judge to consider another plea deal. Justice Braslow directed Mr. Aboulafia to ask the D.A. about giving Mr. Grippo another chance to plead guilty to a lesser charge.
The prosecutor, in turn, reminded Justice Braslow that Mr. Grippo “did expressly reject” the earlier offer, and that he’d told the defendant at a subsequent hearing that another offer “was not available” to him. But the judge said he was “desirous” of avoiding a trial, and he ordered a short recess while a new plea deal could be negotiated. Justice Braslow told Mr. Grippo that if Mr. Tierney declined to offer an alternative, “then there’s no more talking and no more deals.”
Four hours later, the defendant returned to the courtroom and confessed to first-degree manslaughter. He will be sentenced by Justice Braslow on Sept. 7 to a prison term of up to 20 years — two more than the first deal he’d been offered — to be followed by five years of supervised release.
As he entered his guilty plea, Justice Braslow told him that “pleading guilty is the same as being found guilty.” He also waived his right to an appeal, and the case will be considered closed.
Mr. Grippo was represented by Dan Russo and Keith O’Halloran. “Manslaughter is the right charge for this case,” Mr. Russo said outside the courtroom. “It’s fair, considering the circumstances.”
Mr. Grippo, who had a prior criminal record, remained incarcerated throughout the three years since his arrest, including more than two years in which court proceedings were largely disrupted because of Covid-19. He had blamed his profanity-laced outburst in court on April 25 on being “just a little frustrated” over the delays.
Mr. Aboulafia, who was assisted by Emma Henry, assistant district attorney with the case advisory bureau, was the third county prosecutor appointed to handle Mr. Grippo’s case. He had also been the prosecutor on another high-profile case, that of Patchita Tennant, who was accused of shooting her boyfriend in 2019. Ms. Tennant, who was a well-liked manager at CVS here, was ultimately cleared of the attempted-murder charge.
This story been updated since it was first published.