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By Maria Alvarez
Newsday
NEW YORK — There will be no Christmas for Yolanda Rosa-Nazario, sister of slain New York Police Department officer Daniel Enchautegui. Her Lynbrook home is barren, without a sparkle or glint of Christmas cheer. She has not celebrated Christmas since her brother’s murder in 2005, and this week, she got what feels like the final blow - the acquittal of one of her brother’s accused killers, Lillo Brancato, 32, a former “Sopranos” actor.
After three months of trial proceedings that replayed her brother’s murder, Rosa-Nazario said she is unable to move on with her life. She said she is in shock, and in a state of confusion pondering why jurors acquitted the actor and professed drug addict.
“The evidence was there. They let this guy get away with murder,” said Rosa-Nazario, who sat in her living room gazing at the wall-size framed photograph of her dead brother.
Next to it is a photograph of their mother, Maria Rosa, who died Nov. 24, 2007. Their father, Pedro, died earlier that year. “They died of broken hearts. They deteriorated after my brother died.
“My brother was a good cop - a devoted cop. He loved his job and to get this not guilty verdict is sending the message that if you are a police officer and you see a crime don’t perform your duty.”
Prosecutors said Brancato and Steven Armento broke into a basement apartment to steal prescription drugs after a night of drinking. Enchautegui, 28, who lived next door, came out to investigate after he heard a window break.
Armento, who shot Enchautegui with his .357 Magnum, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole. However, jurors had to be convinced Brancato broke into the apartment, and knew Armento was armed.
Brancato took the stand and told a story of a life of drug addiction and crime.
Rosa-Nazario said Brancato showed no remorse. “I was embarrassed for him. I can’t believe the jurors didn’t see that he was a murderer ... I’m angry.”
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the jury made a decision and people have to live with it.
“I think anybody who thinks that the use of illegal drugs is an excuse - that you didn’t know what you were doing, that you were unaware of the situation - is just so fundamentally wrong,” said Kelly. “And that apparently is what the decision was based on, that this man, he didn’t know the situation because of the drugs he ingested.”
After the verdict, Brancato’s lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, said his client was relieved but “there was never going to be smiles. ... This is not a case that warrants that.”
On Jan. 9, Brancato, who has served three years in jail, will be sentenced on attempted burglary, which carries a minimum of 3 1/2 years to 15 years.
“He can’t walk out of there,” Rosa-Nazario said, shaking her head and promising to be at the sentencing to represent her dead brother.
Copyright 2008 Newsday