Marty Tankleff Blog

Snapshot: Gaitano Foti

A trusted informant for the Suffolk County police, Gaitano Foti worked at a bar Joey "Guns" Creedon frequented in the early 1990s. Foti testified Creedon told him he knew Tankleff didn't murder the Tankleffs, because he, Creedon, was there.

Snapshot: Dr. Richard Ofshe

Internationally recognized expert on false confessions.  A social psychologist at Berkeley, since 1979 he has testified in over 225 cases in over 33 states, in Federal and State court. Has served as a consultant to major law enforcement agencies, including the Offices of the Attorney General for the States of California and Arizona, the Offices of the United States Attorney in Los Angeles and West Virginia, the Criminal Divisions of the United States Department of Justice, the Offices of the District Attorney of Los Angeles County, California and of Franklin County, Indiana, the Office of the State’s Attorney of Florida in Broward County and in Fort Myers and the Office of the Governor of Missouri. 

Testifying in the Tankleff evidentiary hearing,  Dr. Ofshe stated his firm belief that Marty's "confession" was false and coerced.  Dr. Ofshe explained that there are two necessary components of a confession.  First is the admission, but equally important is a narrative that matches the facts of the crime scene; ideally, a confessor should describe details of the crime that only the perpetrator would be in a position to know.  Because Marty's "confession" does not match the forensics, it is actually evidence of his innocence, said Dr. Ofshe. 

Snapshot: Bruce Barket

One of Marty's attorneys, based on Long Island.  Along with Barry Pollack, has represented Marty at the recent evidentiary hearings.  Former prosecutor in adjacent Nassau County.

Snapshot: Barry Pollack

Marty's lead attorney.  Has worked on the case since the mid-90s.  Along with Bruce Barket, has represented Marty at the recent evidentiary hearings.  Member of the Litigation Practice Group of the Collier Shannon Scott law firm in Washington, D.C.

Snapshot: Joseph Guarascio

Joey "Guns" Creedon's son.  He testified that his father told him details of his involvement in the Tankleff murders and that he paid Detective James McCready $100,000 to keep his name out of it.  In his testimony, Guarascio described meeting his father for the first time since he was a small child, and said his father, in an effort to impress him, showed him a safe filled with cash stacked across the bottom shelf, rings still in their display cases, and a black bag containing a .357 pistol, handcuffs and leg shackles "for Glenn Harris if he testifies."  Guarascio, who had just recently seen the "48 Hours" program on Marty, said he was not impressed but "shocked" and "started to believe the stuff on TV was true."  When Creedon said, "Yes, I did it," according to Guarascio, "the seriousness I got from him was kind of scary."  Guarascio testified his father told him he used a bike cable to strangle Seymour Tankleff while Peter Kent stabbed Arlene Tankleff in her bedroom, and that he looked into Marty's room to check that he was still sleeping. Guarascio kept his father's statements to himself for months out of fear for his mother and himself: fear of his father, a convicted felon whose nickname is "Guns" and who is known for violence; and fear of Walter Warkenthien, the DA's investigator who made a surprise trip to Florida to "interview" Guarascio in the DA's parlance, "intimidate" him in anyone else's.  Warkenthien threatened to arrest Guarascio if he didn't talk to him, according to multiple witnesses.  One night, when Guarascio's mother found him crying in bed, he unburdened himself to her, and she helped him find the strength to overcome his fear and do what he knew to be the right thing.  Following his testimony, Guarascio repeated his story to the public.  Court TV's Catherine Crier, a former judge and prosecutor, told Guarascio, "I know how hard this must have been for you to go through all of this, but you are to be congratulated.  You are a very brave young man.  This is very important, what you've done."  Guarascio is 17 years old, the same age as Marty when he was arrested. 

 

Snapshot: Marty's Family

Some two dozen of Marty's relatives, including the sisters and brother of the murder victims, have proclaimed Marty's innocence from day one.

 

 

Marcella Alt Falbee, Arlene's sister and Marty's aunt, heard firsthand from Arlene that Jerry Steuerman had pulled Seymour across the table and threatened to cut his throat weeks before the murders, but police declined to interview the immediate family in violation of their own guidelines.  She recently told Fox 5's Rosanna Scotto, "I hope I live long enough to see that he's free.  I really stake my life on the fact that he didn't do it." 

Ron Falbee, Marty's cousin and Arlene Tankleff's nephew, became executor of the estate following the murders.  He also became Marty's legal guardian, bringing the teenager accused of murder to live with him, his wife Carol and their two young twin daughters throughout the trial.  "You've got murderers walking around out there.  I don't know how comfortable that makes the people of Suffolk County feel.  It doesn't make me feel very comfortable," he told Fox News.  "This has been 15 years of hell.  It's been 15 years of hell for [Marty] and it's been 15 years of hell for us.  And we will not let it go."

Marianne McClure, Marty's aunt and Arlene Tankleff's sister, wrote numerous letters over the years to the Suffolk County District Attorney, pleading for him to meet with the family, to no avail. "The day he was convicted was as hard as the day I learned my sister was killed," she told "48 Hours" last year.  Referring to the DA's refusal to reinvestigate the new evidence, she said, "Short of giving them a video of the murder, what do they want us to do?" 

Only one family member has expressed doubt about Marty's innocence, Marty's half sister, Shari.

Snapshot: Father Ronald Lemmert

Prison chaplain at Sing Sing prison, he testified, with Glenn Harris’s permission, that Harris confessed to him his role as the unwitting getaway driver for Joey "Guns" Creedon and Peter Kent.  Harris also  confided in him his reasons to plead the fifth: people had threatened him in the Suffolk County jail, saying, “We know where your children are,” and “an investigator from the DA’s office said he would spend his life in prison,” testified the father. 

After Assistant District Attorney Leonard Lato stated in March, "Marty Tankleff killed his parents and the misfits that Tankleff's attorneys have dredged up cannot change that," Father Lemmert responded with this statement:

"I really didn't know anything about this case until I met Glen Harris in Sing
Sing.  When he explained his dilemma, wanting to do the right thing but being
afraid to do so, I was simply doing my job as a priest, urging him to tell the
truth.  I continued to urge him to do so even when he told me he was being
threatened by the District Attorney's Office.

"When he refused to testify due to his fear for his safety and the safety of his
children, I agreed to testify about what he had told me, and I had his
permission to do so.  So I dropped everything that I was doing and came down
here on a moment's notice.  I did so under the impression that a court of law
would be interested in hearing what I had to say.

"But instead, I found out last week that the prosecutor had labeled me as a
misfit!  That is strange, because some of the witnesses called by the
prosecution were career criminals, and he expected us to believe them as if they
were upright pillars of the community!  But because we presented a different
side to the story, Mr. Lato publicly slandered us.  To call this insulting is an
understatement! 

"But after calming down somewhat, I would suggest that this outrageous comment to the news media last week was more of a reflection on Mr. Lato's character, (or lack thereof) than it was a reflection of the character of all of us who were simply doing our civic duty to tell the court whatever information we had that might be helpful in this case.

"I would have thought that a prosecutor, who is hired by the people to represent
them in the quest for justice, would be eager to hear what we have to say.  Obviously, that is not the case here, which makes me wonder why he is so afraid of listening to us.  I understand that Suffolk County has had a long and sordid history of political corruption.  From the way Mr. Lato has been prosecuting this case, his very unprofessional conduct in slandering witnesses suggests to me that the history of corruption here is alive and well.  I just pray that more people would have the courage to come forward and expose it.  Being labeled a misfit by someone of Mr. Lato's small stature is a small price to pay for seeking truth and justice."

Snapshot: Alfred Tisch

The judge in Marty's 1990 trial.  Sentenced Marty to the maximum of two consecutive 25 years to life sentences for the murders of Seymour and Arlene Tankleff.  Was believed by many at the time to be planning a run for Suffolk County District Attorney as a Republican.  Marty's attorney at trial, Robert Gottlieb, who planned to run for DA as a Democrat, asked Tisch to recuse himself on the grounds that a sitting judge on such a high profile case should not run for DA.  Tisch refused to recuse himself and ultimately did not run for DA.  Refused to hear evidence that Jerry Steuerman, through his coke-dealing son Todd Steuerman, had attempted to have Joey "Guns" Creedon cut out Marty's tongue for implicating Jerry Steuerman in the murders.  Refused to allow the State Investigation Commission (SIC) Report into evidence, including the Commission's finding that Detective James McCready, who wrote Marty's recanted "confession," had perjured himself in a previous murder trial. Tisch is currently the sheriff of the Suffolk County jail, where Glenn Harris said he was beaten by guards (which jail authorities deny) and where the DA, despite knowing Harris had obtained a lawyer, wired three snitches in an unsuccessful attempt to get him to change his story.  On November 8th, 2005, in a very close race, Tisch lost his bid for reelection as Suffolk County Sheriff. 

Snapshot: Shari Rother Mistretia

Seymour’s daughter from a prior marriage, she was grown up and out of the house by the time Marty entered the world. Marty lived with her for a brief time after he was released on bail, before moving in with his cousin Ron Falbee and his family. While over two dozen family members, including the victims' sisters and brother, have proclaimed Marty's innocence from day one, during the trial Shari became the only family member to question Marty’s innocence, eventually stating she believed Marty was guilty. According to the will, Marty would have inherited the bulk of the multimillion dollar estate (although not, he knew, before age 25), but Shari ended up receiving approximately one-third, much more than the modest stipend she would have received from the trust. (Marty received one-third, which was spent on legal fees, and one-third went to a trust at Hofstra University.) Two years after Marty was convicted, Shari's husband used her money to open a bar with lead Detective James McCready, the man who wrote Marty's "confession." She told "48 Hours" in 2004, after Glenn Harris came forward, that she was now "on the fence" as to Marty's guilt or innocence. Yet, after two dozen witnesses corrobated Harris at the hearing, and after a unanimous appellate court ruling vacated Marty's conviction, and after the DA agreed to drop the case, she is once again adamantly convinced of Marty's guilt.

Snapshot: Neil Fischer

A cabinet maker who did work for Jerry Steuerman in his bagel stores, he testified that in 1989, he overheard Steuerman in an argument tell a man "...something to the effect that he had already killed two people, and it wouldn't matter if he killed him."  Aware at the time of rumors that Steuerman had been involved in the high-profile murders, Fischer assumed the two people referred to were Seymour and Arlene Tankleff.