Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-04-23
F|ORE ON STAND
IN OWN BEHALF
Denies Every Allegation Made
Against Him at
Trial.

Antonio Fiore, on trial in the Court
of oyer and Terminer before Judge
William p. Martin, for the murder of
Leonardo Ciceone in March, 1912, took
the stand in his own behalf just be-
fore the monday recess today.
AS in the previous trial, Flores tes-
timony was in the nature of fiat de-
malls of all allegations made by wit
nesses for the State tending to con-
meet him with the murder. In the
previous trial Fiore gave the simple
answer no" to the first 100 or more
questions put to him by his counsel,
Anthony r. Finelli. but today he
added to his denial of guilt by ex
planning various circumstances as to
alleged threats made against the dead
man and quarrels in the Ciccone
home. Fiore will be on the witness
stand the greater part of the after
noon session.
Both Frank E. Bradner and An
thony r. Finelli, counsel for Fiore,
are making a vigorous effort to
east doubts on the authenticity Of two
letters alleged to have been sent by
Fiore to Mrs Maddalena Ciccone
while both were confined in the coun-
ty Jail, last April, awaiting trial for
the murder.
Mrs. Ciccone was tried in January
and found guilty of the murder and
is now under sentence of death for
her part in the crime, which con-
sisted of putting rat poison I'm coffee
which she afterward gave her hus-
band to drink Fiore is alleged, by
Mrs. Ciccone TO have forced her to
commit the crime through fear of her
own life at the hands of Fiore. He,
so she states, having threatened to
kill her unless she got rid of her
husband.
The letters in question We're writ
ten by Ralph Rullo, a young lad who
is now in the United States navy at
tached to the Newport. r. l., training
station. In April. 1912, Rullo was an
inmate in the county Jail awaiting
trial on a charge of writing black
mailing letters. He has testified that
on April "a and again on April 20 he
wrote letters to Mrs. Giceone at the
dictation of Fiore.
These letters were delivered TO Mrs.
Ciccone at the county jail and later
found their way into the possession
of the county prosecutor, and are now
being used against Fiore. In the first
letter Fiore urges Mrs. Ciccone to
keep her mouth shut and say nothing,
as the police cannot prove anything
in connection with the death of her
husband He also eXhorts her to
write a letter to her 13-year-old
daughter Annie, telling her to keep
quiet and say nothing. Annie car
ried message from Fiore to her
mother, in which the latter is alleged
to have told Mrs. Ciccone to get pol
son and kill her husband.
In the second letter Fiore had dis
covered that Mrs. Ciccone has been
talking with officials of the prosecu-
tors Office and in this letter he
threatens to kill her if she does
anything to harm him In the letter
he also openly acknowledges that he
knows the womans husband was
poisoned, and practically admits it
was done at his behest.
Mr.. Bradner and Mr.. Finneli at
tack the letter by claiming that
Rullo wrote them for the purpose OF
blackmail and in an effort to gain
immunity for himself from the charge
pending over him. 1t was pointed out
by the defense that within less than
a month after Rullo had written the
letters he was released on probation
on the Matchmaking charge.
Fiore on his previous trial made
an absolute denial that Rullo had
ever written any letters for him.
stating that all Rullo had ever writ
ten were couple of postal cards
which Fiore had sent to his wife.
To combat the letters the defense
put on the first new witness that has
been called by either side in the sec
ond trial He was Colagero Del
Guidice. of South Orange avenue and
South Twentieth street, who from
March q to April 80, 1912, was con-
fined in the county jail, first as sus-
pect in murder case and later as
witness. Del Guidice was witness
to the murder of Antonio Monaco on
South Sixth street on March 10, 1912,
whose murderer has never been APP
pretended.
Del Guidice en- direct examination
said that he was confined in muir
derers row at the county jail at the
time Rullo is said to have written the
letters for Fiore and that during that
time he had never seen Rullo in
Flores cell or even in the corridor
of murderers row. on cross-eXam-
nation by First Assistant Prosecutor
Mott Del Guidice admitted that he
spent a great deal of his time sleep
ing in his cell and that Rullo could
have easily visited Fiore without him
seeing him.
Sanford w. Drake foreman of the
jury in the first trial of Ffoer and
one of the three men who stuck out
all night for a conviction, was an
Interested snectator at the morning