The murder of Robert Theodore Ammon, known as Ted Ammon, shocked the east end community. Nobody had been murdered in East Hampton in over 20 years. The 52 year old banker was very popular with his business colleagues. His private life seemed ideal, two adopted children, five homes and luxury cars. Some facts seemed very ominous though, one being the vicious divorce Ted Ammon was involved in with his wife Generosa.
The murder was centered around Danny Pelosi and Generosa Ammon. Pelosi was a high school dropout with a rap sheet filled mostly with drunk driving charges.
His situation was nothing to get excited about until he came in contact with Ted Ammon’s wife Generosa. Generosa was said to be having an affair with Danny Pelosi, a young contractor. Pelosi was quoted as saying “I thought I hit the lottery.” Who wouldn’t think the same? In 2000, Generosa actually began dating her new boyfriend, the electrician named Danny Pelosi, whom she hired to supervise a $4 million dollar renovation of her new Manhattan townhouse.
Ted Ammon was murdered in 2001, it was “a big question mark” said David Moore, chairman of 24/7 Media Inc., an online ad agency on whose board Ammon had served as chairman until this spring. It had been an entire month and nothing had been found. No suspects had been identified, no arrests made, no murder weapon found, and no clear motive given for the slaying. Ted Ammon was murdered on October 20, 2001. His body was not found until October 22, 2001 by a co-worker who went to the home when Ammon missed multiple obligations. This date was just days before the divorce papers were to be signed between Ted and Generosa.
This was about a year after Generosa had begun dating Danny Pelosi serving to make them both suspects in the murder. Danny Pelosi was arrested March 24, 2004. He claimed to not knowing anything about Ted being murdered at this point. It was not until June of 2004 that Danny saw the autopsy pictures of Ted Ammon and said “I almost vomited” due to the brutality of the murder. Daniel Pelosi was convicted of murder of Ted Ammon on December 13, 2004 and sentenced January 25, 2005 to 25-years-to-life in prison.
Ted Ammon had multiple places where he lived. He was bludgeoned to death in his East Hampton summer home. Police said he was beaten to death while sleeping by his wife’s boyfriend Danny Pelosi. Ted was discovered naked in the master bedroom of his house on Middle Lane. All of his bed sheets were taken; they were believed to have the suspect’s blood on them. There was no murder weapon found at the scene or at any secondary crime scene either. Danny Pelosi, who actually ended up getting married to Generosa Ammon three months after her multimillionaire husband was bludgeoned to death in his Long Island mansion.
Police said that Generosa made the offer to Pelosi to kill her husband for a reward. This gave Pelosi motive to kill Ted Ammon. Pelosi drove to 59 Middle Lane in East Hampton, the address of millionaire Ted Ammon with intent to murder Ted. He completed his task and left the house with no trace of evidence. There were a few reasons why police believed that Ted Ammon was killed. There was some suspicion of Ted having enemies, he was an investment banker so it could have been possible he made a bad investment and got mixed up with the wrong people. There were also questions of Ted’s sexual orientation.
A pubic hair was found on Ted’s body, not showing any signs of sexual abuse but there was the idea of Ted Ammon being killed by another man who Ted had sexual relations with. A major belief was that he was murdered so Generosa would receive of the fortune in its entirety. Ted had offered her a 10 million dollar settlement in the divorce. Pelosi tried convincing Generosa to accept that offer. Danny said “Take the money and run. Where I come from, forget it, I’m good.” Generosa did not listen to Pelosi and declined the offer. She hung in there and accepted Ted’s offer of 25 million dollars. It was the weekend before they would sign this contract when Ted Ammon was murdered.
The investigators used a wide variety of techniques to try to incriminate Danny Pelosi or Generosa Ammon. They searched for fingerprints, clothing fibers, hair, and biological material like blood, semen or saliva. None of these techniques were successful and no DNA evidence was found at the scene. This is very fascinating because there is so much DNA one leaves behind by simply going anywhere, humans are constantly shedding skin and hair, approximately 100 hairs per day. I believe that the investigators really did not search hard enough because they would have found something that would have given clear proof that Pelosi or Generosa either were or weren’t at the scene of the crime.
There was video surveillance of Ted Ammon; the video cameras were installed in the East Hampton home by Danny Pelosi, allegedly for Generosa to spy on Ted Ammon. Generosa and Danny would be the only ones who would know where the tapes were. The footage recorded could be viewed remotely from a laptop which Pelosi had at his sister’s home the tapes were gone when police arrived. If Pelosi was innocent why would he try to destroy the video tapes? Danny Pelosi was asked at trial by his lawyer if Generosa had asked him to kill Ted Ammon. Pelosi replied, yes, she had come to him and asked if he knew anyone who could be hired to murder Ted. Pelosi stated turned down both requests (to murder or if he knew someone who would).
After spending 7 years in jail, Danny Pelosi has come out with a story. He stays with his story and says he did not kill Ted Ammon, he places blame on his now dead ex-wife Generosa, in saying she had hired someone to kill him. “Generosa wanted revenge because she believed that Ted had a baby with a girlfriend” said Pelosi. Pelosi states that Generosa had come to his job one day and offered 50,000 dollars to have her husband beaten up. Pelosi brought this offer to his co-workers. Danny states that Chris Perino is the real killer. Chris Perino confessed to driving with Danny Pelosi to the mansion in East Hampton the night of the murder. Perino also says that Danny Pelosi came out of the house with blood on him and saying “I think he’s dead.”
Danny Pelosi said that Chris had contracted two other people to help him with the task. The investigators also found great witnesses to testify for the prosecution. There were three witnesses who said that Danny Pelosi confessed to the crime. Tracey Riebenfeld, one of Danny Pelosi’s past girlfriends got Pelosi to confess to her in 2002. Mr. Pelosi told her that he had delivered the blows while Mr. Ammon cried and begged for his life. He told her that a flashlight and lamp had been used to beat him. When Ms. Riebenfeld asked Mr. Pelosi why he had done it, he pounded his chest and said, “Because I’ve got a monster inside of me.” Pelosi was terrified at this point thinking that Generosa was trying to “frame” him. This testimony was excellent for the prosecution. The nanny of the children, Kathryn Mayne, was another great witness.
Mayne told the court how Pelosi confessed to the brutal October 2001 murder. Mayne also accused Pelosi of threatening to kill her. She told how Pelosi bragged “about how he had beaten and beaten him and how Ted had begged for his life.” Kathryn was still taking care of the two adopted children proving how she really cared for the Ammon family. The last witness was Robert Pelosi, Danny’s Father. Mr. Pelosi recalled talking with his son at a wedding on Oct. 21, 2001 which was the day after Mr. Ammon was beaten to death. Daniel Pelosi asked, “If someone wanted to get rid of something, what could you do?” this statement made Pelosi look very bad. Pelosi wouldn’t even look at his father when Robert Pelosi called out “I love you Danny” while he was testifying.
I believe the investigators could have used databases such as SICAR (Shoeprint Image Capture and Retrieval). Since this mansion was a beach house, there could have been some type of shoeprint left near the crime scene possibly in sand. If a shoeprint was found and Danny Pelosi had a match to the shoeprint, the prosecution would actually have evidence to prove Danny was at the home of Ted Ammon near the time he was murdered.
When the jury went to deliberate, Pelosi was confident. After three days, the verdict came back guilty of 2nd degree murder. He said nothing but appeared to be very surprised. Pelosi had been convicted on purely circumstantial evidence, the trial was over. There was still so many questions left unanswered, was it really Danny Pelosi who killed Ted Ammon? Had Generosa planned to murder her husband to take over his money and estate? We will never know the real truth, for now a convicted killer is in jail for a long time where he belongs.
Works Cited
* “Former Girlfriend Says Pelosi Told Her He Beat Financier to Death.” NY Times. NY Region, Oct. 27 2004. Web. 09 Nov. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/27/nyregion/27pelosi.html?_r=0>. * “The Mysterious Death Of A Manhattan Millionaire.” The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, 15 Nov. 2001. Web. 09 Nov. 2012. <http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2001/11/15/the-mysterious-death-of-a-manhattan-millionaire.html>. * “Witness Called ‘Final Nail’ in Pelosi Case.” ABC News. ABC News Network, 12 Jan. 2005. Web. 09 Nov. 2012. <http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/LegalCenter/story?id=1499647>. * “Who Killed Ted Ammon? Interactive Timeline.” CBSNews. CBS Interactive, n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2012. <http://www.cbsnews.com/elements/2004/02/06/48hours/timeline598561.shtml>.
Investigative Techniques
* Fingerprinting-An impression on a surface of the curves formed by the ridges on a fingertip, especially such an impression made in ink and used as a means of identification. * Interviewing-A formal meeting in person, especially one arranged for the assessment of the qualifications of an applicant. * Interrogation-To examine by questioning formally or officially * Witness-One who can give a firsthand account of something seen, heard, or experienced * Hair Identification- Assessment of DNA in hair can identify or rule out individuals in criminal cases
Source for all definitions-
The Free Dictionary. Farlex, n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2012. <http://www.thefreedictionary.com>.
