Man pleads innocent in 21-year-old murder case

The suspect was ordered held without bond pending a trial this summer.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 61-year-old man pleaded innocent Friday to what authorities say was the organized-crime killing of Joseph DeRose Jr. some 21 years ago.
Samuel Fossesca was indicted in February by a Mahoning County grand jury on a charge of aggravated murder.
He was arraigned Friday in common pleas court, and was ordered held without bond pending his trial Aug. 7.
Because Fossesca cannot afford to pay a lawyer, the court appointed a lawyer, Atty. Damian Billak, to represent him.
The case is assigned to Judge James C. Evans.
Billak said he's intrigued at playing a part in a 21-year-old murder case in which the victim's body has never been found.
"I'll be just as interested as everyone else to see what the state can produce in the way of evidence," he said.
The Ohio attorney general's organized-crime investigation unit conducted the investigation that led to Fossesca's indictment, and will assist in his prosecution.
Fossesca is serving a federal prison sentence in Kentucky for his role in a theft ring that operated in the Mahoning Valley. When that term is completed, he faces eight years in an Ohio prison for unrelated burglary charges.
Any time he receives for the DeRose killing, if he is convicted, could be in addition to that.
Disappearance
Authorities say DeRose disappeared in April 1981. They believe Fossesca killed him, though DeRose's body was never found.
DeRose was believed to be a rival of Joseph Naples, also known as "Little Joey." Federal agents named Fossesca in affidavits as a suspect in the deaths of Charles Grisham, who was also known as "Spider," in December 1978 and James Cononico, who was also known as "Peeps," in January 1979.
Grisham and Cononico, the affidavits say, were allies of Naples' in a battle for control of organized crime in the Mahoning Valley.
The government alleged that Naples wanted DeRose dead. In May 1980, two gunmen opened fire on DeRose and his girlfriend, Cheryl Durkin. DeRose was wounded in the gunfire but survived.
DeRose's father, Joseph Sr., was killed in February 1981 by a shot fired from a car outside his home. Authorities say the killers probably mistook the elder DeRose for his son. Fossesca is not named as a suspect in that killing.
bjackson@vindy.com