Dumb as a brick
THESE BROOKLYN twins were deadly double trouble.
Bloodthirsty brothers Louie and Vincent Iacono were busted in the mob-style rubout of a pal whose body was found in the waters off Brooklyn — with a cinder block tied to his ankles, police said Thursday.
The 36-year-old Iacono brothers were charged in the killing of mob scion Carmine Carini Jr. after their extradition this week from Indiana to New York, police said.
They were nabbed Sept. 6 after a 12-mile, high-speed chase ended with the brothers in handcuffs outside a Walmart in the Hoosier State, police said.
Carini, 35, was the son of a Gambino crime family associate by the same name. Cops said he was beaten to death with a hammer, and the Iaconos were arrested with a bloody hammer in their car.
Carini was found floating in the Mill Basin Inlet off E. 58th St. and Avenue U on Sept. 2, just a few blocks from the home he shared with the alleged killers.
His body was wrapped in a tarp and bound with duct tape, cops said. He was weighed down with an orange cord tied from his ankles to the block. Carini’s body was also tied to a bucket filled with construction materials in an effort to keep his remains submerged.
Law enforcement sources said Louie Iacono repeatedly struck Carini in the head with a hammer as he tried to rob his roomie inside their E. 64th St. apartment in Mill Basin around Aug. 30. He then recruited his brother to help dispose of the corpse, with the siblings subsequently heading west to dodge investigators, according to authorities.
Cops quickly identified the Iacono brothers as suspects after interviews with the victim’s family and friends, police said.
The brothers were zipping along Interstate 70 in Henry County, Ind., when a cop stopped their Chevrolet Avalanche for tailgating and a license plate violation. When the officer asked for identification, the driver, Louie, sped off, according to county officials and the Courier Times newspaper.
Police pursued the brothers off the highway into a nearby Walmart parking lot, where Louie fled after parking the car outside the store entrance. He was grabbed by police near the cash registers, cops said.
Vincent remained in the car, where officers arrested him and recovered a stash of prescription pills and heroin, officials said. Cops also found three hammers — including the one covered in blood, prosecutors said.
By the time the pair pleaded guilty to local charges on Nov. 17, they were linked to the murder and held for extradition.
Police charged Louie Iacono with murder and tampering with evidence. He was ordered held without bail Thursday at his arraignment. His brother, charged with hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence, was held on $250,000 bail.