Murder trial starts after 10 years
Dad, daughter, friend face life for shooting death of teenager
A phony rape accusation led an angry father to plot the death of a teenage girl’s ex-boyfriend nearly 10 years ago, prosecutors told a Broward jury Monday.
Michael Bilotti, 67; his daughter, Christin, 27; and family friend John Pacchiana, 42, each face life in prison if convicted in the July 13, 2005, death of Richard Rojas.
Rojas, 19, was gunned down in what prosecutor Sasha Shulman described as an ambush at the home of his ex-girlfriend in Davie.
Opening statements on Monday were marked by two salacious tales: one told by prosecutors and the other by a defense lawyer challenging the credibility of a key witness in the case.
Shulman told the jury that Christin Bilotti, who was 17 at the time, had consensual sex with Rojas at the townhome where she lived with her mother in the gated Chelsea at Ivanhoe community. Confronted by her then-boyfriend, the teenager claimed that Rojas raped her, Shulman said.
But no one called the police. Instead, the boyfriend insisted Christin tell her mother, and it wasn’t long before her father found out about it. Still, Shul- man said, no one called the police to report the alleged rape.
The elder Bilotti called Pacchiana, who was a manager and bouncer at the Miami strip club Bilotti owned. He also called two other employees, Richard Corbin and Wayne Palazzola. Shulman said they met at the Ivanhoe townhome.
Michael Bilotti, who was divorced from Christin’s mother, got their daughter and their 14-year-old son out of the house, along with Christin’s boyfriend, Julio “Eddie” Arce.
Defense lawyers said it was to protect the children from Rojas, who they depicted as stalking Christin. But Shulman said it was part of a more sinister plan.
Arce called Rojas to pick a fight with him, luring him back to the townhome, Shulman said. When Rojas arrived between 1 and 2 a.m., Pacchiana was waiting for him.
Pacchiana shot Rojas twice, killing him. He later told police that Rojas showed up to the home unannounced and com- bative.
It wasn’t until after Arce and Christin Bilotti broke up, more than a year later, that investigators learned about the ambush, Shulman said.
Palazolla, 47, and Corbin, 39, later pleaded guilty as accessories and are expected to testify against the remaining defendants.
But Pacchiana’s defense lawyer, H. Dohn Williams, told the jury that Corbin could not be trusted to tell the truth because Corbin’s lawyer, Herbert Cohen, has a grudge against Pacchiana.
In a rare display of one defense lawyer bringing another attorney’s personal life in front of a jury, Williams accused Cohen of misconduct. Williams said Cohen had an affair with Pacchiana’s girlfriend while Pacchiana was in jail awaiting trial. The girlfriend gave birth to Cohen’s baby, Williams said.
Cohen, who showed up in the courtroom after the jury was dismissed for the day, de- clined to comment on the allegations made against him. Defense lawyer Fred Haddad, who represents Michael Bilotti, said Cohen is a potential witness in the case.
Getting Corbin to testify against Pacchiana rids Cohen of a romantic rival, Williams said.
“Incestuous, dirty laundry, whatever you want to call it,” said Williams, condemning his colleague’s action. “You’re going to have to conclude that you can’t believe Richard Corbin beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Williams and Haddad said Rojas came to the Bilotti home looking for trouble, and that he was the only one who intended to engage in criminal activity before he was stopped by Pacchiana.
The trial is expected to last through May before Broward Circuit Judge Jeffrey R. Levenson. rolmeda@tribpub.com, 954-356-4457, Twitter @SSCourts and @rolmeda