Indictment of 2 Ex-Hessians Upheld
An Orange County Superior Court judge has upheld a grand jury indictment against two former Hessian motorcycle gang members charged with a triple murder five years ago but said an appellate court must grapple with the issue of the indictment’s validity.
Thomas Frank Maniscalco, 40, of Westminster and Daniel Michael Duffy, 41, of Long Beach were indicted last year for the murder of three people in Westminster in a drug-related argument.
After defense attorneys complained about the earlier indictment--citing errors in the transcript of the grand jury proceedings--the 1985-86 grand jury handed down a new indictment last month.
Judge David O. Carter set a Dec. 2 preliminary hearing date for the two but acknowledged that it would be up to a higher court to settle the issue whether Maniscalco and Duffy can be brought to trial. Maniscalco, a founding member of the Hessians and an attorney, and Duffy, a longtime gang member, are charged with shooting Richard Rizzone, Rene Arlene Mily and Thomas Bernard Monohan to death over Memorial Day weekend in 1980.
Maniscalco and Duffy remain in Orange County Jail.
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