Countywide : Victim of Shooting Tied to 1987 Slaying

An attorney for the late Jimmy Casino, the former operator of the Mustang Club, testified Monday that he thinks the man who assumed control of that topless tavern after Casino’s slaying in 1987 was involved in the death.

Joe A. Dickerson testified that he begged Casino not to sign a document that transferred the Mustang Club’s lease to C. William Carroll should Casino default on more than $200,000 in loans Carroll had made to him to finance the bar. But Casino signed the paper, Dickerson said, and two weeks later, on Jan. 1, 1987, was found dead in his Buena Park home.

Dickerson’s testimony marked the beginning of the defense’s case in the trial of Joseph Angelo Grosso, 46, who is charged with trying to murder Carroll, 57, on May 1, 1987, in a purported bid for control of the Santa Ana club.

A second suspect in the slaying, reputed Los Angeles racketeer Michael Rizzitello, 62, faces a separate trial.

Carroll has testified that Grosso pinned him in his car in a Costa Mesa parking garage while Rizzitello fired three shots into his head, permanently blinding him. But Grosso’s lawyer contends that Carroll should not be believed because he was involved in Casino’s murder and in other illegal activity.

Dickerson testified that he thinks that there is a connection between the document Casino signed and his death.

“It’s my belief that Mr. Carroll was involved, but I can’t prove that,” Dickerson testified. “Mr. Carroll immediately came in, took over the property, got rid of all the people who’d worked there. . . . He took over the club solely, totally, completely.”

He added that he was suspicious of the agreement because he thought that it gave Carroll a “hammer” to hold over Casino’s head.

“I didn’t like the feel of the document,” Dickerson said. “I didn’t like the feel of the pressure he was under to sign the document.”

Another former manager of the now defunct Mustang Club, James Calo, testified Monday that Carroll named Grosso and Rizzitello as his assailants while still covered with blood in the hospital emergency room after the attack but that he swore Calo to secrecy, fearing for his own safety and the safety of Calo and his family.