Jury selection begins for actor’s trial in police death
Jury selection begins today in the trial of Lillo Brancato Jr., 32, on charges of second-degree murder and other crimes in the 2005 killing of New York Police Officer Daniel Enchautegui.
Until the shooting, Brancato was a young actor with a solid resume. He made his film debut opposite Robert De Niro in “A Bronx Tale,” appeared in more than a dozen movies and played a mobster wannabe in HBO’s “The Sopranos.”
Prosecutors said Brancato befriended Steven Armento, reputedly a onetime low-level Genovese crime family associate.
Brancato drove himself and Armento to the home next door to the officer, and the pair broke in to steal prescription drugs, prosecutors said.
When confronted by the off-duty Enchautegui, Armento shot the officer. Brancato and Armento were both wounded.
Armento, 48, was convicted of first-degree murder Oct. 30, and sentenced last week to life in prison without parole.
Brancato’s attorney, Joseph Tacopina, said his client’s case is different. “Lillo didn’t have a gun. Nor did he know anyone had a gun. Lillo was shot. Lillo wasn’t burglarizing anyone’s home.”
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