Suspended Burlco chief's case goes to jury

A Burlington County jury will begin deliberations today in the trial of the suspended Bordentown City police chief charged with plotting to have his estranged wife killed.

More than a month of evidence and arguments in the tangled case of Philip Castagna concluded yesterday with over three hours of closing statements from the prosecution and defense.

Prosecutors contend that Castagna, 48, enlisted a friend who was a convicted felon to kill his wife because a restraining order she had secured against him was ruining his professional life.

The felon, Gary Hall, testified that at Castagna's behest he set a small fire at Joyce Leopold's Burlington City home in July 2003. The police chief lost his job that month after being found guilty of violating the restraining order.

The conviction was overturned the following year, but prosecutors claim that Castagna was so frustrated over ensuing troubles that he solicited Hall in the summer of 2004 to have Leopold killed. Hall went to the authorities in August 2004 with the information and then secretly recorded conversations with Castagna. The tapes are at the heart of the prosecution's case.

Leopold, who testified at the trial, was never harmed, and Castagna was arrested in October 2004.

In the tapes played during the trial, Castagna is heard asking Hall if he wants his "orders." After Hall says yes, Castagna tells him to "accomplish the mission." Later, when Hall falsely claims to Castagna that he killed Leopold, Castagna hangs up. After the informant calls him back, the police chief explains he "didn't want to talk on that phone."

Assistant Prosecutor Michael Luciano acknowledged in his closing argument that the tapes did not capture a direct order from Castagna but said the evidence was there to convict.

"Do they have the word kill on it? That's not on the tape," Luciano said. He added: "That's not a fatal thing in this case."

There was no reason for the police chief to be more specific in discussing the plot with his friend because they had talked about it earlier, according to Luciano.

Defense attorney Robin Lord presented the jury with 24 reasons to doubt the state's case, most calling into question Hall's credibility and the state's investigation.

In tones ranging from indignant to scornful, she called Hall "a big, fat liar" who selectively taped Castagna for his own benefit while prosecutors failed to investigate his claims.

She described Hall's statements as the "word of the lunatic" - allegations from a mentally troubled informant who never caught the police chief on tape explicitly ordering his wife killed.

Lord also raised questions about the handling of the case by the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office.

Lord said investigators did not require Hall to record every conversation with Castagna - there were hundreds - even though Hall told the Prosecutor's Office that only a couple of words from someone could make him sound guilty when he's really not.

And authorities did not put Castagna or Hall under surveillance to follow up on the informant's claims, or even monitor Leopold to ensure her safety, Lord noted.

"This is America? This is justice?" she asked.

Lord also sought to raise doubts about the 2003 fire, noting that a detective testified that his office used no forensic evidence to determine that it was an arson.

She noted that on the day before, July 3, Hall had appeared in court with his ex-girlfriend - a friend of Leopold's introduced to him by Castagna - over charges related to a restraining order. At Hall's sentencing the following year, he taunted her about burning her house down, Lord said.

At the time of the fire, Castagna had recently moved out but still had belongings at the house, Lord said. That night, Hall's ex-girlfriend was in the house with Leopold, according to testimony.

"There is no motive for Phil," Lord said of Castagna.

Luciano dismissed the defense's efforts to undermine Hall, arguing that the informant was simply a "conduit" to make jurors understand what Castagna did.

"You do not find swans down a sewer, and you do not get choirboys to kill your wife," he said, later adding that if Hall had been lying, the investigation would have borne that out.

He disputed the defense's claim that Hall set up Castagna to avoid being charged for the 2003 arson. As Hall testified, he knew that he was suspected of setting the fire but that authorities did not have enough evidence to charge him.

Likewise, Luciano argued, the Prosecutor's Office would not have rushed to charge Castagna without sufficient evidence.