Vincent DeSimone

Vincent J. DeSimone, Jr. (1918–1979) was the chief of detectives of Passaic County, New Jersey, USA. In 1966, he became known as the lead detective in the homicide case at Lafayette Grill in Paterson, New Jersey for which boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter and John Artis were convicted. DeSimone's handling of eyewitnesses was criticized by supporters of the accused[1] and the federal court later wrote about the special treatment of key witness Alfred Bello by the police: "[Bello's] motivation was crystallized when, shortly after the trial, police officers and others tried to help him obtain a $10,000 reward offered to persons providing information that led to the arrest and conviction of the Lafayette Bar killers."[2]

In 1969, he resigned from his job as the result of a dispute about the way that a murder investigation was being handled (which was, according to an unnamed county attorney quoted in his obituary, "the only thing that a respectable law enforcement man could do" in the situation), and for a year worked as warden of the Passaic County jail, until he was re-hired by a new county prosecutor.[1]