Banker murder suspect 'makes jail confession'

A man who fled to Britain with the wealthy widow of a banker he is now accused of killing threatened the children of the lawyer prosecuting him, a court heard.

Electrician Daniel Pelosi was also allegedly caught on tape admitting to killing Ted Ammon and plotting to intimidate a juror.

Pelosi married Mr Ammon’s widow, Generosa, after her husband was found bludgeoned to death at his mansion in East Hampton, the summer resort of wealthy New Yorkers.

Pelosi and Ms Ammon moved to an estate in Cranleigh, Surrey, after they were wed but they later separated. Mrs Ammon died of cancer last year.

In her will, Mrs Ammon left British nanny Kathryn Ann Mayne £640,000 and the lifetime use of a seaside mansion.

Ms Mayne was also given custody of the couple’s two children.

Suspicion for Mr Ammon’s death soon fell on 41-year-old Pelosi.

He was arrested, charged and pleaded not guilty to the crime. He faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted.

Yesterday, as the murder trial was set to begin, the court was told that Pelosi had been caught on tape threatening the prosecutor’s two children, plotting to intimidate a juror and even admitting to the killing.

The development, at Suffolk County Court on Long Island, New York, could lead to a retrial.

Prosecutor Janet Albertson said the tapes were made in jail as recently as last weekend.

Pelosi’s lawyer, Gerald Shargel, who has represented New York gangsters, said the last-minute claims were “simply outrageous”.

He said he may ask for a mistrial. If a mistrial is declared Pelosi could walk free and not be tried again for the same offence.

Mr Shargel also accused the prosecution of engineering the dramatic events in court.

But Ms Albertson, the assistant district attorney, hit back: “I don’t have to have the defendant threatening my own children. I didn’t engineer that.”

Mr and Mrs Ammon were just days away from finalising a bitter divorce when he was killed in October 2001 in his Long Island mansion.

A post-mortem examination showed Mr Ammon, a former general partner at the investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, was hit over the head with a blunt object.

His estate was reportedly worth more than £55 million.

Pelosi had helped oversee the installation of a security system at the multi-millionaire’s estate.

After they were wed, Pelosi and Mrs Ammon and her two children moved to Surrey to seek privacy.

They returned to the US when she was diagnosed with cancer.

Pelosi and Mrs Ammon split up and she died in summer 2003 aged 46. Pelosi received a reported £1.1m (€1.6m) but nothing in her will.

The court proceedings were adjourned until next Monday.