False Teeth, Fine Art and a ‘Bag Man’: New Details Emerge in Murder Plot

The case seemed to have all the ingredients to grow into the next big political scandal in a state well known for public corruption.

Sean Caddle, a New Jersey political consultant with deep knowledge of campaign fundraising strategies, had pleaded guilty to hiring two men to kill an associate, Michael Galdieri. Caddle’s lawyer — who made a name for himself representing reputed mobsters — volunteered in open court that his client was cooperating with the FBI on “developing an important investigation.”

And unlike the plea deals struck by the men he hired, Caddle’s allowed him to await sentencing in an unusual place: his home.

Given Caddle’s status as an up-from-the-streets operative whose clients had included local officials, state lawmakers and a U.S. senator, New Jersey political insiders waited anxiously for the next set of handcuffs to drop.

It appears they will continue to wait.

On Thursday, Caddle, 45, is scheduled for sentencing in federal court in Newark, New Jersey — an indication that the investigation may be ending after yielding only one politics-related conviction, of a legislative aide.

Caddle faces the possibility of life in prison. But federal prosecutors have recommended a 15-year sentence for his role in the conspiracy to kill Galdieri, while noting his “coldhearted” decision to attend the dead man’s funeral reception.

Caddle’s lawyers argue that his cooperation and lack of criminal history justifies an even shorter sentence: nine years.

Whatever happens, the secrets he takes to prison may be vast.

Heavily redacted court filings and reports by the detectives who initially investigated the death of Galdieri, a self-described “bag man” and “envelope guy,” offer a tawdry peek into a world of drug use, online hookups and a purported piece of high-end art. (The redactions leave open the possibility that prosecutors are not yet finished.)

The documents also provide the clearest picture so far of what prosecutors say was Caddle’s motive for paying two career criminals $15,000 to kill the 52-year-old Galdieri: extortion.

Caddle told prosecutors that Galdieri, who had spent time in prison on drug charges, reminded him of his brother, and he often hired him to do low-level campaign work.

But at some point in their relationship, prosecutors say in a sentencing memo, Galdieri began to demand “money and favors” from Caddle in exchange for not disclosing “things he had seen, done and heard” while working for Caddle on campaigns.

To make the problem go away, Caddle turned to someone with experience: George Bratsenis.

Bratsenis had met Caddle’s brother in a New Jersey prison, and after he got out, Caddle hired him to work on a state senate campaign.

Over dinner in early 2014, prosecutors say, Caddle asked Bratsenis, who had been convicted in the 1984 killing of a drug courier, whether he could help him find an assassin.

Bratsenis turned to Bomani Africa, whom he had also met in prison and, later, robbed banks with. The two decided to take the job, and Caddle offered clear instructions: The killing must happen within 30 days.

The men confessed to killing Galdieri after being charged in several bank robberies in Connecticut. Apparently bidding for leniency, both implicated Caddle and have since been sentenced to lengthy prison terms.

In entering their pleas, Bratsenis and Africa offered detailed accounts of how they stabbed Galdieri in the home office of his Jersey City apartment soon after he opened his front door to them.

The killers then doused the apartment with gasoline and set it on fire. A digital camera, laptop computer, cellphone and notebook were left behind, according to records from the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office first reported by northjersey.com. Firefighters also found a set of false teeth beneath Galdieri’s body and a glassine pipe on a nearby desk.

“This was not just a fleeting crime of passion,” prosecutors wrote. “It was a carefully planned, premeditated crime.”

Not found that night was an object that, the county prosecutor’s office reports show, captured investigators’ attention: a painting Galdieri owned that he said was an original by celebrated art deco painter Tamara de Lempicka.

Many of those who came into contact with Galdieri and were interviewed during the investigation said he believed the painting was worth millions of dollars. He had been soliciting investors with the idea that they would profit once the painting was sold.

Could the artwork have figured into the killing?

No, it turned out. It was nestled safely in a guitar case at Galdieri’s brother’s house.

“Recently their cousin introduced them to a big shot named Mario who was protecting them from people in the art world,” a detective wrote after interviewing the brother.

What mostly emerged about Galdieri’s life in the investigation’s early stages was far less sophisticated: a portrait of a man focused on his next methamphetamine fix with few friends but many sexual partners, most of whom he met online.

“He said that Michael did a lot of people dirty,” a detective wrote after interviewing a man who said he had bought drugs from Galdieri.

In addition to scheming to kill Galdieri, prosecutors wrote in the sentencing memo, Caddle conspired with the legislative aide, Antonio Teixeira, to enrich himself by inflating campaign invoices.

Teixeira, who until last year was chief of staff to Nick Scutari, a Democrat and the president of the state Senate, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and tax evasion. He is awaiting sentencing.

As for Caddle’s sentencing, should it happen as scheduled, it will end his 18 months under house arrest — a period that included his eviction for failing to pay the rent at the town house in Hamburg, New Jersey, where he, his wife and their three children lived. In April, he got permission to rent a U-Haul to move his family into an apartment 1 mile away.

This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/29/nyregion/caddle-galdieri-murder-for-hire-nj.html">The New York Times</a>.