Iacoviello found guilty of second-degree murder

Robert Iacoviello Jr., 22, will now live in prison.

A jury in Boston’s Suffolk County Superior Court returned a verdict of guilty on the charge of second-degree murder for Iacoviello around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, after three full days of deliberation.

He was also found guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm.

He was found not guilty on the charge of murder in the first degree.

On second-degree murder, the typical sentence is life in prison with the possibility of parole in 15 years.

Suffolk County DA Dan Conley said that they believed the evidence supported a first-degree murder conviction, but that they weren’t going to complain.

“As a prosecuting authority, I’m very satisfied with the verdict,” he said shortly after it was read. “Clearly we think the jury could have returned a verdict of murder in the first degree. The evidence showed that, but we’re satisfied.”

He also thanked the State Police for their investigation.

“They conducted a careful, meticulous and thorough investigation,” he said. “They followed the evidence where it took them and that was to Robert Iacoviello and the others who helped him kill Daniel Talbot.”

On the other side of the coin, a very emotional and shocked defense team, led by Attorney Peter Krupp, maintained Iacoviello did not do it.

“We say it now and have said it since this case started that Bobby Iacoviello didn’t murder Daniel Talbot. He didn’t. The jury verdict does not change that,” he said. “We’ll appeal and as soon as a transcript is prepared, we’ll file our brief with the Supreme Judicial Court.”

Revere Police Chief Terence Reardon released a short statement Tuesday afternoon.

“The Revere Police Department accepts the verdict of the jury in the Iacoviello murder trial and wishes to acknowledge the extraordinary efforts of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and the Massachusetts State Police in bringing this prosecution to a successful conclusion,” Reardon wrote.

Meanwhile, Jimmy Heang was also convicted on a charge of accessory after the fact of murder.

He was found not guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm.

Ironically, his brother Johnny Heang was present during the shooting alongside Iacoviello. He made a cooperating agreement to avoid murder charges in the case, and also testified against his brother, Jimmy.

Conley mentioned Jimmy Heang briefly afterward, saying he was pleased they found him guilty of accessory. Heang will be sentenced on Friday and could face a maximum of seven years in prison.

Jimmy Heang’s attorney, Willie Davis, said that he would appeal the case, and that there was some important information that he could not tell the jury.

“One thing the jury should have known, but wasn’t told because the judge wouldn’t let me was that Jimmy Heang assisted his brother, Johnny, and because of that they couldn’t find him guilty,” said Davis. “If I’m helping someone commit a crime and they’re related to me, the statute says that’s an affirmative defense and you cannot charge … My client helps his brother and the DA chooses not to indict his brother, so where does that leave me?”

He said that the matter has already been taken up at the Supreme Judicial Court, and is on hold.

“They told me to go to trial and come back when it’s done and so now I’m coming back,” he said.

In another aside, many have wondered about the absence of Michael Picardi. While several witnesses have testified that he allegedly helped dispose of the weapon, he was never charged with any crime and never testified either.

DA Dan Conley said that it was simply a decision of the prosecutor.

“That was a prosecutorial decision we made and that’s why he wasn’t charged,” said Conley.

Both Iacoviello and Jimmy Heang will be sentenced this Friday, February 5, at 2 p.m. in Suffolk Superior Court.

Tuesday afternoon, the courtroom scene was a mad rush.

There were no seats available.

Many people stood outside, their ears pressed to the door.

The courtroom was packed seemingly to the ceiling with Talbot’s family and friends, Iacoviello’s family and friends, Revere Police, State Police and media members of all types.

Once the verdict was read, there were no shouts of joy, but only tears.

Tears flowed from the eyes of virtually everyone with a stake in the case, whether it were for Talbot or for Iacoviello.

Talbot’s mother, Patricia, could not even speak as she left.

“I’m satisfied with the verdict,” was all that Talbot’s fiancée Connie Bethel would say.

“Awesome,” said Talbot’s brother, Paul, in an unenthusiastic tone as he walked out.

The ugly business of finding the truth was over, and the end result was not the kind of assigning of blame that left anyone happy.

To a person, there were many faults on many different fronts. There was so much blame to go around for Daniel Talbot’s death that it was nearly impossible to cover in four weeks of detailed discussion.

But there was one fault that was a mortal crime, and the jury laid the blame for that directly on Bobby Iacoviello.

He was taken away in shackles.

He now lives in prison.