A naked housecleaner, who advertised services on a gay Website, used fear of police sodomy as a defense against murder charges — and it worked.
A jury acquitted Thomas Cordero, 41, of second-degree murder and manslaughter in Bronx Supreme Court today, saying they believed police scared the man into false confessions. Cordero was accused of fatally stabbing John Conley, 50, of 3230 Cruger Ave., on Oct. 6, 2001, when Cordero was supposed to vacuum the victim’s apartment in the buff, as advertised on rentboy.com.
Police responding to a noise complaint the following day found Conley’s vacuum cleaner running and Conley half-naked beside his bed, with 14 stab wounds, some up to five inches deep.
In April 2007, Cordero was busted for crack possession and cold case detectives matched his DNA to a bloody tissue found at the murder scene
Cordero’s attorney Harvey Slovis – who has represented rappers Jay-Z and Puff Daddy — raised the specter of Justin Volpe, an ex-cop sentenced to 30 years for sodomizing Abner Loiuma in a Brooklyn precinct in 1997. During cross-examination, Cordero said he feared cops would sodomize him with a broomstick unless he confessed to a crime he didn’t commit. Jury foreman Juan Azcona, 20, told the Post that jurors believed the naked housecleaner “could have been pressured.”
“We didn’t find what the detective said very credible,” Azcona said. “There were a few inconsistencies, and it was possible he could have been pressured. Some of the jurors were saying they could defend both sides. That’s how we came to the conclusion there was reasonable doubt.”
Cordero also denied being in the victim’s apartment but jurors said they believe the DNA proved he was there. Cordero walked out of court a free man after being sentenced to time served on the drug charges.