Morbid - Episode 677: The Murder of Anthony LoConte

Episode Date: June 2, 2025

On the evening of May 10, 1988, a passing driver on Howard Street in Brockton, MA, stopped to investigate something unusual on the side of the road. When the driver got closer to what they thought was a bag, they realized it was actually the body of twenty-four-year-old Anthony LoConte, bleeding badly from injuries to his face and head.Initially, investigators believed LoConte was the victim of a hit-and-run accident; however, when the coroner examined the body, he discovered a bullet hole in the back of LoConte’s head, indicating that he’d been murdered.It took twelve years for investigators to track down LoConte’s killer, but in the winter of 2000, California Highway Patrol arrested Robert Morganti on drug charges and a quick background check connected them to a 1988 warrant for Morganti for the murder of Anthony LoConte. Robert Morganti was extradited back to Massachusetts, where he was tried, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for LoConte’s murder. However, due to a controversial 2024 law concerning life sentences for young offenders, Robert Morganti could be granted parole in the near future.Consider signing the petition by visiting https://www.change.org/p/help-uncle-tony-uphold-mandatory-life-sentences-in-massachusetts-bill-s942 .Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!ReferencesBoston Globe. 1988. "Police believe drugs are linked to slaying of Brockton man." Boston Globe, May 12: 35.Boyle, Maureen. 2000. "Murder suspect caught in Calif." The Enterprise (Brockton, MA), March 21: 1.Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Robert J. Morganti. 2009. SJC-09830 (Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Plymouth, November 25).Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Robert J. Morganti. 2014. SJC-11281 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, February 12).Peterson, Dave. 2000. "Murder suspect's long flght ends in Modesto." Modesto Bee, March 21: 1.Stern, Amelia. 2025. 'No remorse': Taunton woman devastated by ruling that could free her brother's killer. April 25. Accessed May 04, 2025. https://www.tauntongazette.com/story/news/courts/2025/04/25/taunton-ma-brockton-anthony-loconte-murder-victim-sjc-robert-morganti-parole/83271252007/.Stay in the know - wondery.fm/morbid-wondery.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey weirdos, it's Ash. Before we dive into today's twisted tale, let me tell you about the spooky perks of Wondery+. It's like having a skeleton key that unlocks ad-free listening and early access to new episodes. So don't wait, try Wondery Plus today. You can join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or in Apple Podcasts or Spotify. You're listening to a Morbid Network podcast. Lamont Jones is shattered when his cousin dies just weeks after entering prison. Hey, Weirdos. I'm Alina. I'm Ash. And this is Morbid. It's Morbid in the morning. So, hey, it's Morbid in the morning. So hey, it's morbid in the morning.

Oh, did you just hear my jaw crack? Yeah, your jaw is needs to be taken care of. I have a reckless job. Somebody should probably like wire it shut for a little bit. My whole job is talking and it just wouldn't work. It's rough. It's like snaps a lot. Yeah, I was just like, just doing a little stretch and it just wouldn't work out. It's rough. It's like snaps a lot. Yeah, I was just like, just doing a little stretch

and it was like, bruh, bruh. You should hear it when I eat a bagel, it's even crazier. Oh damn. It's not. Well, you have heard it, but. I have, it's true. You listener out there, you may not have. I don't know your life.

I don't know your life. I don't know your life, but I do know a candy store that you should go to in Salem. Yeah, this is, and it's not an ad. It's just, we like to pass on stuff to you. We went to Salem the other day. We got to hang out with our twin flame, Ryan Lill Washington. Go download Ryan's music, go buy Ryan's books, go give him a high five.

He's a lovely, lovely, magical, enchanting human being. It's the best. And so is his husband. Yes. We love them both. We had a wonderful time in Salem with them. And their friends. Yeah, and their friends are great.

It was a great day. We had a whole day. And we met a lot of listeners. So if we met you, what's up? Yeah, well, we were in Salem. We hope you had a great day in Salem. We met somebody who was their first time in Salem. I hope you had the best time.

Yeah, hell yeah. Hell fucking yeah. And we also met Marnie. We met Marnie. And Marnie is the owner of the Curly Girl candy shop in Salem. Which we always pass by there. It's right near like Housewitch. Right near like Essex Street.

It's like right off of Essex Street. And I always am like, oh, we should pop in there. Like I want to get some candy. And we were going to this last time because we ran into Marnie, she introduced herself, and we were planning 100% on going into the candy store. But then we had kids stuff pop up. Yeah, I had to get to after school activities and we had timed it so that I could get home for that so I could drive them to after school stuff.

And the traffic shifted. And suddenly it was gonna be like a two hour drive home and we were like, holy shit, we gotta leave. That's one thing about Salem. I love going to Salem so much, but like from two to three, the traffic shift is nuts. Yeah, you either have to leave there very early or later.

Yeah. There's this one stretch of time where you're gonna be in trouble. Yeah, but either have to leave there very early or later. There's this one stretch of time where you're gonna be in trouble. Yeah, but Marnie, we will be back and we will come buy the shit out of some of your candy. Love Marnie. Go to the Curly Girl candy shop because it looks so fucking cool and we're definitely going when we come back. Yes. And bop into Housewitch and get your aura read because we did that with Ryan and his

husband and the two of us and it was very fun. Very insightful. and bop into Housewitch and get your aura red because we did that with Ryan and his husband and the two of us and it was very fun. Very insightful. Very like, yeah, it was fun. Very insightful is definitely the best way to describe it. We also stopped into Nocturne, which is one of my favorite stores. Oh.

And we met Cody, Cody Crawley, who has, she's, you might know her on like TikTok. I think her TikTok and like Instagram is under spirit board, but B-O-R-E-D. My name's Cody. She's also an author. Her debut novel was Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch. Amazing. I just got it. I'm so excited to start it. Amazing. So she's a great follow. She's awesome. So definitely if you're looking for some fun follows, she gives you a lot of information about Salem too. On her TikTok, she gives you like historical information, touristy information, the best

kind of like little hidden gems. That's the best. She gives you like spooky little stories. She's very entertaining. She's got the vibes of tie from Clueless. Yes, very much like a spooky tie. It's literally a spooky tie. I think she's so fun. So yeah, it was really cool. We met a lot of cool people. Good vibes all around. We needed it. We

needed a little like, um, levity day. Yeah, a little hooky day. I mean, it was our day off anyway. We didn't actually really play hooky from anything, but we can't. We're actually not allowed. But with all that being said, that's all the business we had, right? Yeah, it was just good business. It was good business. But we have kind of a pressing case today. And this case is, you know, it hits close to home. I had this fucking phenomenal mentor when I was in like my very early hair days when

I had just started at like this main salon. Yeah. I had this mentor, Timmy, and he took such good care of me. And unfortunately, his uncle was killed years and years and years ago. And now his uncle's killer is possibly going to be up for probation, which is pretty scary. That's always not great. Yeah, it's pretty scary too when you hear the details of this case. Ooh. So let's get into it. This is a pressing matter. When we get to the end, there's like some petitions going on and stuff that...

Just trying to get some ears out there. Yeah, we want to get some ears, some attention on this. Timmy's family is really trying to do whatever they can to keep their loved one's killer behind bars, and I don't blame them. Yeah. So let's get into it. to do whatever they can to keep their loved ones killer behind bars, and I don't blame them. Yeah. So let's get into it.

In the spring of 1988, 19-year-old Robert Morganti was living in Brockton, which is a suburb about an hour outside of Boston. And at the time, he was supporting himself as kind of a low-level cocaine dealer. At the time, a lot of the product that he was selling came from Jeffrey Tessier, who was one of his runners, quote unquote, who basically helped him break up large amounts of cocaine into smaller packages and then they would go distribute it.

On May 10th, 1988, Robert Morganti had actually run out of cocaine. So he called Jeffrey in order to get some more, but Jeffrey told him he too was dry, didn't have any. But Jeffrey said he did have a source that he was willing to connect Morganti with in order to resupply. Jeffrey's connection would have completely solved their problems. But a few hours later, Morganti called to say that this connection was also out of cocaine.

So sensing an opportunity to make some quick cash and thinking very interestingly, interesting thought pattern here. Jeffrey Tessier devised a scheme where he would, quote, trick Morganti into paying him for what Morganti would mistakenly believe was one quarter kilogram of cocaine. Oh, no. That's a terrible fucking good. Yeah, that's not a good idea. He's obviously not the first person to ever rip off a drug dealer, but it does remain unclear how or why he thought

Morganti would readily accept a look-alike powder and would then distribute that look-alike powder without verifying its legitimacy at all. That's a little confusing. Like that's never gonna happen. No. But for whatever reason, he returned Morganti's call that evening and told him he found another hookup and that they could go to the new supplier's house that night, pick up the drugs for what would end up being about $10,500 at that time and what would be almost $29,000 today. Okay. Based on court records and just like human logic, it's pretty reasonable to assume Jeffrey had not fully thought out this plan. No, this was very,

this was very impulsive. Yeah. And he was very much operating on the fly. So because of that, it is very plausible to believe that Anthony Loconde was just roped into all of this at the very last, very dire minute. But either way, that night, Jeffrey Tessier, Robert Morganti,

and one of their associates, Brian Madden, drove to Loconde's house. And when they arrived, Tessier told the two men to wait in the car while he went inside to pick up the drugs, which were not drugs. So because Anthony Leconte was ultimately killed that night, we only have Jeffrey Tessier's testimony to rely on to fill in the gaps of what happened next. According to him, he went into Anthony's house and explained what he was attempting to do, and again, according to him, Leconte didn't object to playing a part in this ruse.

Jeffrey then quickly scanned the house for anything that he could pass off as fake cocaine, and ultimately gathered a random collection of household items, including an Old Spice container, and he placed the hastily assembled package in a brown paper bag and went back out to the car. Okay. Once he was out there, he handed that, that package and over to Morganti. Morganti gave him the $10,500, fully believing

that he was purchasing a kilo of cocaine rather than a bag of garbage. And with the deal done Morganti and Madden pulled away from the house, leaving Jeffrey there behind with Anthony Leconte, who Jeffrey said received $2,000 for his participation in the scam. Again, Jeffrey's words. Yeah. Not surprisingly, a seasoned drug dealer Robert Morganti

wasn't fooled by getting a bag of deodorant. Yeah, that's not shocking. And was pretty pissed that he had just paid over $10,000 for a bag of deodorant. Yeah, that's not shocking. And was pretty pissed that he had just paid over $10,000 for a bag of garbage. So then five minutes, Morganti and Madden were back at Lacan's house, pounding on the back door. Which, by the way, he lived with his mother. This is horrifying.

And he, this was a very last minute thing he got roped into. We don't know what he knew. And anything like that. We only have Jeffrey to rely on. So now Morganti and Madden are banging on the door. And like very fucking angry drug dealers. I can like feel the anxiety right now.

Yeah. So absolutely terrified by these men at the door. Anthony goes running out the front door because they're pounding on the back door. And he attempted to get away from the situation that he got roped into last minute. But according to his mother, Rachel, the two men chased him down in the driveway and managed to force him into Madden's car after beating him. What happened next is not exactly clear, but the evidence collected during the investigation does provide some insight.

According to the medical examiner, Anthony Laconte was sitting in the passenger seat of the Monte Carlo with Madden driving and Morganti sitting in the back, right behind Anthony, at one point during their drive after having severely beaten him. Investigators believe that Morganti shot 24-year-old Laconte in the back of his head with a.380 caliber handgun, sending a bullet through the back of his skull behind his left ear and that then exited through his right eye. Oh, that's awful. Yeah, they executed him.

That is brutal. Lately, I've just been a little bit obsessed with learning everything I can about our gut microbiome. That is fascinating. I feel like everybody's talking about it. Scroll on TikTok and you'll get at least three videos about it. Fact is, we are learning so much about how the gut microbiome is key to our mental health, immunity, and obviously our digestion. If you're looking for digestive support, I think we all are. Ritual has got your back or your biome really. With Symbiotic Plus, a three in one supplement of clinically studied pre, pro, and post biotics to support a balanced gut microbiome

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for 25% off your first month. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. If you listen to this show, you know that a lot of men do a lot of questionable things. And we're always talking about the stigma around men's mental health. I really think that if a lot of the men we talked about actually were able to get some therapy, you know, they might have done better. Men today face immense pressure to perform, to provide, keep it all together. So it's really no wonder that six million men in the U.S. suffer from depression every year, and it's actually often undiagnosed. It's okay to struggle. Real strength comes from opening up about what you're carrying and doing something

about it so that you can be at your best for yourself and everybody else in your life. If you're a man and you're feeling the weight of the world, talk to somebody. A friend, a loved one, a therapist. I'm obsessed with therapy. You guys know I'm a huge proponent for it. I just think getting in a room or talking online to one person one, two times a week every other week, whatever works for you, really will make all the difference.

I've benefited from therapy myself and so many of my friends and family have as well. As the largest online therapy provider in the world, BetterHelp can provide access to mental health professionals with a diverse variety of expertise. Talk it out with BetterHelp. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com slash morbid. That's betterhelp.h-e-l-p dot com slash morbid. Based on the technician's analysis of the evidence in the car, the gun was fired less than six inches from the victim's head.

Holy shit. It was so close that it caused burns around the edge of the wound. And finally, it was determined based on Anthony caused burns around the edge of the wound. And finally, it was determined based on Anthony's injuries and the trajectory of the bullet that the gunshot could have only been fired from the back seat where Morganti was believed to have been sitting. A little past 11 p.m. that night, Brockton resident Michael Gieler looked out the window of his Howard Street residence and saw a blue Monte Carlo slow to a stop across from his home where it sat briefly before pulling away. After the car left, he saw what he described as

what looked like a trash bag sitting on the side of the road. And assuming that the driver had just dumped trash, he went back to what he was doing, didn't really think anything about it, until a short time later he heard screams coming from outside. By that time, a passing driver had also seen what they thought was an object on the side of the road, but they stopped to investigate. And that's when they found Anthony Laconte unconscious and badly bleeding. Oh, they just dumped him on the side of the road. And he was only unconscious. He had not died yet. Oh my God. So Gieler called for an ambulance and emergency responders arrived a few minutes later.

At first, they couldn't tell because he was so badly beaten and you know, you're unrecognizable after that kind of gunshot wound. Emergency responders believed that he actually, Anthony had been the victim of a hit and run accident. Holy shit. Since he was covered in blood and the exit wound above his eye wasn't recognizable, I think probably because of the swelling. He was still actually breathing and did have a weak pulse, but a short time later he did pass away at the hospital.

And later that day when the autopsy was conducted, that's when they discovered the bullet wound over his eye and the back of his head, and his death at that point was obviously deemed a homicide. This was devastating deemed a homicide. This was devastating to his family. Anthony Laconte was born in December of 1963 to Coast Guardsman Albie. And line worker and former model Rachel Laconte. They are a beautiful couple.

My friend Timmy's grandparents. He sent all these old pictures of them on like their wedding day and everything. They had all these children together. They're a beautiful family. Anthony was the fourth of their fifth children and he was absolutely adored by all of his siblings and even his extended family. Growing up, he loved to watch Batman and Robin with his brother Alan. He loved to dress up and they would pretend to fly around the house like superheroes.

Him and his sister Marie would do that. And he also loved the cartoon Go Speed Racer Go. He loved race cars, motorcycles, anything like that. He and his brother Alan would go to concerts all the time. Alan said they went to ACDC, Fog Hat, Blue Oyster Cult. Oh my God. And they would sneak up to the front rows together whenever they could. I love that.

And they had a great time together. And music definitely played a big part in the whole family's lives. All of Anthony's siblings remember dancing around with him. They remember just spending days hanging out in their rooms listening to new records. He gave one of his sisters a cassette, or like a 45 of Prince's Purple Rain. And she still has it to this day. She won't part with it.

But one thing that every family member recalls, and I just think this is such a sweet memory, the family went on a cruise to the Bahamas together, and Tony was only about seven or eight at the time. But he got up on stage on the cruise and they all said that he performed Frank Sinatra's You Make Me Feel So Young with the ship's band. Shut up. Just like got up there and sang for everybody. And the crowd gave him a standing ovation. Of course they will.

And everybody has that memory of him. Oh, I love that. It's really sweet. Anthony's sister Susan told us, what I want people to know about Anthony was that he was a kind and loving brother who didn't have much but shared what he did have. He would always put others before himself. He was an advocate or big brother to many kids in the neighborhood. He always loved the holidays. He would go to the neighbors houses and celebrate their traditions and eat with them. He loved playing with the children and would stick

up for others that were being bullied. Just the other day while getting an oil change, a man came up to me and asked me if I was a loconte. He told me the story of him being bullied, and how Anthony stepped in and told the other kids to leave him alone, and they never bullied him again. SONIA DARA So few people are like that. LILY Yeah. SONIA DARA So to lose somebody that's like that

in such a horrific way is like… LILY Heartbreaking. SONIA DARA Devastating. LILY Tragic. SONIA DARA You don't find people like that in such a horrific way is like heart breaking, devastating, tragic. Like you don't find people like that. No, to just go out of their way. And probably for somebody he like knew.

Yeah, like just like kind of knew or just whatever. Like a lot of people won't stick up for people. They won't put their own nose, you know, like it's a lot of people just kind of walk away and let somebody else deal with it. But look at how significant it is when you actually do go out of your way and stick up for somebody. That man went up to his sister, however many years later, like 40 years later, and still remembered that.

That's the thing. People will remember just like the smallest acts of kindness that you will do or just going out of your way to like make them happy or make something better for them. And people will remember the other way. Oh, absolutely. And which way would you rather be known for? Being the bully and being the person that made someone's life awful.

Or being the person that stepped in and like made things better. And it's easy. It's not... It's so easy. It doesn't take too much. Yeah. You know, just do it. But everybody has fond memories of Anthony. Sounds like it.

His niece, Amy, also has the fond memories, especially about going to visit him while he lived with her grandmother when she was young. She said, my uncle Tony, he had old Hollywood movie star looks. I was just about to say, he is incredibly handsome. He does. He actually... Did you meet Timmy when I was working at the salon? I think I briefly met him, I'm pretty sure.

Timmy looks like his uncle. It's actually crazy. I was going to say they are very similar. Like, very handsome. Yeah, Timmy's very Hollywood star looking. Very like, striking. Very striking. Yeah, and he looks like he could be in like one of those cool old movies. Like, you could see him in like a full suit.

Yes, absolutely. All like dappered out. Like driving a fast car, you know? She said he was absolutely stunning, agreed. I'm like dappered out. Like driving a fast car, you know? She said he was absolutely stunning, agreed. He was over six feet tall with dark hair and dark eyes. The ladies loved him, but he only had eyes for a couple ladies. And the number one lady was his mom. Oh my God.

He was a mama's boy, a fearless brother, and the coolest uncle any little girl could ever dream up. She also remembered, of course, how devastating the loss of her uncle was for not only herself, but especially for his mom, Amy's grandmother. She said, they had the most beautiful relationship. She broke when he was assassinated. I lost them both when he was murdered. She just got so quiet and so sad. I remember when I was going to give birth to my firstborn son, I came to Nanny and I asked her if I could name him Anthony. And she said she didn't think

that was a good idea because it wasn't a good name for her son. So did I think it would be a good idea for him? Like she was so, not that she didn't love the name or anything, but she was like, look what his fate was. Yeah. Oh, that breaks my heart. It does. She's beautiful as well.

Yes. Nanny. Nanny. Oh, Nanny's wedding pictures. Nanny was a star. Yeah. And Nanny and Albie? Yes. Damn. Gorge couple. Oh, nannies, wedding pictures. Stunning. Nanny was a star. Yeah. And Nanny and Albie? Yes. Damn. Gorge couple.

What a couple. Gorge couple. I was like, wow. Yeah. Timmy, you're family. Timmy, you're family. Holy shit. But on a more serious note, going back to the night of the murder, according to court documents, sometime around midnight, Robert Morganti called his friend Travis Merritt and told him that he had, quote,

gotten ripped off, something went wrong and he had shot somebody. So Travis agreed to help his friend and a short time later Robert Morganti showed up to his apartment with blood still all over his face and all over his clothing. During their conversation Morganti repeated the story of what happened earlier that night saying he didn't know the identity of the man that he'd shot only that he thought he was involved in ripping him off for $10,500. And Morganti told Travis he had thrown the gun out of the car somewhere along Harrison Boulevard,

on his way back to the apartment, and he said his only priority in that moment was finding Jeffrey Tessier and getting his money back. Which is like, your priorities are fucked up, you just killed a man. Just took a man's life. A short time later, the two men went to the home of another acquaintance, Gary Gamel, where they believed they'd find Jeffrey. At the house, Morganti apparently told Gamel, I just want my money. I killed the wrong person.

Holy shit. So Anthony Laconte was just wrapped up in all of this. I just killed the wrong person. In a case of mistaken identity. It very much seems like Morganti thought he was going after Jeffrey, or thought he was going after this like big deal cocaine dealer, and that was not Anthony. Holy shit. That's horrifying.

And he knew it. He knew how badly he had fucked up that he just killed somebody who wasn't involved in all of this. Wow. So as the men were talking, Geoffrey pulled up outside and Morganti actually moved toward the door to confront him, but was stopped by Gamal who insisted that he would go out and get the money back.

I'm sure he was like, you've gotten yourself in enough shit to know. Yeah. A few minutes later, Gamal returned and handed Morganti $7,500, which obviously he noted was a few thousand dollars short, but he accepted it at that point, probably just ready to be done with the whole ordeal.

And they left Gamel's house in a cab, and the cab then dropped Morganti at the home of another associate, Joseph Valente. Morganti then explained to Valente that he'd been ripped off and had shot and killed one of the men he thought was responsible, but that he had killed the wrong man, and now he needed help in getting in contact with an associate in California because he was planning to flee the state. Wow. Which means he fully knew that he

was in a whole bunch of shit. 100%. He had the full wherewithal to know that he needed to get the fuck out of Dodge because what he did was wrong. Yeah. And he was going to face some kind of trouble for it. Yeah. [♪ Music Playing And Chimes Playing In Background, Music Fades Out...]

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Again, that's promo code, MORBID, for an additional 50% off your first order plus free shipping at Smalls.com. Meow. So while he was tracking down Jeffrey Tessier to get his missing money, Brian Madden was having a crisis of his own. Madden, remember, was driving the car that night. He hadn't been necessarily responsible for Anthony Lacan's murder and obviously didn't know what was going to happen. It happened very quickly.

But like I said, he had been driving the car when Anthony was shot. And he also helped with dumping Anthony's body on the side of the road. He's an accomplice to murder. Yeah. So he's freaking out. And he calls his brother Mark Madden a little after midnight that night and briefly explained what happened and asked Mark if he could come over. After hearing the story, Mark did the right thing

and encouraged his brother to report the shooting to the police, which Brian did end up doing shortly after hanging up with Mark. When Mark arrived to his brother's apartment, he saw the Monte Carlo parked out front and could still see a large amount of blood in the front seat of the car. Inside, Brian was already speaking with detectives

who had come to the apartment. A short time after placing that call, state and local investigators arrived at Brian Madden's apartment and they started processing the car for evidence, noting that there was a quote, great deal of blood on the front passenger seat. They also collected several blood covered CDs from the front seat and an old spice container, which remember was used to rip off Morganti. Inside the apartment, investigators also collected several more blood spattered CDs from Brian Madden's kitchen and subsequent testing of the blood found in the car

on the floor mats and the blood on the CDs in the kitchen, all a match for Anthony Lacan, no surprise there. During their investigation with Brian Madden and processing the evidence collected from the car, investigators with Brockton and Massachusetts State Police established that Brian Madden had been driving the car at the time of the shooting and forensic testing recreations of the shooting confirmed, quote, it would have been difficult to have fired a shot from the driver's seat

at the angle indicated by the entrance and exit wounds. So they were able to rule him out as the shooter. And like I said, the evidence did indicate that the shot had been fired from the back seat where we know Robert Morganti was sitting, making him the primary suspect for the murder. Based on the statements taken from Brian Madden, Jeffrey Tessier, and Joseph Valente, a warrant was issued for Robert Morganti's arrest on the afternoon of May 11th, 1988, for the murder of Anthony Locant. But the problem was, at that point, by the time investigators managed to put all the pieces together, Morganti had already fled the state.

He was gone. And the years that followed, investigators followed leads and tips from the public that brought them to Florida, Michigan, and New York in search of Robert Morganti. But it would be more than a decade before he was ultimately captured and put on trial for Anthony Lacan's murder. Damn. Yes. More than a decade. In the early morning hours of March 16th, 2000, now, figure 2000, this all started,

remember, in 1988. 16th 2000 now, for your 2000. This all started remember in 1988. Now March 16th 2000, a California Highway Patrol officer stopped a car, stopped a driver for speeding along Highway 132 in Modesto. The driver identified himself as Roderick Grenage, a resident of Stanislaus County, and he acknowledged to the officer that he had been drinking. Oh. The officer obviously asked the man to step out of the vehicle and immediately placed him under arrest for DUI. And during a routine search of the vehicle, the CHP officer also discovered about a half pound

of marijuana in Grenage's vehicle, as well as a box that quote unquote contained marijuana residue. So he contacted the county Drug Enforcement Agency and obviously the vehicle was impounded. The drug evidence found in this man's vehicle was obviously enough for law enforcement agents to get a warrant for his home now where they found 70 pounds of marijuana. That's a whole shit ton of marijuana. All of which had been divided into

smaller packages clearly for sale. Wow, so we're not evolving here. No. $21,000 in cash, which was wrapped in bedsheets as well, was found in the apartment. And the evidence strongly indicated that this man was probably a drug dealer. Yeah. Yeah. Lieutenant Raoul De Leon told reporters, it was obvious this guy was supporting himself by selling marijuana.

But what was even more unusual and more unexpected was that along with the drugs and the money, investigators also found multiple forms of identification, all with different names, indicating that this Roderick Grenage probably wasn't who he claimed to be. That's spooky. Among the various forms of identification found in the home was one for John Sam Brown, another name entirely. And John Sam Brown was from Almeida County. So investigators in Modesto called their counterparts in Almeida and learned that John Sam Brown had been arrested

and convicted on a previous charge and was currently on probation. In the meantime, another detective ran through Rodrik's fingerprints. They ran them through the Nationwide Database and got a hit not for Rodrik, but for Robert Morganti, who, as we know, had a warrant out in Brockton, Massachusetts for the murder of Anthony Leconte in 1988. Yep. On March 17, authorities in California

called the state police in Massachusetts and let them know that they had arrested their suspect that many years later. And the following day, a detective from the state police boarded the first plane for Modesto. After a dozen years of waiting and hoping, the news of Morganti's arrest obviously came as a surprise, but a relief to Anthony's family. Lacan's brother Alan told reporters, I never gave up hope. I was always hoping he would be found. That must have been unreal.

The relief they must have felt. And then, like, in hand with the relief, also just now we're going to have to go through a whole trial and this is all going to get brought back up again. All the emotions that you've been dealing with for years and years and years are, like, right at the root again. Yeah, absolutely. So while the family waited on ward the emotions that you've been dealing with for years and years and years are like right at the root again.

Yeah, absolutely. So while the family waited on board from local authorities regarding Morganti's extradition to Massachusetts, the suspect was held on $1 million bail on the drug charges. When Massachusetts State Police Sergeant Leonard Coppenrath finally sat down with Morganti the following day, he continued to refer to himself as Roger Grenage and insisted that he was not from Brockton, but that he had come to California from New York. He's like, what's Brockton even?

What even is that? But when the detective filled out the Miranda form using the suspect's real name, Murganti realized he had been found out and just looked at him and said, now what? Damn. So casual. So casual. Holy shit. Now what? Now what?

Now you're going to face trial for murder. So how's that? Throughout their interview, Robert Morganti was evasive and really never offered a confession. But that said, at one point he was allowed to make a phone call to his son. It was the boy's birthday. And when his son's mother was the boy's birthday. And when his son's mother asked what she should tell their son, Morganti said, she should explain to their son that daddy did a bad thing.

So while he didn't confess, he sort of did. At various points, he also wondered out loud whether it was wise for him to speak to detectives on the record, but he had already agreed to speak with them without an attorney, and he never directly recanted that approval or directly asked for an attorney. Yeah. So if you don't ask directly, they're not going to give you one. No, you gotta ask. You gotta ask. Morganti told the detectives that he hadn't seen or spoken to anybody from Brockton since

he left in 1988, including his family. And although he knew many of the people involved in the Loconte murder case, he denied being responsible for Anthony's death. It wasn't him. No. He said. He said. He said.

I'm like, let's make that clear. Rather than press for a confession, though, Kopp and Roth began offering various scenarios in which Morganti might have found himself in that ultimately led to Anthony's death, but that tactic failed to elicit a confession still. A few days later, Robert Morganti was extradited back to Massachusetts to finally stand trial for the murder. Ultimately, he and Anthony's family would have to wait more than three years before the case was finally heard, but finally in the summer of 2003, his trial did begin in Brockton

Superior Court. At that time, he was charged with one count of first-degree murder with special circumstances attached for what the prosecutor described as deliberate premeditation and the extreme atrocity or cruelty. Which yeah, I would say so. You shoot somebody in the back of the head after beating them. Yeah, that is extreme cruelty. And banging down their mother's door. Yeah, I is extreme cruelty. Yeah, and banging down their mother's door. Yeah. I'd say so.

Over the course of the trial, the jury was shown a large number of photographs of Anthony's body, which his sister Marie described as unrecognizable after Murghanti had beaten him, shot him, and left him for dead on the side of the road. That's so sad. The jury also viewed Madden's Monte Carlo and were shown a recreation of the shooting

to see where the parties were sitting when it occurred. Other evidence presented in court included the fingerprint evidence taken from the car on the night of the murder, as well as the fingerprint evidence that was collected when Morganti was arrested in Modesto and when they were able to confirm his identity. Oh, okay. And, you know, all that.

Yeah. So, by far the most compelling aspect of the trial was the testimony from various individuals who had contact with Robert Morganti and Anthony Leconte on the night of the shooting. That included testimony from Travis Merritt, who told the jury that he had seen Robert Morganti with the same caliber gun that was used in the shooting. And Jeffrey Tessier, who claimed that he also had seen Morganti with the same caliber of weapon, in fact, on the day of the shooting. Oh.

So that's something. Yeah. Similarly, Joseph Valente testified that Morganti had come to him and needing his help to flee to California. There was also a large number of witnesses who testified they heard Morganti say he had killed somebody. Oh. Most damning, however, was Brian Madden, who testified that he had been driving the car on the night of the shooting and in the courtroom identified Robert Morganti as the shooter.

Oh, shit. Yeah. So he, there's piles and piles of evidence against this guy. Yeah, a lot of evidence. On June 13, 2003, after a brief deliberation, the jury returned a verdict finding Robert McGonaghty guilty for the murder of Anthony Locant. Following his conviction, he was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.ant. Following his conviction, he was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. And when the sentence was passed,

Anthony's father, Elbie, openly wept in the courtroom, relieved that his son had finally received justice over after more than a decade, over a decade. But unfortunately, that relief would not last. In 2009, Robert Morganti's lawyer, Harwood filed an appeal on Morganti's behalf alleging, among other things, that investigators had violated his rights, one, by admitting into evidence statements that were given more than six hours after his arrest, and two, not stopping the interview after Morganti suggested he should contact a lawyer.

It doesn't work like that. Yeah, you got to. Yeah. And I'll explain that. With regard to the first point, the statements made more than six hours after his arrest that were entered into evidence. Harwood is referring to what's known as the safe harbor rule, which provides, quote, that in the absence of exceptional circumstances, a statement made by a defendant more than six hours after his arrest shall not be admitted into

evidence unless the defendant waives his right to a prompt arraignment. This provision was established to prevent law enforcement officials from delaying interviews for long periods of time to try to get a confession. But in this case, the delay was a result of Sergeant Kopp and Rath having to travel

across the country. And even under those circumstances, the court found that the safe harbor rule had not been violated in this case. So that's good. As for the second claim that his request for a lawyer had been denied, the court also ruled against Murganti and their summary opinion, the justices noted that to invoke the right to counsel, the suspect must unambiguously request counsel

and must articulate his desire to have counsel presence efficiently, clearly, that a reasonable police officer in the circumstances would understand the statement to be a request for an attorney. You can't say like, maybe I should have a lawyer. Or should I talk to you guys? Should I talk to you guys? Maybe I shouldn't talk to you guys. It has to be like, I want a lawyer and I'm not speaking until I have one. Yeah, black and white. Boom.

You can't just feel like, You can't speak in hypotheticals. Yeah, you got to be clear. So in Morganti's case, the justices concluded that it was perfectly reasonable for the interviewing officers to assume that he wasn't requesting an attorney, quote, thinking out loud that he might need a lawyer and might want to stop questioning until he spoke to a lawyer, which is not a sufficient invocation of his rights. No. No. So those attempts failed.

Several years later, in late 2013, he appealed a second time, this time arguing that his rights had been violated during the jury selection process when the courtroom was briefly cleared of public spectators. The Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees, as we know, a right to a speedy and public trial, which Burganti was now arguing had been denied when the courtroom was briefly cleared. In their finding, the court determined that, quote, during jury and panelment, the court officers closed

the courtroom to all members of the public, as was custom practice at that time in court, and the defendant did not object to the courtroom closure. So, they also concluded that, quote, all three attorneys were aware of their clients six amendment right to a public trial, yet none of them objected until 2007 when the issue began to emerge

in cases tried outside of Plymouth County. So they saw it starting to come up and they're like, yeah, we'll try that. Yeah, so the justices upheld the conviction on the grounds that the defendant had not sustained his burden of establishing his claim. With those two appeals or three appeals denied at that point, it appeared that Robert Marganti would indeed be spending the rest of his life in jail.

However, just about a month or so ago, in April of 2025, the Locant family's world was completely upended when Anthony's now 92-year-old father received a letter from the Massachusetts Parole Board indicating that due to a recent state supreme court ruling, Robert Morganti could become eligible for parole in the very near future. And we've come across this before. The ruling in question was the outcome of Commonwealth v. Mattis, a January 2024 state Supreme Court ruling, concluding that life sentences without the possibility of parole for offenders between 18 and 20 years old accounted to cruel and unusual punishment. We've talked about that before.

Yeah. So now, we've talked about it in other states. Yeah. Now it's happening in Massachusetts. And now the state of Massachusetts has started evaluating cases where the offenders were between those ages at the time that the crimes were committed and considering certain inmates for parole. In her press release following the ruling, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell

said the justice system should give young people the opportunity to turn their lives around and fulfill their potential. Which, yeah, sure. Yeah, for sure. In certain cases, that's absolutely valid. Robert Murganti was 19 years old when he killed Anthony Laconte, and then he was able to live for another 12 more years on the run and didn't turn his life around. I think that's the difference here.

That's the problem. Because I'm all for taking a look at cases and seeing if some changes have happened. Yeah, take a look. All that stuff, for sure. That's the whole point of imprisonment. That's what we say all the time. It's supposed to be that like, you know, the rehabilitation to become a productive member of society.

Right. But you gotta look at each one. It's a case by case scenario. Yeah, it's a case by case. Cause some of them are just not gonna fit that mold. No, and I don't think he does really. Because during the time that he was on the run, he had warrants, multiple warrants in other states.

He was still selling large amounts of drugs. Well, and he got arrested for a DUI. Which can kill someone. I literally go, I wrote in my notes, he's arrested for DUI, still endangering the lives of others. Yeah, that's endangering people. He had the opportunity to turn his life around, and he hadn't. And on top of that, Marie Laconte said, he showed no remorse when he was arrested. And he was an adult.

He was in his 30s when he was arrested. He never reached out to us. It would have given us some healing if he had. So that all matters. Yeah, absolutely. And while the state may see the ruling as extending young offenders the opportunity to turn their lives around, the Laconte family,

just in this case, does not agree when it comes to Robert Morganti. Yeah. Anthony's younger sister Marie told a reporter for the Enterprise, "'My heart breaks for my father. It breaks for us all. I'm so angry. We don't want to go through this again.'"

I don't blame them. And she told us, "'Losing Anthony shattered our hearts. His death didn't just affect us, it changed us. It's something we carry every day, a pain that does not fade. We miss his voice, his laughter, his energy, and the way he made us all feel safe and loved. affect us, it changed us. It's something we carry every day, a pain that does not fade. We miss his voice, his laughter, his energy, and the way he made us all feel safe and loved.

Anthony Laconte was more than just a brother or a son. He was a light in our lives. And though that light was taken from us far too soon, its warmth remains. We love you forever, Anthony. You are missed beyond words." That just gave me so many chills and I got a giant ball of cry in my throat. I know. I can't imagine losing someone that that way and someone like Anthony. No, I can't. Like I really can't. Like I feel for this family so much. He just seemed like such a like I there were so there were countless stories that Timmy was able to share from all his family members, and I could never share them all. It would take like years and years because there were so many great stories of who he was.

And a great thing to point out is he got to live 24 years. Robert Morganti hasn't even been in jail as long as Anthony Leconte got to live. Yeah. Like, come on. Yeah. And again, he had the opportunity to turn his life around and he didn't. Well, that's, yeah.

I think he was 34 by the time he got arrested. And for them to have to go through all this again and to open up all the wounds. To reopen everything. To have that relief and then have it kind of ripped off before it was able to even he scab over, you know? Like that kind of pain, I can't even imagine. And for his father to be 92 having to deal with this.

92 in poor health, finally got to see justice, and then it got reversed. It could possibly be reversed. Yeah, it's like that's... I can't. It's tough. I feel for what they're going through. Very complex and very upsetting. Yeah. So as of now, Morganti is one of 209 inmates in Massachusetts who do possibly have a chance at parole. Oh wow. Though members of the Loconte family are committed to doing whatever they can to make this not happen, to prevent this from happening. The family has picketed at the state

house and they are doing whatever they can to bring awareness to what's going on with Anthony's case. They also currently have a petition on change.org. There's almost 150 signatures. If you feel so inclined, we could definitely get them some more. You guys go fucking crazy over petitions. You guys really bang it out with petitions. Sign this petition if you feel so inclined. We're going to include it in the show notes and post on social.

Yeah. And just do what you can, you know. I always think, like, if the victim's family is this committed to it, that's who I take my cues from. That's who I stand with. Yeah, that's who I take my cues from. Absolutely. As of now, the Massachusetts Parole Board has yet to schedule a hearing

for Robert Morganti, but one is expected to be announced in the coming months. So let's get those signatures going before that happens, because those signatures make a difference. This family going and picketing outside the State House makes a difference. And the fact that they are still working this hard for Anthony tells you who Anthony was and how much they care. You know, like for them to be still, I mean, again, his father's 92 years old.

Right. Like, come on. Yeah. And his siblings, his siblings all have their own children. Their children are having but their own children. They are still fighting for their brother. Still fighting for this. Yeah. Damn. It's just, it's a heartbreaking case. I just want to hug the Laconte family. I want to hug all of them. I know. And just the fact that Morganti himself at one point allegedly said, like, I killed the wrong guy. Yeah. This was all a mistake. This all should have never happened.

Yeah. It never should have happened. And it's gut wrenching that this family is still dealing with something that just never should have happened in the first place. Absolutely. So we'll share that in the show notes. And with that being said, thank you for listening. We hope you keep listening. And we hope you keep it weird. But not so weird that you don't go rock that Petitions world. Rock it.

Shine it. Put your Herbie Hancock on the petition. On the petition. On the petition. On the bathroom. If you like morbid, you can listen early and ad free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple podcasts. Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey. Inspired by the hit Wondery podcast Against the Odds, comes the gripping guidebook, How to Survive Against the Odds,

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