CO Man Aquitted on Murder Charges, Gets Time for Fraud

A Colorado Springs man is in trouble with the law again; this time for attempting to collect life-insurance after the shooting death of his father two years ago. Did we mention that he was the one on trial for his father’s murder?

According to The Record, in December, William Silvi was acquitted in the case which charged him with the murder of his father, William Marcucci. It was said that he recruited his brother-in-law, Daniel Tunks, to kill his father so he could receive $750,000 from his father’s insurance policy. Marcucci was found dead in his car in the parking lot of a Bennigan’s restaurant in Saddle Brook, NJ on May 19, 2008. He had a single gunshot wound to his head.

It also appeared that Silvi had helped his father take out insurance policies shortly before he died, and that he had later filed claims with several insurance companies after Marcucci’s murder.

“Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Danielle Grootenboer said the insurance fraud was “so much more than a mere money crime.”

“It was a calculated and callous effort to profit from his father’s death,” she said.”

Prosecutors also argued that Tunks, also of Colorado Springs, was in the Saddle Brook area at the time Marcucci was killed. Also, using cell phone records, they said Tunks was in frequent contact with Silvi — with the use of prepaid phones — shortly before Marcucci’s death.

At his sentencing on Thursday, Silvi said that he was the court-appointed executor of his father’s estate, and that it was his job to file a claim after Marcucci’s death.

Marcucci’s daughter, Christine Ashburn Marcucci, tried to help Silvi’s case as well. She said the family picked Silvi as the executor of Marcucci’s estate, and that they reappointed him after he was acquitted on the murder charge. She said “we trust that Billy will continue to do right by our father’s wishes.”

Brian Neary, Silvi’s attorney, said “this is a sentencing on attempted theft,” and he asked that the judge grant Silvi a lenient sentence, saying that Silvi never took money from insurance companies. He said that the family is still unified behind Silvi, and stressed that his client was acquitted of murder and conspiracy.

And because he had previously been convicted of killing a 2-year-old child, Grootenboer also stated that Silvi was on supervised release from prison at the time of the arrest for Marcucci’s murder.

She also said that he is facing a federal indictment on a mortgage-related scheme in Colorado.

“This is an individual who has never been able to maintain a law-abiding life,” Grootenboer said.

The judge on the case, Judge Donald Venezia, agreed. He said that Silvi’s criminal history justified the sentence of 12 years in prison.

Silvi must serve at least six years before being eligible for parole and the 2½ years he spent behind bars since his arrest in 2008 will not count toward his sentence.

The brother-in-law left for his hometown in Indiana on the day of his acquittal, said his attorney, Patrick Jennings. “Having been rightfully acquitted of all charges, Mr. Tunks returned home to Indiana, is spending quality time with his young daughter, and has a smile from ear to ear,” he said.