The Journal News from White Plains, New York • Page 23

cTournaHNcto METRO B7 ROCKLAND COUNTY, N.Y., THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1987 Former 'Westies' gang member tells court how leader dismembered victim's corpse REGIONAL DRIEFS From Journal-News Wires Fatal crash possible suicide try HUNTINGTON, N.Y. A woman accused of drunken driving and manslaughter in a crash that killed a man may have been trying to kill herself, police said Wednesday. Catherine Kane, 32, of Huntington Station, told officers at the scene at midnight Tuesday that "she wanted to kill herself," said police Capt. Willard Ports. He added that police believe she wanted to kill herself "prior to the accident, not as a result of the accident." "She deliberately went through a steady red signal light," Ports said.

The woman's motives were being investigated, he added. The identities of the dead man and injured woman were withheld until relatives could be told, Ports said. Both victims were Japanese, and police were working through the Japanese consulate to find family members, he said. Paralyzed defendant sentenced NEW YORK A defendant in the "Pizza Connection" drug case, paralyzed by a bungled rubout attempt near the end of the marathon trial, was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday. Pietro Alfano was "involved at a high level with large scale drug dealings by a well-organized family of the Mafia," said U.S.

District Judge Pierre Leval in handing out the sentence. Leval said the sentence was "much shorter" than what he would have given Alfano if he had not been shot. Alfano was gunned down Feb. 11 and left paralyzed below the waist less than two weeks before the conclusion of the 17-month trial, one of the longest criminal cases in federal court history. Diamond brings record NEW YORK An anonymous buyer paid a world record $6.38 million Wednesday for a perfect 65-carat "mystery diamond" at a Manhattan auction, Christie's auction house announced.

The flawless, pear-shaped stone measures two inches by IVi inches, but little is known about its previous owner or its history, said Robin Riley, a publicist for Christie's. The previous record price for a diamond was $5.1 million paid in 1981 for the 41.28-carat Polar-Star diamond. The gem was auctioned by Christie's in Geneva. "I said that's not my bag. I'll kill anybody but I'm not into cutting them up," testified Beattie.

U.S. District Judge Whitman Knapp broke the spellbound silence of the courtroom by ordering a recess noting, "I'm told the coffee has arrived." Several jurors smiled nervously as they filed out. After the break, Beattie said Coonan cut up the rest of Stein's body with Ryan. "Jimmy was teaching him," said Beattie. Beattie said he helped put garbage bags containing Stein's body parts in the trunk of a car but did not know where they were taken.

Stein's headless, limbless torso was found a few days later floating in Jamaica Bay. Beattie said that when he helped Coonan move into his new home in Hazlet, N.J., Coonan "looked up, he said 'Thanks I knew exactly what he meant." When he asked Coonan why he cut up corpses, Beattie said he was told: "No corpus delecti, no investigation." shot him." Beattie said Coonan, who owed Stein as much as $50,000, tore off the dead man's shoes and socks and $1,000 fell out. The killers split the money on the bar, said Beattie. The witness said Coonan ordered him to look up New York Daily News columnist Jimmy Breslin's phone number in Stein's address book. Beattie said he gave Coonan Breslin's home and office numbers.

There was no testimony about why Stein had Breslin's numbers, why Coonan wanted them or whether the gang called Breslin. After the testimony, Breslin could not be reached for comment. His phone was repeatedly busy Wednesday afternoon and was not answered Wednesday evening. Beattie said Stein's body was placed on plastic sheets and dragged to the rear of the bar, where it was cut up. Beattie testified that when he looked away, someone sneered "Haven't you got the stomach for it?" control of the Hell's Kitchen section of Manhattan in the 1960s and maintained their hold for two decades through a gruesome reputation for dismembering murder victims.

Beattie, 40, of Manhattan, said he participated in the 1977 murder of loan shark and bookmaker Charles "Ruby" Stein and in the cleanup and removal of body parts after the 1975 murder of another gang member. Beattie said he, Coonan and two others ambushed Stein in a 10th Avenue bar; Beattie's job was to pull the curtains and lock the door after Stein entered. Then "Danny (Grillo) comes out from the kitchen and pumped some shots into Ruby's chest," said Beattie. Grillo was named a co-conspirator with the eight defendants on trial but was not indicted because he was murdered in 1978. Coonan embraced Grillo after the shooting and ordered the others to shoot Stein's corpse, said Beattie, then "Richie Ryan shot him, gave me the gun and I By John M.

Doyle The Associated Press NEW YORK A former member of the Westies street gang graphically described on Wednesday how he helped murder a loanshark in a Manhattan bar but turned away as the body was dismembered because, "I'll kill anybody, but I'm not into cutting them up." In his second day of testimony at the racketeering trial of eight alleged Westies gang members, William "Billy" Beattie, who said he joined the gang in 1972, told a harrowing tale of murder, mayhem and dismemberment. He told a federal court jury in Manhattan that the main defendant, reputed Westies boss James "Jimmy" Coonan, cut the head off the corpse of one murder victim and boasted about killing two others. Beattie said Coonan once said he killed to enhance his reputation because "the more bodies you had, the more monstrous you looked." Prosecutors claim the Westies seized 7 ill i 2 NYC cops indicted for robbery The Associated Press NEW YORK Two police officers were indicted Wednesday on charges of robbing five men at gunpoint while on patrol in the Bronx. Officers Esmeraldo Diaz, 24, of the Bronx, and Rolando Rosa, 26, of Brooklyn, were charged with first- and second-degree robbery, grand larceny and official misconduct. The officers surrendered Wednesday morning, when the indictment was handed up to state Supreme Court Justice Lawrence Tonetti, according to Dennis Hawkins, a spokesman for Special State Prosecutor Charles J.

Hynes. Diaz and Rosa were arrested and suspended from the police force after a group of men charged the officers robbed them at gunpoint on a Bronx street. According to police records, three men said a group of people were playing craps in the area of East 173rd Street and Vyse Avenue in the Melrose section of the Bronx at 9:30 p.m. when the officers arrived. Three of the men told authorities at the 42nd Precinct that Diaz forced the men against a wall and searched their pockets while Rosa pointed a .38 caliber revolver at them.

The indictment charges that Diaz collected close to $1,978 from five men. Judge joins 3 civil suits against Goetz The Associated Press NEW YORK Multimillion-dollar civil suits filed against Bernhard Goetz by three of his four subway shooting victims will be moved to the Bronx and tried jointly, a Manhattan judge has ruled. State Supreme Court Justice Edith Miller moved the trial to accommodate Darrell A. Cabey, 21, a Bronx resident who was left brain damaged and paralyzed from the waist down after Goetz shot him and three other youths Dec. 22, 1984.

The judge rejected Cabey's argument that a Manhattan jury would be more likely to favor Goetz since he is white and his victims black. But she agreed travel to Manhattan would be a hardship for Cabey since he is in a wheelchair. At the same time, the judge granted Goetz's request to join Troy Canty's $5 million suit, James Ramseur's $8.5 lion action and Cabey's $50 million suit into a single trial. She said in a decision published Wednesday that joining the cases would be efficient and economical. Cabey's lawyer, William Kunstler, said he opposed consolidation of the cases because Canty, Ramseur and the fourth victim, Barry Allen, are notorious felons and Cabey would be prejudiced by any association with them.

Spokesman says Biaggi stopped voting in House The Associated Press WASHINGTON Rep. Mario Biaggi, has not voted on the House floor since Sept. 22, the day he was convicted of accepting illegal gratuities, because several colleagues threatened to challenge his right to do so, Biaggi spokesman Bob Blancato said Tuesday. Biaggi, 69, had said the day after his conviction that he would continue congressional business as usual, including voting on the floor and in committee. He cited an opinion by the House counsel that the rule regarding activities by convicted members would not immediately apply to him.

The House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct subsequently informed Biaggi that it interpreted the rule to apply as of conviction, but Blancato said that opinion had nothing to do with the congressman's decision to abstain. "He has voluntarily refrained from voting on the floor and voting in committees as per a letter to the speaker (of the House) of Sept. 29, which came not because of a determination on a legal basis," Blancato said. The Associated Press Winning ad Lisa Levy, an art director for a New York advertising agency, stands by the ad she created for Hebrew National's new salami. Levy won the top prize of $83,000 in Hebrew National's contest for the best gimmick to promote itsnew product.

POIITICAl ADVfRtlSMENT POtlllCAl ADVERTISMENT (Mm In a community such as Clarkstown, isn't it a shame that the Town Clerk is only open from 9-5! IT'S TIME FOR A CHANGE. RIDE TOR FREE! FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1987 fljwr rairF tew time dtm arc utifr wmm i-hgto tranpoftof ELECT L0UDSE CMM Clarkstown Town Clerk Vote Democratic! Paid for by Friends of Louise Cain P.O. Box 24, Congers, N.Y. M. Ohring, Treas.

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Block is now offering its basic income tax course starting the week of November 1. Morning and evening classes are available. No prerequisites are required to enroll. During the course, students will study various phases of income tax preparation and receive actual ex-perience in preparing individual returns. Experienced Block instructors will teach the new tax law, theory, and application, as practiced in Block offices nationwide.

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One low course fee includes all textbooks, supplies, and tax forms necessary for completion of the course. For further information contact the Block office in Pearl River at 735-2111. BERNIE ROBINSON TRUSTEE No Increase In 1987 Village Taxes Thru Increased Assessments And Controlled Budgeting VOTE REPUBLICAN VOTE ROW NOVEMBER 3, 1987 Paid by Nyack Rep. 0. Yacopino, 252 High Nyack, N.Y.

10960.