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Mar 30, 2006 9:57 pm US/Eastern
Alleged Body Part Snatchers Meet Victims' Families
Fear And Sorrow Grips Brooklyn Courthouse
by Tamsen Fadal
BROOKLYN (CBS) ―
The four people accused of stealing and selling body parts were back in court Thursday in downtown Brooklyn.
Defense attorneys want the indictments against them to be dismissed and said they are still waiting to see all of the evidence. But family members of those who were allegedly victimized say no way.
It was the first time some of the victims and their family members came face to face with the men accused of stealing and selling body parts taken from corpses.
Dainis Zeltan's brother was one of the victims.
"It has done a lot of bad things to myself and to my mother," Zeltan said. "I worry a lot about the people who got the diseased parts now and who got my brother's parts because he died of melonoma."
Pamela Grigorian said she received someone's tainted parts and as a result has to be monitored on a regular basis.
"It was just horrible. I had to go through the surgery in the first place and then to find out that the bone and tissue was tainted with disease," Grigorian said.
Click here to see a WCBSTV.com archive report from Jan. 23 on the criminal probe launched in the contaminated body parts scandal. Former dentist Michael Mastromarino, a mortician named Jospeh Nicelli, Lee Cruceta and Christopher Aldorasi were indicted on charges they stole tissue from corpses, including skin, bone and ligaments.
Click here to see a WCBSTV.com archive report from Feb. 23 on the indictments handed down against the four suspects. According to investigators 30 to 40 funeral homes, including five in New York City, were victimized by Mastromarino and his partner, who forged consent forms and then procured body parts. Lee Cruceta's attorney, George Vomvoltakis, said his client is innocent.
"He worked for Dr. Mastromario," Vomvoltakis said. "He was a procurement manager. He was a field employee, He would go out to the funeral homes and actually get the tissue, so it wasn't his duty nor did he ever speak to any of the family members."
Wendy Kogut said her sister was also one of the victims.
"It's just ridiculous that somebody could try to dismiss when there are so many charges against them," Kogut said.
The next court date is scheduled for May 15.
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