BROTHERS IN CRIME

THE LEAST LIKELY SOURCES LEAD TO AN ARREST IN THE CASE OF A MISSING GOVERNOR'S AIDE

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It's said that the perfect crime--from start to finish--can be committed by only one person. Get others involved, the reasoning goes, and sooner or later someone will crack. Perhaps Thomas Capano, in his privileged sphere, was unaware of that underworld wisdom. Perhaps his hubris got in the way. Perhaps he never thought his own family would turn on him.

Capano, 48, a once prominent attorney and power broker in the insular world of Delaware politics, was arrested last week in Wilmington and charged with first-degree murder, capping a 17-month investigation into the disappearance of Anne Marie Fahey, 30, the scheduling secretary for Governor Thomas Carper. Investigators have long asserted that Capano, the last to see Fahey when they dined together on June 27, 1996, killed her in a rage when she tried to end their secret three-year affair. But it was not until last week, when Capano's younger brothers Louis and Gerard provided new information, that there was enough ammunition to level charges in the case.

Key to the developments is a 29-page police affidavit based largely on the interview of a witness--said to be Gerard Capano, 34--who told authorities that he used his boat to help Thomas dispose of a body at sea and also helped him toss a stained sofa into a dumpster. Thomas Capano had told Gerard that a couple was trying extortion against him, and that he would kill them if they went after his children. At about 6 a.m. on June 28, 1996--the morning after Fahey was last seen--Thomas went to Gerard's house and asked if he could borrow his boat. Gerard asked him, "Did you do it?" and Thomas nodded yes. They then went to Thomas' Grant Avenue house, where Gerard saw a large cooler locked with a chain and a large rolled-up rug in the garage. Thomas and Gerard then sailed out to sea. Some 75 miles off Stone Harbor, N.J., Thomas tied an anchor to the contents of the cooler and tossed them overboard. Gerard saw a "human foot and a part of a calf sinking into the water." Investigators believe they were Anne Marie's.

Brother Louis Capano Jr., 46, the millionaire owner of the family's construction business, confirmed last week that Gerard had told him a year ago about the body-tossing boat outing. He also said he saw the sofa in a Dumpster. Louis had previously been under investigation when his company's trash bins were emptied days ahead of schedule on the Monday after Fahey's disappearance. His lawyer, Catherine Recker, said Louis "has no direct knowledge about what happened to Anne Marie," but "admits he misled authorities...motivated by belief in his brother's innocence." She would not elaborate.

What led to Louis' and Gerard's change of heart? Mounting pressure. Last month federal agents raided Gerard's home and seized weapons and small amounts of cocaine and marijuana. If charged, he faces 10 years in prison. For his part, Louis has signed an agreement pleading guilty to harassing an unidentified witness in the Fahey case.

Fahey's family met last week's news with a mixture of relief and "absolute horror." Says her sister, Kathleen Fahey-Hosey, 37: "I'm numb. We always suspected that Anne Marie was disposed of at sea, but once you hear the details, it's gruesome."

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