What to Know
- John Giuca was convicted of killing an NJ college student in 2003, then dumping his body near Giuca's home in Brooklyn.
- A key witness in the case admitted lying in the case at a hearing in November.
- After Giuca's conviction was upheld Thursday, Brooklyn DA Ken Thompson said it proved the man got a fair trial.
A judge has upheld the murder conviction of New York City's so-called "grid kid slayer," months after a key witness in the man's trial admitted to lying on the stand about the decade-old killing of a New Jersey college student.
A murder conviction for John Giuca, who was found guilty of killing Mark Fisher after a night of drinking in 2003 and later dumping his body near Giuca's Brooklyn home, was upheld by judge Danny Chun Thursday after months of hearings over alleged prosecutorial misconduct in the case.
Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson said Thursday's ruling proved Giuca received a fair trial, and that defense attorneys' allegations that prosecutors misled the jury in the 2005 proceedings and withheld damaging information about a key witness were false.
"The bottom line is that Giuca murdered Mark Fisher and is now rightfully in prison for committing that horrendous crime," he said.
The judge's decision comes months after that key witness, John Avitto, testified that he had made up a story about hearing Giuca admit involvement in Fisher's death while the two were at Rikers Island.
During the November hearing, Avillo described himself as a bipolar career criminal and said he lied to stay out of jail.
Last year, Giuca told the I-Team he never talked with Avitto about the Fisher case. He has always maintained his innocence in the slaying, telling the I-Team "I never thought I would be doing 25 to life for having a party but that's what happened."
Brooklyn prosecutors, however, have painted him as a wannabe gang thug who gave a friend a gun and told him to shoot Fisher.
