One Of Two Twin Brothers Charged In 2017 Murder Of Reputed Luchese Associate Found Dead

One of the twin brothers arrested for the vicious murder of a reputed Luchese associate in 2017 died of an apparent heroin overdose in Brooklyn earlier this month.

Louis and Vincent Iacono
Iacono twins: Louis, left, and Vincent at 2017 arrest.


Vincent Iacono was found—with needle and fanny pack filled with drugs—on June 11 on the floor of the bathroom of a Canarsie apartment where he worked as caretaker. He died one day before he and his brother Louis turned 40.

In November 2017, the brothers—two hulking guys who stayed tight since birth and were first arrested in 2001 for baseball-batting a car together—were charged with murdering their roommate, alleged Luchese associate Carmine Carini Jr., then wrapping him in a tarp and dumping him in a Jamaica Bay inlet in August of that year. (In this blog's view. authorities have not sufficiently detailed the motive for Carini Jr.'s incredibly brutal murder, which supposedly was over a drug dispute.)

Vincent Iacono was paroled last July, according to a New York Post report by Craig McCarthy, after serving 15 months behind bars following his conviction for tampering with physical evidence related to the Carini murder. Louis Iacono, who allegedly committed the killing and remains imprisoned at Rikers Island awaiting trial for the murder, is now fighting for temporary release to attend Vincent’s funeral, according to the Post.

Carini Jr. was a reputed associate of the Luchese family who had been around Canarsie-based Luchese soldiers Anthony Grado, 57, and Thomas (Tommy Red) Anzeulotto, 57. As per BOP, Anzeulotto hasn't been in much trouble since 2001. Grado is a different story, however, and is currently residing at Cumberland FCI with a release date of December 19, 2027. In December 2018, United States District Judge Carol B. Amon sentenced Grado to 12 years for conspiring to distribute oxycodone obtained through fraudulent prescriptions. Grado's codefendant in the case, Colombo associate Lawrence Tranese, was sentenced to 40 months by the same judge.

Carini Jr. had a notorious mob pedigree. His father, who has the same name, is a Gambino associate with ties to Canarsie-based Gambino wiseguys Leonard DiMaria and Nicholas (Little Nicky) Corozzo.

Two of Carini Jr.'s uncles were Vincent and Enrico (Eddie) Carini, both murderous Colombo associates who were themselves brutally murdered in Brooklyn 30 years ago. The Carini brothers were found shot to death in Gravesend months after the 1987 mistaken identity murder of George M. Aronwald, a 78-year-old hearing officer for the Parking Violations Bureau who was shot to death in a gangland-style hit in Long Island City, Queens. The target should have been George's son, William I. Aronwald, a former Assistant DA in Manhattan who was Chief of the Justice Department’s Strike Force Against Organized Crime in the 1970s. (William died of cardiac arrest near his home in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., last year on October 29. He was 79 years old.) Former Colombo acting boss and onetime consiglieri Joel (Joe Waverly) Cacace copped to ordering the Aronwald murder, among other things. Joe Waverly finished serving the 20-year sentence he was given last year.

The Carini brothers and mob associate Frank Smith were all allegedly part of the hit team responsible for the botched Aronwald killing, which may have set in motion years of additional killings, some of which may have involved Gemini Twins Joey Testa and Anthony Senter, who earned buttons with the Luchese family after more-than-proving their mettle as members of Roy DeMeo's notorious Gambino family crew..


As per a November 2017 Brooklyn District Attorney media release, Louis and Vincent Iacono, both from Mill Basin, Brooklyn, were arraigned before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Neil Firetog. As per the indictment, Louis Iacono has been charged with second-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence.

The Acting District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, sometime between August 30 and August 31, 2017, Louis Iacono fatally struck 35-year-old Carmine Carini in the head with a hammer inside a home they shared on East 64th Street in Mill Basin, Brooklyn.

On September 2, 2017 the victim’s body was recovered from the waters of Mill Basin inlet, off Jamaica Bay. The victim suffered massive head trauma, including skull and jaw fractures. The body was wrapped in blue tarp and weighed down with a cinder block and a bucket filled with construction materials, the investigation found.

Surveillance videos captured the brothers carrying the construction materials into their apartment. They also were recorded later dumping the body.

Luchese associate Carmine Carini Jr. was beaten to death
Luchese associate Carmine Carini Jr. was found in September 2017. 


A short time after the body was discovered, the defendants were apprehended in Henry County Indiana. They were stopped by a Sheriff Deputy for tailgating, and then took off, leading police on a high speed chase for approximately 12 miles until they were caught at a Walmart store. Three hammers were recovered from the trunk of their car and tested positive for blood, the investigation found. They had been held in Indiana on local charges until being extradited to Brooklyn.

As per Daily News reporting by Larry McShane and Noah Goldberg, when the brothers were extradited to New York, Vincent insisted on his innocence before boarding a December 2017 flight out of Indiana.

“You know I didn’t kill anyone,” Vincent told an NYPD detective, according to court documents. “He was my best friend. Did you hear if anyone else was involved?”

After his release last year, Vincent (apparently not caring much about whether the father of his victim could be gunning for him) returned to Brooklyn. As per the Daily News,  he initially landed a job as a carpenter, according to his sister. 

“They are the best big brothers anyone could ever have,” she told the Daily News. “They’re my big twin brothers. They were the greatest big brothers.”




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