No Arrest Yet in Murder of Restaurant Owner

Back in 1973, Joseph Pellicci was a member of a family that owned the Stamford restaurant named Pellicci's Restaurant. He was reported missing on February 4, 1973, his car found abandoned on Wyndover Road.

Ten days later two of his pistols were found on the ice covered Greenwich Reservoir. His body was eventually found on March 2nd in the town of North Salem, New York. He had been shot twice in the head.

It was revealed later that the lead investigator of the Pellicci murder case was on the payroll of a New York Mafia family. He died before he was convicted of various criminal charges. It is not known if the deceased detective had anything to do with this case not being solved. There are two suspects in this homicide, one has since died.

If you have any information about this cold case, please call the Stamford Police Department at 203-977-4417. There is a monetary reward.

Driver Arrested in Fatal Accident

STAMFORD -- The driver in the High Ridge Road accident that killed a 27-year-old city woman last week was charged with manslaughter after his release from Stamford Hospital Sunday.

Giovanni Cucullo, 41, 54 Rigby St., Yonkers, N.Y., was charged with second-degree manslaughter with a motor vehicle, operating under the influence and failure to drive right.

Maryann Loprete, of Bedford Street, was a passenger in the 2009 BMW 328i sedan Cucullo was driving, which struck a tree on High Ridge Road near Cedar Wood Road in North Stamford. A resident who heard the accident called 911 at 1:25 a.m. Thursday.

Loprete, who was not wearing a seat belt, suffered severe head injuries and died shortly after she was admitted to Stamford Hospital, police said.

Cucullo, who had surgery for a lower leg injury, was released Sunday on a $100,000 bond, according to police. He is to be arraigned at state Superior Court in Stamford Feb. 16.

Maryann Loprete moved last summer from Anchorage, Ala., to Stamford, where she worked as a manager for Barcelona Restaurant and Wine Bar on Summer Street, according to her brother.

Originally from South Glastonbury, Loprete graduated Central Connecticut State University with a communications degree, and was an avid runner who ran marathons for fund-raisers, her brother said.

Cucullo's arrest followed an investigation by the Stamford Police Department's Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Squad.