Witness Says Simon Shot Couple
April 18, 1990
By MIKE McQUEEN
Herald Staff Writer
A key prosecution witness in the 'federal civil-rights trial of former Hialeah policeman Carlos Simon said Tuesday he was stunned when a home invasion turned deadly five years ago.
Luis Perez, who has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of the Southwest Dade couple whose home was invaded, testified that the Jan. 27, 1985 crime was supposed to be simple: Pose as police officers, take money and cocaine, then leave.
But after Perez, Simon and then-Hialeah policeman Richard Caride arrived at the home of Coconut Grove nightclub owner Michael Corso and girlfriend Beaulah Del Panta, they found that the couple had no cash or cocaine, Perez testified.
Simon was nervous. "Carlos said we have to smoke these people," Perez said during questioning by Assistant U.S. Attorney Myles Malman.
Perez said he and Caride, "just looked at each other. We weren't expecting this."
Simon, 33, is on trial before U.S. District Judge Thomas Scott on federal civil-rights charges stemming from the murders of Corso and Del Panta. Prosecutors allege Simon used a .22-caliber Pistol to wound the couple - and then finished the task with a .45-caliber automatic pistol. He could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.
It is Simon's second trial on charges stemming from the deaths. He was prosecuted in Dade Circuit Court, but acquitted in October 1985.
Simon's principal accuser in that trial was Caride, once Simon's closest friend on the Hialeah force. Caride has also pleaded guilty to second-degree murder charges.
Perez didn't testify at the circuit court trial. He was awaiting trial on charges stemming from the Corso-Del Panta murders.
Tuesday was the first time Perez has testified in Simon's proceedings. Speaking in a low voice, Perez said he hadn't known Simon very long before the three men drove from Northwest Dade to the Corso home. Caride and Perez posed as internal-affairs detectives investigating a fight at Corso's nightclub, Faces in the Grove, that involved off-duty Hialeah policemen, Perez testified. Simon was supposed to be the lookout.
"It was supposed to be a humungous amount of money — a million dollars, and just kilos of cocaine there," Perez said.
Perez and Caride, the mastermind of the home invasion, wanted to leave after no drugs or money were found. Simon, the new recruit, was concerned he could be identified, Perez testified.
Simon borrowed Perez's silencer-equipped .22-caliber pistol and fired about eight shots at the couple, Perez testified. Then he used his own weapon, a .45-caliber, to deliver the fatal shots, Perez testified.
Milton Hirsch, Simon's attorney, on cross-examination focused on Perez's cocaine use and truthfulness. The defense's theory is that Perez's cocaine use blurred his recall.
Perez denied his cocaine use led to a loss of memory, but he did say under questioning that it reduced his willpower.
Hirsch also noted that Perez had lied under oath when he was on trial several years ago on charges of murdering a man during a botched drug deal. Perez said Tuesday that he had blamed that murder on someone else during his circuit court trial, but that it was he who did the shooting. Perez was acquitted of that charge.
The Simon trial is expected to end this week.
