Testimony in trial of accused bank robber focuses on use of cell phones, gloves

Posted: Dec. 8, 2017 12:01 am

SUPERIOR COURT -- The use of a cell phone in the hours leading up to, during and after the January 2015 robbery of the Lakeland Bank in Wantage was at the forefront of testimony during day 10 of the trial of accused bank robber Frank Aigotti.

 

The day concluded with the prosecution resting but not before Thomas Laird, detective with the major crimes unit at the Sussex County Prosecutor's Office, took the stand to testify as to his role investigating the Jan. 13, 2015 robbery.

Laird had been tasked with gathering evidence in the case and reviewing records from the cell phones of both Aigotti and his former co-defendant, Jacinda Moore.

Moore has admitted her guilt as the getaway driver in the robbery and prosecution is trying to convince a jury of 15 that the man she drove from Wantage to Paterson after the robbery was the father of her children and former boyfriend, Aigotti.

Laird gathered video surveillance evidence that showed the robber wearing what appeared to be black gloves with a yellow logo that were found at Moore's house after the robbery, where it is alleged Aigotti and Moore went after they traveled to Paterson the night of the robbery.

Laird's testimony was to connect the gloves to Aigotti, but Aigotti's attorney, Marty Morrison, questioned the quality of the images gathered, suggesting that the still images of the surveillance video appeared to be distorted with the emblem barely visible due to the photo's poor quality.

Morrison also focused on video captured from a surveillance camera near the Double S Diner in Wantage, where it is alleged Aigotti had been walking through the woods prior to robbing the bank.

Around 11 a.m., over a half hour before the bank robbery took place, a person was in the field up by, what police identified as, an "abandoned house" in a wooded lot behind the diner.

The individual was wearing a "light color" -- prior testimony had Aigotti wearing a navy blue jacket with gray sleeves -- although Laird said the individual was only facing the camera from one angle. Authorities believe the person was Aigotti based on numerous factors, including the timing of the robbery.

Morrison questioned the poor quality of the video and asked Laird if anyone had tried to go inside the abandoned house. Laird stated no authorities had.

Cell phone records recovered from Moore's phone, a Samsung Galaxy, indicated that someone had searched for construction tools and the New Jersey Herald website after the robbery took place.

The prosecution believed that Aigotti had used Moore's phone during and after the robbery since he had a standard flip-phone with a blank browser history. The phone had internet capabilities but is slower than 4G smartphones.

Federal Bureau of Investigations Special Agent Eric Perry, who works with the Cellular Analysis Survey Team, was able to map cellular data to various locations, pinpointing where Moore and Aigotti's phones were before, during and after the robbery.

Although he testified that both Moore and Aigotti's phones appeared to stay close to one another as they moved from Wantage to Paterson, he did say that it did not necessarily mean that the duo were together the entire time.

Phone calls had been made between the phones, but the content of those conversations cannot be recovered, according to Perry.

The trial is expected to continue on Tuesday with the possibility that the defense may present its own set of witnesses and/or evidence.

 

Lori Comstock can also be reached on Twitter: @LoriComstockNJH, on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/LoriComstockNJH or by phone: 973-383-1194.

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Source: Testimony in trial of accused bank robber focuses on use of cell phones, gloves