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Infamous "MickGinny" ArrestedCareer criminal arrested in Pocono Mountains.
Pocono Lake, PA (AP) -- The infamous career criminal "MickGinny," who once bragged on an Internet site about a murder in which he participated outside of a strip club, has been arrested in the Pocono mountains. Mickey Giannatassio, 37, had been chased by police for years on several hundred counts of driving while intoxicated, aggravated assault, domestic violence, possession of drugs and illegal weapons, and, most recently, murder. Giannatassio, nicknamed "MickGinny" for his dual Irish-Italian background and as a shortened version of his name, had a career criminal background going back to when he was just seven years old. "It is a wonderful day in Pocono Lake," said Sgt. F. William Blake III of the district. "A career criminal and possible murderer has been captured and is in our custody." Giannatassio is the prime suspect in the murder of Dolores O'Shea of Scranton, PA, and now in as many as thirty other murders across North America. O'Shea was found strangled to death and tied to a tree upside down this past July. Emblazoned on her bare chest in her own blood were the words "Red on the head like a dick on a dog 26." The mysterious phrase had little meaning to investigators until an anonymous tipster led them to an Internet forum in which a user with the same "MickGinny" moniker had been posting threads with the "Red on the head" catch phrase. Included with each thread were pictures of nude redheads. All of the women in the "Red on the head" threads were recently murdered. "The United States has become a safer place for Americans to live, especially those with red hair" said Attorney General John Ashcroft in a written statement today. "Sergeant Blake and his crew have done a phenomenal job tracking down the prime suspect, and we believe the federal investigation that will follow will conclude with Mr. Giannatassio at the center." The Internet forum that gave away Giannatassio, Ubersite.com, has attracted its share of career criminals.
"Hidden101" is another user on the site that is being sought after by federal authorities. He is suspected of porting secret encryption algorithms to the Russians in exchange for several hundred thousand cases of Stolichnaya vodka and illegal copies of the software Microsoft Paint. He has also been suspected of burning down a federal building using bottle rockets and the alcohol dilute Everclear. Another user, Anthony Rizzo, known in the forum as "antluvdog," is well-known to have ties to the original Sicilian mafia. Giannatassio had no comment to the allegations against him, but his lawyer, Chip O'Latt, spoke outside the Pocono County Jail this morning. "My client is innocent," said O'Latt. "A murder trial based on heresay in an Internet forum holds no weight. Not even air." Ubersite.com has attracted the attention of hundreds of thousands of users worldwide looking to talk about anything from sex to murder to creme brulee. The Department of Homeland Security stopped short of labeling Ubersite a threat to national security because to do so would be unconstitutional.
Still, the site has been protested dozens of times throughout the United States for allowing career criminals to openly express their opinions and tell their stories. Until now, the government has been unable to use the information in Ubersite to bring down any of the criminals it harbors. But the irrefutable link between "MickGinny" and Giannatassio will surely become precedent to new cases in the future. "Hopefully, this case will make one thing clear," says Sergeant Blake. "No one is safe from the law. Especially. when they hide behind a computer screen to tell their tales."
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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