Ex-con arrested in poker club slaying

The wife of a Wayne man shot dead in the robbery of a poker club in Manhattan expressed some solace Tuesday at word that police have arrested a suspect.

I'm glad they have one person," said Kristine DeSena, after learning that New York City police had arrested a convicted killer and charged him with murder in the death of her husband, Frank, on Nov. 2. "Hopefully, this person will give them information that will lead them to the other two guys."

New York police had arrested William Delvalle, 35, in Manhattan on Friday afternoon. But the department didn't acknowledge the arrest until Tuesday, in an effort to avoid tipping off others being sought. Police have said three bandits invaded the club and that as many as four may have participated -- but Delvalle's arrest may be the break they've been looking for.

DeSena said the arrest revived her confidence that her husband's killers could be found.

"The police know what they are doing," DeSena said. "I have faith they will get the guys."

Police say that Frank DeSena was in the wrong place at the wrong time on the night of Nov. 2. DeSena, a brilliant mathematician who had taught at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, was an avid card player who frequented underground poker clubs in Manhattan, where the stakes are high and the action can turn dangerous.

Police say that around 11 p.m., three masked men burst into a club located on the seventh floor of an office building at 251 Fifth Ave. near the corner of 28th Street. Another man may have been waiting outside, police said.

One of the bandits was armed with a shotgun and dropped the weapon during the robbery. The gun went off when the bandit reached to pick it up, striking DeSena. He was pronounced dead a short time later at nearby St. Vincent's Hospital.

Police say the robbers may have taken as much as $100,000.

Delvalle is being held without bail in the Manhattan Detention Complex, charged with murder and robbery. Delvalle waived a hearing in Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday and will now wait for the case to be presented to a grand jury.

Police would not comment on the arrest, but some details about Delvalle's criminal history were available. He spent nine years behind bars for shooting a woman to death in 1992 and was paroled in October 2001.

Linda Foglia, a spokeswoman for the New York State Department of Corrections, said Delvalle fired a gun into a crowd of people in the Bronx on March 9, 1992. A 21-year-old woman was killed.

Delvalle was arrested seven months later. He spent more than two years behind bars awaiting trial, before accepting a plea bargain in February 1995. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to five to 15 years in prison.

Delvalle was given credit for 875 days behind bars while awaiting trial and was paroled on Oct. 12, 2001. There were no disciplinary proceedings against him, Foglia said.

newjersey.com

News Added: 14 November, 2007

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