Hurricane, The

Sometime between July and October of 1966, Bello and Bradley made a great deal with the government’s lawyers. In exchange for identifying Carter and Artis as the two men at the scene of the Lafayette killings, both were told they would get leniency for all their pending criminal charges. Bello was also told he would get help to claim the $10,000 reward that had been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the Lafayette Bar killers.

Carter and Artis were arrested on October 14, 1966. They were charged with three counts of first-degree murder after Bello signed a statement, the same day, claiming he saw the pair outside the bar right after the shootings.

At the trial, Bello testified that he had seen Carter and Artis at the scene. When he saw them, Bellow said, he was personally on the street, outside the bar. His testimony was key to the deliberations of an all-white jury. Both men were found guilty (scroll down 10%, to page 7 of this PDF link, to read the government's view of the facts) of murder in the first degree. Although the prosecutors had asked for the death penalty, the jury recommended mercy. Carter and Artis each received three lifetime sentences which were upheld by the New Jersey Supreme Court.

Less than two months after the trial, racial tensions erupted into massive riots in Newark. The governor called in State troopers and the New Jersey National Guard to restore order. Governor Hughes said:

This is a criminal insurrection by people who say they hate the white man but who really hate America.

Meanwhile, prosecutors made good on their promises to to Bello and Bradley. As the federal court noted in a later opinion:

His [Bello's] motivation was crystalized when, shortly after the trial, police officers and others tried to help him obtain a $10,000 reward offered to persons providing information that led to the arrest and conviction of the Lafayette Bar killers...Bello continued to rely upon police to intercede on his behalf with the courts until he was finally told, in 1974, that nothing more would be done for him.

Once he was no longer benefiting from government hand-outs, Bello told a different story - one more consistent with his first police discussions. One that would exonerate Carter and Artis.