By TED PHILLIPS and BRAD HAMILTON
June 22, 2008
While his cohorts in an infamous body-chopping ring head off to jail, corpse-carving suspect Joseph Nicelli remains free.
Nicelli, 52, a former funeral-home director, was indicted in February 2006 for allegedly providing bodies to the ring through his Brooklyn mortuary, the Daniel George Funeral Home, which also served as the chopping room for plotters who carved up as many as 1,000 cadavers for profit, cops said.
But Nicelli's case has been off the docket since January 2007, when his lawyer said he tumbled from the roof of a Jersey City construction site he was managing.
He suffered a fractured skull and broken legs and ankles, according to the lawyer, Richard Medina, and a titanium plate was inserted into his head.
Medina convinced a judge that Nicelli wasn't mentally fit to stand trial.
Nicelli is due back in court Wednesday and is scheduled to be examined by a prosecution doctor. His lawyer maintains that he is not mentally fit.
When The Post caught up with Nicelli at his Staten Island home last week, he appeared lucid and alert - despite an obvious indentation on his skull.
He walked briskly and chatted on his cellphone on Wednesday, carrying a metal cane. On Thursday, he answered the door without the cane.
"My lawyer said, 'Don't speak to anyone,' " he said.
