EASTON, Pa. — Northampton County prosecutors introduced gut-wrenching video Thursday of a grieving father pointing police to the man he suspected of providing his son with the drugs that killed him.
Jurors had an up-close view of Phil Racciato as he processed the overdose death of his 26-year-old son Michael "Mikey" Racciato on Christmas Day 2020.
The body camera footage of Colonial Regional Police Officer Andrew Laudenslager showed the elder Racciato at turns inconsolable and determined to find justice.
"When do we get to Chris Ferrante? This is murder," Racciato said from the back of an ambulance as authorities took his initial statement.
- Christopher Ferrante is charged with delivering drugs resulting in the overdose death of Michael Racciato on Christmas Day 2020
- Jurors watched heartbreaking video of a grieving Phil Racciato moments after he found his son dead in a Lower Nazareth Township parking lot
- The trial has taken on political importance in the Northampton County district attorney's race between challenger Stephen Baratta and incumbent Terry Houck
Investigators ultimately reached a similar conclusion.
Days after he survived an overdose, Michael Racciato begged Ferrante to meet him on Christmas Eve for a sale at the Walmart off Route 248 in Lower Nazareth Township, cell phone records show.
Minutes later, Racciato was arrested inside the store for public intoxication. Police sent him to St. Luke's University Hospital - Anderson for treatment, and Ferrante gave Michael Racciato a ride back to his car hours later upon Racciato's discharge. After Ferrante left, Michael Racciato drove his car to the parking lot of a nearby hotel, where he later died of an overdose.
Ferrante, 43, of Macungie, faces seven charges, including drug delivery resulting in the death and related drug charges.
The video came following testimony by Laudenslager about his interactions with Phil Racciato.
The patrolman said he was the second officer to arrive on scene Dec. 25, 2020. He wanted to calm the distraught man and get to the bottom of what happened, he said.
After the initial interview, the officer turned Phil Racciato over to family and friends to take him home, he said. When the father told police on Dec. 28 that he pulled a needle out of his son's arm as he tended to him, Laudenberg said he was sent back to the scene. He found the syringe in a sewer next to the spot where Michael Racciato parked, Laudenslager said.
On cross-examination, defense attorney Gary Asteak stressed that Phil Racciato told investigators that his son was involved with drug dealers, not just one. Under questioning, Laudenslager said the older Racciato told him his son had undergone "mental changes" over the past two years due to his addiction.
Asteak is tasked with challenging the prosecution's narrative that Ferrante provided the drugs that definitively killed Michael Racciato. He has contended Michael may have been suicidal over his inability to beat his addiction and that other drugs that Racciato took contributed to his death. Laudenslager's testimony also opened the possibility that another dealer could have provided the fentanyl found in the victim's system.
But by asking about the tone and details of the interview, he may have created more difficulties for the defense. Following Asteak's questions, the attorneys and Judge John Morganelli had a side conversation. Afterward, Assistant District Attorney Patricia Turzyn introduced the emotional video into evidence. Morganelli warned the jury that while they may find the footage upsetting, they cannot let it cloud their judgment of the case.
The video largely confirmed testimony presented to the jury over the past few days. But, it put the tragedy of Michael Racciato's death front and center.
In the recording, Phil Racciato would shift from speaking matter-of-factly about his son's death to struggling with his emotions. At one point, the father said visited his son in the hospital after his arrest Christmas Eve. They hadn't argued, Phil Racciato said, but he grew frustrated his son was taking substances hours after being released from an inpatient treatment facility. After telling Michael Racciato he'd need to find his own way back to his car, Phil Racciato headed home.
"The hospital! If I hadn't left the hospital!"Phil Racciato
"The hospital! If I hadn't left the hospital!" he gasped in the video before clutching his head in his hands and breaking down.
An unidentified person tried to console Phil Racciato, putting a hand on his shoulder. Given Michael's addition, the man said, it was likely a matter of time before he lost to his demons.
"You did everything you could. We all did," the man said in the video.
Michael "Mikey" Racciato was a standout athlete at Pen Argyl Area High School who won three state wrestling titles and graduated in 2013. He went on to a decorated wrestling career at the University of Pittsburgh.
The case against Ferrante has gone beyond the courtroom and into the center of a hotly contested political race. Stephen Baratta, a retired Northampton County judge running for district attorney, has argued incumbent Terry Houck is mismanaging the office and this case is proof. The case was initially scheduled for trial in May 2022, but prosecutors requested a delay due to struggles securing an expert to testify on the toxicology of the case.
When Morganelli denied their request, the office appealed the ruling to Superior Court. The court ultimately sided with Morganelli, but the ruling took 11 months to deliver, delaying the case far beyond what prosecutors originally sought.
Morganelli lowered Ferrante's bail to $1 as a result. Baratta argued the actions of the DA's office put a drug dealer back on the streets, while Houck has accused Baratta of mischaracterizing the situation for political gain.
