New 'Significant' Details About Body Disposal Causes Moccia Trial Delay

Potentially damaging evidence in the murder trial of a Dedham man has caused yet another delay that now pins a trial date to nearly three years after the alleged crime.

Prosecutors handed over new witness statements Monday in Norfolk County Superior Court to defense attorneys for Paul Moccia that prosecutors said relates to the brutal fashion Moccia and a co-conspirator disposed of Angel Ramirez's body.

Moccia lured Ramirez to his Jefferson Station apartment on the night of March 20, 2009, then drove him to a Walpole cement plant owned by Bradley, where both men shot him, prosecutors allege.

No body was every found, but crime scene investigators found blood evidence at the factory, according to court documents. Prosecutors theorize Bradley and Moccia dismembered the body at the plant.

Moccia, dressed in a cream-colored thermal shirt and green cotton pants, leaned forward in his chair with his elbows resting on a table during the hearing Monday.

Bradley was not in court as his case was not officially on the court's docket.

The interview with the witness, said to be Bradley's female companion, was conducted earlier this month in preparation for a December trial. The woman provided additional details to investigators that both prosecutors and defense attorneys called "significant."

If it's true, it changes things dramatically," Moccia's attorney Robert Sheketoff said in court. "[She] goes from a minor witness to probably the most important witness."

Sheketoff added if the information is true, he would have to rework his trial strategy. 

Information from the interview was not made public.

The woman also provided the name of at least one corroborating witness, Norfolk County assistant district attorney Robert Nelson said.

Sheketoff requested, and was granted, a continuance in light of the new information in order to give him time to vet the information.

A trial date of Feb. 6 has been set, although whether it will be Moccia or Bradley on trial has yet to be determined.

Originally, the Commonwealth planned to try Moccia in December and Bradley in February.