Closing Arguments Underway In Black Sunday Trial

By: Lily Jamali

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Closing arguments are now underway in the trial of three people charged in connection with a 2005 fire that killed two members of the New York City Fire Department. NY1's Lily Jamali filed the following report.

Firefighter John Bellew's widow, Eileen, came out of a Bronx courtroom distraught Monday. Minutes earlier, she sat in the front row of the gallery sobbing as prosecutors once again played radio transmissions from her husband's final moments -- this time during closing arguments.

Bellew and Fire Lieutenant Curtis Meyran died on January 23, 2005 after jumping from the fourth floor of a burning building in the Tremont section of the Bronx. Four other firefighters also jumped but lived and on Monday, two of them, Jeff Cool and Brendan Cawley were in court for closing arguments. Two of the building's tenants, Rafael Castillo and Caridad Coste are charged with manslaughter for the deaths of Bellew and Meyran.

Prosecutors say they set up illegal partitions to create extra rooms they could rent out.

In doing so, they say Castillo created conditions that sparked the fire, which investigators determined was caused by an overloaded electrical outlet.

They say partitions set up by Coste trapped the men while the fire raged around them.

But defense attorneys redirected the blame.

Blizzard conditions that day had left fire hydrants frozen, meaning it took nearly a half hour to get water on the fire. And a fire hose broke during the process.

"When they felt they were in danger they were trapped but not by the partitions, they were trapped by the fire itself," said Francisco Knipping, Castillo's defense attorney.

The defense also blamed the fire department for deciding to stop providing safety ropes to all firefighters. The ropes were later reissued after the fire.

In her closing, Lisa Pelosi, representing Castillo, said, "That's the city's way of saying that if they had the ropes that day, those firefighters would be alive."

Jurors deliberated for about an hour before calling it a night. They'll be back Tuesday morning.

The building's landlord and owner are also on trial for manslaughter in this case. Their fate is being decided by a separate jury who will hear closing arguments on Tuesday.