Search Captions & Ask AI

The Murder of Anthony LoConte | Morbid | Podcast

June 02, 2025 / 42:07

This episode covers the case of Anthony Locant's murder, featuring discussions about the events leading to his death, the impact on his family, and ongoing legal battles. Elina and Ash recount their recent trip to Salem, Massachusetts, where they met various locals, including Marne, the owner of Curly Girl Candy Shop, and Cody Cwley, an author and TikTok personality.

The main focus is on the tragic story of Anthony Locant, who was killed in 1988 by Robert Morganti during a drug deal gone wrong. Morganti, believing he was being ripped off, shot Locant in a brutal act of violence. The episode details the circumstances of the murder, the subsequent investigation, and Morganti's eventual capture after years on the run.

Listeners learn about the emotional toll on Locant's family, particularly his sister Marie, who shares memories of her brother and the lasting impact of his loss. The episode highlights the family's ongoing fight against Morganti's potential parole, emphasizing their commitment to keeping his memory alive and seeking justice.

Elina and Ash also discuss the complexities of the justice system, particularly regarding young offenders and the implications of recent legal rulings that could affect Morganti's sentence. The episode concludes with a call to action for listeners to support the family's petition against Morganti's parole.

TLDR

Elina and Ash discuss Anthony Locant's murder, its impact on his family, and ongoing legal battles for justice.

Episode

42:07
00:00:06
Hey weirdos. I'm Elina. I'm Ash. And this is [Music] Morbid. It's morbid in the morning. Um,
00:00:28
so hey, it's more of it in the morning. Oh, did you just hear my jaw crack? Yeah, your jaw is needs to be taken care
00:00:36
of. No, I have a reckless jaw. I think it's honestly jaw. Somebody should probably like wire it shut for a little
00:00:41
bit. My whole jaw is talking and it just wouldn't work out. It's rough. It It's like snaps a lot. Yeah, I was just like
00:00:49
just doing a little stretch and it was like You should hear it when I eat a bagel. It's even crazier. Oh, damn. It's
00:00:55
nuts. Well, you have heard it, but I have. That's true. You listener out there. You may not have, I don't know
00:01:01
your life. I don't know your life. I don't know your life, but I do know a candy store that you should go to in
00:01:06
Salem. Yeah. This is And it's not an ad. No. Um it's just uh we like to pass on stuff to you. Uh we went to Salem the
00:01:13
other day. We got to hang out with our with our our twin flame Ryan Lil Washington. Go download Ryan's music. Go
00:01:22
buy Ryan's books. Go give him a high five. He's a lovely, lovely, magical, enchanting human being. It's the best.
00:01:30
And so is his husband. Yes. Um we love them both. We had a wonderful time in Salem with And they're friends. Yeah.
00:01:36
And their friends are great. Like it was a great It was a great day. We had a whole day and we met a lot of listeners.
00:01:42
So if we met you, what's up? Yeah. While we were in We hope you had a great day in Salem. We met somebody who's it was
00:01:47
their first time in Salem. I hope you had the best time. Yeah. Hell yeah. Hell [ __ ] yeah. And we also met Marne. We
00:01:53
met Marne. And Marne um is the owner of the Curly Girl Candy Shop in Salem, which we always pass by there. It's
00:02:01
right near like House Witch, right near like Essex Street. It's like right off of Essex Street. And I always I'm like,
00:02:06
"Oo, we should pop in there. Like, I want to get some candy." And we were going to this last time cuz we ran into
00:02:12
Marne. She introduced herself and we were planning 100% on going into the candy store, but then we had kids stuff
00:02:19
pop up. Yeah. I had I had to get to after school activities and the we had timed it so that I could get home for
00:02:25
that so I could drive them to after school stuff and uh the traffic shifted and suddenly it was going to be like a
00:02:33
2hour drive home and we were like holy [ __ ] we got to leave. That's one thing about Salem. I love going to Salem so
00:02:38
much but like traffic man from 2 to 3 the traffic shift is nuts. Yeah. You either have to leave there very early or
00:02:45
very or later. Yeah. There's this one stretch of time where you're going to be in trouble. Yeah, but Marne, we will be
00:02:51
back and we will come. Yeah, we love the [ __ ] out of some of your candy. Love,
00:02:55
Marne. Go to the Curly Girl candy shop because it looks so [ __ ] cool. And we're definitely going when we come
00:03:01
back. Yes. Um and bop into House Witch and get your Aura Red because we did that with Ryan and his husband and the
00:03:07
two of us and it was very fun. Very insightful. Very like Yeah, it was very insightful is is
00:03:15
definitely the best way to describe it. Uh, we also stopped into Nocturn, which is one of my favorite stores. Oh. Um,
00:03:20
and we met Cody Cody Cwley, who has, she's, you might know her on like Tik Tok. Um, I think her Tik Tok and like
00:03:28
Instagram is under spirit bored. Um, bored, but b o r e d. Her name's Cody. She's also an author. She wrote her
00:03:36
debut novel was um, uh, here lies a vengeful [ __ ] Amazing. I just got it. I'm so excited to start. Amazing. So,
00:03:44
she's a great follow. She's awesome. So definitely if you're looking for some fun follows, she gives you a lot of
00:03:50
information about Salem, too. Uh on her Tik Tok, she gives you like historical information, touristy information, the
00:03:57
best kind of like little hidden gems. That's the best. She gives you like spooky little stories. She's very
00:04:02
entertaining. She's got the vibes of Tai from Clueless. Yes, very much like a spooky tie. Literally a spooky tie. I
00:04:08
think she's so fun. So yeah, it was really cool. We met a lot of cool people. Yeah, good vibes all around. We
00:04:14
needed it. We needed a little like um hookie day. Yeah, a little hookie day. It was our day off anyway. We didn't
00:04:20
actually really play hookie from anything. But no, we can't. We're actually not allowed.
00:04:27
But with all that being said, that's all that's all the business we had, right? Yeah, it was just good business. It was
00:04:32
good business. But we have um kind of a pressing case today. And this case um is, you know, it hits close to home. I
00:04:40
had this [ __ ] phenomenal mentor when I was in like my very early hair days when I had just started at like this
00:04:47
main salon. Yeah. Um I had this mentor Timmy and he took such good care of me and unfortunately his uncle was killed
00:04:55
years and years and years ago and now his uncle's killer is possibly going to be up for probation which is pretty
00:05:02
scary when that's always not great. Yeah, it's pretty scary too when you hear the details of this case. Ooh. So,
00:05:09
let's get into it. Um, this is a pressing matter. When we get to the end, there's like some petitions going on and
00:05:15
stuff that just trying to get some ears. Yeah, we want to get some ears, some attention on this. Timmy's family is
00:05:21
really trying to do whatever they can to keep their loved ones killer behind bars. And I don't blame them. Yeah. So,
00:05:28
let's get into it. In the spring of 1988, 19-year-old Robert Morganti was living in Brockton, which is a suburb
00:05:35
about an hour outside of Boston. And at the time, he was supporting himself as kind of a low-level cocaine dealer. Mhm.
00:05:42
At the time, a lot of the product that he was selling came from Jeffrey Tessier, who was one of his runners,
00:05:48
quote unquote, who basically helped him break up large amounts of cocaine into smaller packages and then they would go
00:05:54
distribute it. Okay. On May 10th, 1988, Robert Morganti had actually run out of cocaine. So, he called Jeffrey in order
00:06:01
to get some more, but Jeffree told him he too was dry, didn't have any, but Jeffree said he did have a source that
00:06:08
he was willing to connect Morandi with in order to resupply. Uh Jeffrey's connection would have completely solved
00:06:14
their problems, but a few hours later, Morganti called to say that this connection was also out of cocaine. So
00:06:21
sensing an opportunity to make some quick cash and uh thinking very interestingly interesting thought
00:06:28
pattern here, Jeffrey Tessier devised a scheme where he would quote trick Morganti into paying him for what
00:06:35
Morganti would mistakenly believe was one quarter kg of cocaine. Oh no, that's a terrible [ __ ] idea. Yeah, that's
00:06:41
not a good idea. He's obviously not the first person to ever rip off a drug dealer, but it does remain unclear how
00:06:47
or why he thought Morganti would readily accept a lookalike powder and would then
00:06:53
distribute that lookalike powder without verifying its legitimacy at all. Confusing. Like that's never going to
00:06:58
happen. No. But for whatever reason, he returned Morganti's call that evening and told him he found another hookup and
00:07:05
that they could go to the new supplier's house that night, pick up the drugs for
00:07:09
what would uh end up being about $10,500 at that time and what would be almost $29,000 today. Okay. Based on
00:07:17
court records and just like human logic, it's pretty reasonable to assume Jeffrey
00:07:23
had not fully thought out this plan. No, this was very This was very impulsive. Yeah. Um, and he was very much operating
00:07:31
on the fly. So, because of that, it is very plausible to believe that Anthony Lond was just roped into all of this at
00:07:38
the very last very dire minute. But either way, that night, Jeffrey Tessier, uh, Robert Moranti, and one of their
00:07:45
associates, Brian Madden, drove to Locant's house. And when they arrived, Tessier told the two men to wait in the
00:07:50
car while he went inside to pick up the drugs, which were not drugs. So because Anthony Lukant was ultimately killed
00:07:57
that night, we only have Jeffrey Tessier's testimony to rely on to fill in the gaps of what happened next.
00:08:04
According to him, he went into Anony's house and explained that he was what what he was attempting to do. And again,
00:08:10
according to him, Lant didn't object to playing a part in this ruse. Jeffree then quickly scanned the house for
00:08:16
anything that he could pass off as fake cocaine and ultimately gathered a random
00:08:20
collection of just household items, including an old spice container. And he placed the hastily assembled package in
00:08:28
a brown paper bag and went back out to the car. Okay. Once he was out there, he handed that that package and uh over to
00:08:36
Moranti. Morganti gave him the $10,500 fully believing that he was purchasing a kilo of cocaine rather than
00:08:43
a bag of garbage. And with the deal done, Morganti and Madden pulled away from the house, leaving Jeffrey there
00:08:50
behind with Antthony Anthony Lacant, who Jeffrey said received $2,000 for his participation in the scam. Again,
00:08:57
Jeffrey's words. Yeah. Not surprisingly, uh, a seasoned drug dealer, Robert Marganti, wasn't fooled by getting a bag
00:09:04
of deodorant. Yeah, that's not shocking. And was pretty pissed that he had just paid over $10,000 for a bag of garbage.
00:09:11
So within five minutes, Morganti and Matted were back at Lukant's house pounding on the back door, which by the
00:09:16
way, he lived with his mother. This is horrifying. And he, this was a very last minute thing. He got roped into. We
00:09:23
don't know what he knew and anything like that. We only have Jeffrey to rely on.
00:09:28
So now Morganti and Madden are banging on the door and like very [ __ ] angry drug dealers. I can like feel the
00:09:36
anxiety right now. Yeah. So absolutely terrified by these men at the door, Anthony goes running out the front door
00:09:42
because they're pounding on the back door. And he attempted to get away from the situation that he got roped into
00:09:48
last minute. But according to his mother, Rachel, the two men chased him down in the driveway and managed to
00:09:53
force him into Madden's car after beating him. What happened next is not exactly clear,
00:09:59
but the evidence collected during the investigation does provide some insight. According to the medical exam examiner,
00:10:05
excuse me, Anthony Lant was sitting in the passenger seat of the Monte Carlo with Madden driving and Morganti sitting
00:10:12
in the back right behind Anthony. At one point during their drive after having severely beaten him, investigators
00:10:18
believe that Morganti shot 24 year old Locant in the back of his head with a 380 caliber handgun, sending a bullet
00:10:26
through the back of his skull behind his left ear, and that then exited through his right eye. Oh yeah, that's awesome.
00:10:32
They executed him. That is brutal. Based on the technician's analysis of the evidence in the car, the gun was fired
00:10:38
less than 6 in from the victim's head. Holy [ __ ] It was so close that it caused burns around the edge of the
00:10:44
wound. And finally, it was determined based on Anony's injuries and the trajectory of the bullet that the
00:10:50
gunshot could have only been fired from the back seat. Okay. Where Morganti was believed to have been sitting. A little
00:10:56
past 11 p.m. that night, Brockton resident Michael Geler looked out the window of uh his Howard Street residence
00:11:02
and saw a blue Mont Bonte Car Carlos slowed to a stop across from his home where it sat briefly before pulling
00:11:08
away. After the car left, he saw what he described as what looked like a trash bag sitting on the side of the road. And
00:11:16
assuming that the driver had just dumped trash, he went back to what he was doing. Didn't really think anything
00:11:20
about it until a short time later, he heard screams coming from outside. By that time, a passing driver had also
00:11:28
seen what they thought was an object on the side of the road, but they stopped to investigate. And that's when they
00:11:33
found Anthony Locant unconscious and badly bleeding. Oh [ __ ] They just dumped him on the side of the road and
00:11:39
he was only unconscious. He had not died yet. Oh my god. So Geler called for an ambulance and emergency responders
00:11:46
arrived a few minutes later. At first they couldn't tell because he was so badly beaten and you know you're
00:11:52
unrecognizable after that kind of gunshot wound. Emergency responders believed that he actually Anthony had
00:11:59
been the victim of a hit and run accident. Holy [ __ ] Since he was covered in blood and the exit wound
00:12:03
above his eye wasn't recognizable. I think probably because due to swelling, he was still actually breathing and did
00:12:09
have a weak pulse, but a short time later he did pass away at the hospital. And later that day when the autopsy was
00:12:15
conducted, that's when they discovered the bullet wound over his eye and in the back of his head. And his death at that
00:12:22
point was obviously deemed a homicide. This was devastating to his family. Anthony Lacant was born in
00:12:30
December of 1963 to Coast Guardsman Albi. Albby and line worker and former model Rachel Locant. They are a
00:12:39
beautiful couple. They're obsessed with them. My friend Timmy's grandparents and
00:12:42
he sent all these old pictures of them on like their wedding day and everything. They had all these children
00:12:47
together. They're a beautiful family. Anthony was the fourth of their fifth children and he was absolutely adored by
00:12:55
all of his siblings and even his extended family. Growing up, he loved to watch Batman and Robin with his brother
00:13:02
Alan. He loved to dress up and they would pretend to fly around the house like superheroes. Him and his sister
00:13:07
Marie would do that. And he also loved the cartoon Go Speed Racer Go. He loved race cars, motorcycles, anything like
00:13:15
that. He and his brother Allan would go to concerts all the time. Allan said they went to AC/DC, Fog Hat, Blue Oyster
00:13:23
Cult. Oh my god. And they would sneak up to the front rows together whenever they
00:13:27
could. I love that. They had a great time together. And music definitely played a big part in the whole family's
00:13:33
lives. All of Anony's siblings remember dancing around with him. They remember just spending days hanging out in their
00:13:38
rooms listening to new records. He gave one of his sisters um a cassette or like
00:13:44
a 45 of um uh uh Prince's Purple Rain. Oh my gosh. And she still has it to this day. She won't part with it, of course.
00:13:51
But one thing that every family member recalls, and I just think this is such a sweet memory, the family went on a
00:13:57
cruise to the Bahamas together, and Tony was only about seven or eight at the time, but he got up on stage on the
00:14:03
cruise, and they all said that he performed Frank Sinatra's You Make Me Feel So Young with the ship's band. Shut
00:14:10
up. Just like got up there and sang for everybody. And the crowd gave him a standing ovation. Of course they will.
00:14:16
And everybody has that memory of him. Oh, I love that. It's really sweet. Anony's sister Susan told us, "What I
00:14:23
want people to know about Anthony was that he was a kind and loving brother who didn't have much but shared what he
00:14:28
did have. He would always put others before himself. He was an advocate or big brother to many kids in the
00:14:33
neighborhood. He always loved the holidays. He would go to the neighbors houses and celebrate their traditions
00:14:38
and eat with them. He loved playing with the children and would stick up for others that were being bullied. Just the
00:14:43
other day, while getting an oil change, a man came up to me and asked me if I was a loant. He told me the story of him
00:14:48
being bullied and how Anthony stepped in and told the other kids to leave him alone and they never bullied him again.
00:14:55
So few people are like that. Yeah. So to like lose somebody that's like that in such a horrific way is like
00:15:03
heartbreaking, devastating, tragic. Like you you don't find people like that. No.
00:15:08
To to just go out of their way and probably for somebody he like knew Yeah. just likeanded or just whatever. Like a
00:15:16
lot of people won't stick up for people. They won't put their own nose, you know,
00:15:20
like it's a lot of people will just kind of walk away and let somebody else deal
00:15:23
with it. But look at how significant it is when you actually do go out of your way and stick up for
00:15:28
somebody. Went up to his sister however many years later, like 40 years later, and still remembered that. That's the
00:15:34
thing. People will remember just like the smallest acts of kindness that you will do or just going out of your way to
00:15:40
like make them happy or make something better for them. And people remember the other way. Oh, absolutely. And which way
00:15:48
would you rather be known for? Being the bully and being the person that made someone's life awful or being the person
00:15:55
that stepped in and like made things better. And it's easy. It's not easy. It doesn't take too much. Yeah. You know,
00:16:03
just do it. But everybody has fond memories of Anthony. Sounds like it. His niece Amy also has the fond memories,
00:16:10
especially about going to visit him while he lived with her grandmother when she was young. She said, "My uncle Tony,
00:16:15
he had old Hollywood movie star looks. He I was just about to say he is incredibly handsome." He does. He
00:16:21
actually Have Did you meet Timmy when I was working at the salon? I think I briefly met him. I'm pretty sure. Timmy
00:16:26
looks like his uncles. Actually, I was going to say they are very similar. Like Timmy is very Yeah, Timmy's very
00:16:32
Hollywood star looking. Very like striking. Very striking. Yeah. And he looks like he could be in like one of
00:16:37
those cool old movies. Like you could see him in like a full suit. Yes. Absolutely. All like dappered out. Like
00:16:42
driving a fast car, you know? She said he was absolutely stunning. Agreed. Yeah. He was over 6 feet tall with dark
00:16:49
hair and dark eyes. The ladies loved him, but he only had eyes for a couple ladies. And the number one lady was his
00:16:54
mom. Oh my god. He was a mama's boy, a fearless brother, and the coolest uncle any little girl could ever dream up. Oh,
00:17:01
she also remembered, of course, how devastating the loss of her uncle was for not only herself, but especially for
00:17:07
his mom, Amy's grandmother. She said, "They had the most beautiful relationship. She broke when he was
00:17:12
assassinated. I lost them both when he was murdered. She just got so quiet and so sad. I remember when I was going to
00:17:18
give birth to my firstborn son. I came to Nanny and I asked her if I could name him Anthony. And she said she didn't
00:17:24
think that was a good idea because it wasn't a good name for her son. So, did I think it would be a good idea for
00:17:29
him?" Oh, like she was so not that she didn't love the name or anything, but she was like, "Look what his fate was,
00:17:36
right?" Yeah. Oh, that breaks my heart. It does. She's beautiful as well. Yes. Nanny. Nanny. Oh, Nanny's wedding
00:17:42
pictures. Nanny was a star. Yeah. And Al Nanny and Albi. Yes. Damn. Gorge. What a
00:17:48
couple. Gorge. Like, wow. Yeah. Timmy your family. Timmy your family. Holy [ __ ] But on a more serious note, going
00:17:56
back to the night of the murder, according to court documents, sometime around midnight, Robert Morganti called
00:18:01
his friend Travis Merritt and told him that he had quote gotten ripped off, something went wrong, and he had shot
00:18:07
somebody. So Travis agreed to help his friend, and a short time later, Robert Morganti showed up to his apartment with
00:18:13
blood still all over his face and all over his clothing. My god. During their conversation, Morganti repeated the
00:18:19
story of what happened earlier that night, saying he didn't know the identity of the man that he'd shot, only
00:18:24
that he thought he was involved for in ripping him off for $10,500. And Morganti told Travis he had
00:18:31
thrown the gun out of the car somewhere along Harrison Boulevard on his way back
00:18:35
to the apartment. And he said his only priority in that moment was finding Jeffrey Tessier and getting his money
00:18:40
back. Which is like, your priorities are [ __ ] up. You just killed a man. Took a
00:18:45
man's life. A short time later, the two men went to the home of another acquaintance, Gary
00:18:50
Gaml, where they believed they'd find Jeffrey. At the house, Morganti apparently told Gaml, "I just want my
00:18:56
money. I killed the wrong person." Holy [ __ ] So, Anthony Lukant was just wrapped up in all of this. I just killed
00:19:02
the wrong person. In a case of mistaken identity, it very much seems like Morganti thought he was going after
00:19:09
Jeffrey or thought he was going after this like big deal cocaine dealer and that that was not Anthony. Holy [ __ ]
00:19:17
That's horrifying. And he knew it. He knew how badly he had [ __ ] up that he just killed somebody who wasn't involved
00:19:24
in all of this. Wow. So, as the men were talking, Jeffree pulled up outside, and Morganti actually
00:19:29
moved toward the door to confront him, but was stopped by Gaml, who insisted that he would go out and get the money
00:19:34
back. I'm sure he was like, "You've gotten yourself in enough [ __ ] tonight." A few minutes later, Gaml returned and
00:19:39
handed Morganti $7,500, which obviously he noted was a few thousand short, but he accepted it
00:19:45
at that point. Probably just ready to be done with the whole ordeal. Yeah. and they left Gaml's house in a cab and the
00:19:52
cab then dropped Moranti at the home of another associate, Joseph Valente. Morganti then explained to Valente that
00:19:59
he had been ripped off and had shot and killed one of the men he thought was responsible, but that he had killed the
00:20:04
wrong man. And now he needed help in getting in contact with an associate in California because he was planning to
00:20:10
flee the state. Wow. Which means he fully knew that he was in a whole bunch of 100%. He had the full wherewithal to
00:20:18
know that he needed to get the [ __ ] out of dodge because what he did was wrong
00:20:22
and he was going to face some kind of trouble for it. Yeah. So while he was tracking down Jeffrey Tessier to get his
00:20:27
missing money, Brian Madden was having a crisis of his own. Madden, remember, was
00:20:33
driving the car that night. He hadn't been necessarily responsible for Anthony Lukan's murder and obviously didn't know
00:20:39
it was going to happen. And it happened very quickly, but like I said, he had been driving the car when Anthony was
00:20:44
shot and he also helped with dumping Anony's body on the side of the road. He's an accomplice to murder. Yeah. So,
00:20:51
he's freaking out. And he calls his brother Mark Madden a little after midnight that night and briefly
00:20:58
explained what happened and asked Mark if he could come over. After hearing the story, Mark did the right thing and
00:21:03
encouraged his brother to report the shooting to the police, which uh Brian did end up doing shortly after hanging
00:21:10
out hanging up with Mark. When Mark arrived to his brother's apartment, he saw the Monte Carlo parked out front and
00:21:16
could still see a large amount of blood in the front seat of the car. Inside, Brian was already speaking with
00:21:21
detectives who had come to the apartment. A short time after placing that call, state and local investigators
00:21:27
arrived at Brian Madden's apartment and they started processing the car for evidence, noting that there was a quote
00:21:32
great deal of blood on the front passenger seat. They also collected several bloodcovered CDs from the front
00:21:39
seat and an old spice container, which remember was used to rip off Morgante. Yeah. Inside the apartment,
00:21:46
investigators also collected several more blood spattered CDs from Brian Madden's kitchen, and subsequent testing
00:21:53
of the blood found in the car, on the floor mats, and the blood on the CDs in the kitchen. All a match for Anthony
00:21:58
Lant. No surprise there. Wow. During their investigation with Brian Madden and processing the evidence collected
00:22:04
from the car, investigators with Brockton and Massachusetts State Police established that Brian Madden had been
00:22:10
driving the car at the time of the shooting. And forensic testing recreations of the shooting confirmed,
00:22:15
quote, "It would have been difficult to have fired a shot from the driver's seat
00:22:19
at the angle indicated by the entrance and exit wounds." So, they were able to rule him out as the shooter. Okay. And
00:22:25
like I said, the evidence did indicate that the shot had been fired from the back seat where we know Robert Morganti
00:22:31
was sitting, making him the primary suspect for the murder. Based on the statements taken from Brian Madden,
00:22:37
Jeffrey Tessier, Tessier, excuse me, and Joseph Valente, a warrant was issued for
00:22:42
Robert Moranti's arrest on the afternoon of May 11th, 1988 for the murder of Anthony Locant. But the problem was at
00:22:50
that point, by the time investigators managed to put all the pieces together, Morganti had already fled the state. He
00:22:57
was gone. In the years that followed, investigators followed leads and tips from the public that brought them to
00:23:02
Florida, Michigan, and New York in search of Robert Morganti. But it would be more than a decade before he was
00:23:10
ultimately captured and put on trial for Anthony Locant's murder. Damn. Yes. More
00:23:15
than a decade. In the early morning hours of March 16th, 2000, now the year 2000, this all
00:23:21
started, remember, in 1988. Now, March 16th, 2000, a California Highway Patrol officer
00:23:28
stopped a car uh stopped a driver for speeding along Highway 132 in Modesto. The driver identified himself as Rodri
00:23:36
Gren, a resident of Stannislaus County, and he acknowledged to the officer that he had been drinking. Oh. The officer
00:23:44
obviously asked the man to step out of the vehicle and immediately placed him under arrest for DUI. And during a
00:23:49
routine search of the vehicle, the CHP officer also discovered about a half pound of marijuana and Gan's vehicle as
00:23:56
well as a box that quote unquote contained uh marijuana residue. Jeez. So, he contacted the county Drug
00:24:02
Enforcement Agency and obviously the vehicle was impounded. The drug evidence found in this man's vehicle was
00:24:08
obviously enough for law enforcement agents to get a warrant for his home. now where they found 70 lbs of
00:24:14
marijuana. Jesus. That's a whole [ __ ] ton of marijuana. Um, all of which had been divided into smaller packages
00:24:20
clearly for sale. Wow. So, we're not we're not evolving here. No. $21,000 in cash which was wrapped in bed sheets as
00:24:30
well was found in the apartment. And the evidence strongly indicated that this man was probably a drug dealer. Yeah.
00:24:36
Yeah. Lieutenant Raul DeLeon told reporters, "It was obvious this guy was supporting himself by selling
00:24:42
marijuana." But what was even more unusual and more unexpected was that along with the drugs and the money,
00:24:48
investigators also found multiple forms of identification, all with different names, indicating that this Brick Ganj
00:24:57
probably wasn't who he claimed to be. That's spooky. Among the various forms of identification found in the home was
00:25:03
one for John Sam Brown, another name entirely. Okay. And John Sam Brown was from Almeida County. So investigators in
00:25:11
Modesto called their counterparts in Almeida and learned that John Sam Brown had been arrested and convicted on a
00:25:17
previous charge and was currently on probation. Oh. In the meantime, another detective ran through Rodri's uh
00:25:24
fingerprints and they ran them through the nationwide database and got a hit not for Rodri, but for Robert Morganti.
00:25:31
Oh. Who, as we know, had a warrant out in Brockton, Massachusetts for the murder of Anthony Lant in 1988. Yep. On
00:25:38
March 17th, authorities in California called the state police in Massachusetts and let them know that they had arrested
00:25:45
their suspect that many years later. And the following day, a detective from the
00:25:49
state police boarded the first plane for Modesto. After a dozen years of waiting
00:25:54
and hoping, the news of Moranti's arrest obviously came as a surprise, but a relief to Anony's family. Lukant's
00:26:02
brother, Allan, told reporters, "I never gave up hope. I was always hoping he would be found." That must have been
00:26:07
unreal. The relief they must have felt. And then like in hand with the relief also just now we're going to have to go
00:26:14
through a whole trial and this is all going to get brought back up again. All the emotions that you've been dealing
00:26:20
with for years and years and years are like right at the root again. Yeah. Absolutely. So while the family waited
00:26:27
on word from local authorities regarding Moranti's extradition to Massachusetts,
00:26:31
the suspect was held on $1 million bail on the drug charges. When Massachusetts State Police Sergeant Leonard Coppenrath
00:26:38
finally sat down with Mganti the following day, he continued to refer to himself as Roger Ganjage and insisted
00:26:45
that he was not from Brockton, but that he had come to California from New York.
00:26:49
WTF? He's like, "What's Brockton even? What even is that?" But when the detective filled out the Miranda form
00:26:56
using the suspect's real name, Morganti realized he had been found out and just looked at him and said, "Now what?"
00:27:03
Damn. So, that is so casual. So casual. Holy [ __ ] Now what? Uh, now you're going to face trial for murder. So,
00:27:11
how's that? Throughout their interview, Robert Marganti was evasive and really never
00:27:16
offered a confession. But that said, at one point, he was allowed to make a phone call to his son. It was the boy's
00:27:22
birthday. And when his son's mother asked what she should tell their son, Morganti said she should explain to
00:27:28
their son that daddy did a bad thing. Wow. Oh. So, while he didn't confess, he he did kind of did. Yeah. At various
00:27:35
points, he also wondered out loud whether it was wise for him to speak to the to detectives on the record, but he
00:27:40
had already agreed to speak with them without an attorney, and he never directly recanted that approval or
00:27:45
directly asked for an attorney. Yeah. So, if you don't ask directly, they're not going to give you one. No, you got
00:27:51
to ask. You got to ask. Banti told the detectives that he hadn't seen or spoken to anybody from Brockton since he left
00:27:57
in 1988, including his family. And although he knew many of the people involved in the lowc murder case, he
00:28:03
denied being responsible for Anony's death. It wasn't him. No, he said. He said I'm like, let's make that clear.
00:28:11
Rather than press for a confession though, Copenrath began offering various scenarios in which Morganti might have
00:28:16
found himself in that ultimately led to Anony's death, but that tactic failed to
00:28:22
elicit a confession. Still, a few days later, Robert Morganti was extradited back to Massachusetts to finally stand
00:28:28
trial for the murder. Ultimately, he and Anony's family would have to wait more than 3 years before the case was finally
00:28:36
heard. But finally, in the summer of 2003, his trial did begin in Brockton Superior Court. At that time, he was
00:28:43
charged with one count of first-degree murder with special circumstances attached for what the prosecutor
00:28:48
described as deliberate premeditation and the uh extreme atrocity or cruelty, which Yeah, I would say. So, you shoot
00:28:56
somebody in the back of the head after beating them. Yeah, that is that is extreme cruelty. Yeah. And banging down
00:29:02
their mother's door. Yeah, I'd say so. Over the course of the trial, the jury was shown a large number of photographs
00:29:08
of Anony's body, which his sister Marie described as unrecognizable after Moranti had beaten him, shot him, and
00:29:14
left him for dead on the side of the road. That's so sad. They also, the jury, also viewed Madden's Monte Carlo
00:29:20
and were shown a recreation of the shooting to see where the parties were sitting when it occurred. Other evidence
00:29:26
presented in court included the fingerprint evidence taken from the car on the night of the murder as well as
00:29:31
the fingerprint evidence that was collected when Moranti was arrested in Modesto and um when they were able to
00:29:37
confirm his identity. Okay. And you know all that. Yeah. So by far the most compelling aspect of the trial was the
00:29:44
testimony from various individuals who had contact with Robert Marganti and Anthony Lant on the night of the
00:29:51
shooting. That included testimony from Travis Merritt, who told the jury that he had seen Robert Morganti with the
00:29:57
same caliber gun that was used in the shooting and Jeffrey Tessier, who claimed that he also had seen Morganti
00:30:04
with the same caliber of weapon in fact on the day of the shooting. Oh, so that's something. Yeah. Similarly,
00:30:10
Joseph Valente testified that Morgante had come to him in needing his help to flee to California. There was also a
00:30:17
large number of witnesses who testified they heard Moranti say he had killed somebody. Oh. Most damning, however, was
00:30:23
Brian Madden who testified that he had been driving the car on the night of the shooting and in the courtroom identified
00:30:30
Robert Moranti as the shooter. Oh [ __ ] Yeah. So he this piles and piles of evidence against a lot of evidence. On
00:30:37
June 13th, 2003, after a brief deliberation, the jury returned a verdict finding Robert Marganti guilty
00:30:43
for the murder of Anthony Locant. Following his conviction, he was sentenced to life imprisonment
00:30:48
imprisonment without the possibility of parole. And when the sentence was passed, Anony's father, Elby, openly
00:30:54
wept in the courtroom, relieved that his son had finally received justice over after more than a decade, over a decade.
00:31:01
But unfortunately, that relief would not last. In 2009, Robert Moranti's lawyer, Donald
00:31:08
Harwood, filed an appeal on Moranti's behalf, alleging, among other things, that investigators had violated his
00:31:14
rights. One, by admitting into evidence statements that were given more than 6 hours after his arrest, and two, not
00:31:21
stopping the interview after Morandi suggested he should contact a lawyer. It doesn't work like that. Yeah, you got to
00:31:29
Yeah. And I'll explain that. With regard to the first point, the statements made
00:31:33
more than six hours after his arrest that were entered into evidence, Harwood is referring to what's known as the safe
00:31:38
harbor rule, which provides, quote, that in the absence of exceptional circumstances, a statement made by a
00:31:44
defendant more than 6 hours after his arrest shall not be admitted into evidence unless the defendant waves his
00:31:50
right to a prompt arraignment. This provision was established to prevent law enforcement officials from delaying
00:31:55
interviews for long periods of time to try to get a confession. Oh, yeah. But in this case, the delay was a result of
00:32:01
Sergeant Copenrath having to travel across the country. Yeah. And even under those circumstances, the court found
00:32:08
that the safe harbor rule had not been violated in this case. So that's good. As for the second claim that his request
00:32:14
for a lawyer had been denied, the court also ruled against Morante. In their summary opinion, the justices noted that
00:32:20
to invoke the right to counsel, the suspect must unambiguously request counsel and must articulate his desire
00:32:26
to have counsel present sufficiently clearly that a reasonable police officer in the circumstances would understand
00:32:33
the statement to be a request for an attorney. You can't say like maybe I should have a lawyer or should I talk to
00:32:38
you guys? Should I talk to you guys? Maybe I shouldn't talk to you guys. It has to be like I want a lawyer and I'm
00:32:43
not speaking until I have one. Yeah. Black and white. Boom. You can't just be like you you can't speak in
00:32:48
hypotheticals. Yeah, you got to be clear. So, in Moranti's case, the justices concluded that it was perfectly
00:32:54
reasonable for the interviewing officers to assumed that assume that he wasn't requesting an attorney. Quote, thinking
00:32:59
out loud that he might need a lawyer and might want to stop questioning until he
00:33:03
spoke to a lawyer, which is not a sufficient invocation of his rights. No. No. So, those attempts failed. Several
00:33:12
years later, in late 2013, he appealed a second time. this time arguing that his
00:33:16
rights had been violated during the jury selection process when the courtroom was
00:33:20
briefly cleared of public spectators. The sixth amendment of the US Constitution guarantees, as we know, a
00:33:26
right to a speedy and public trial, which Borganti was now arguing had been denied when the courtroom was briefly
00:33:32
cleared. In their finding, the court determined that quote during jury impanelment, the court officers closed
00:33:38
the courtroom to all members of the public as was custom practice at that time in court and the defendant did not
00:33:43
object to the courtroom closure. So they also concluded that quote all three attorneys were aware of their client's
00:33:49
sixth amendment right to a public trial. Yet none of them objected until 2007 when the issue began to emerge in cases
00:33:56
tried outside of Plymouth County. So they saw it starting to come up and they're like other places. Yeah. So the
00:34:02
justices upheld the conviction on the grounds that the defendant had not sustained his burden of establishing his
00:34:08
claim. With those two appeals or three appeals denied at that point, it appeared that Robert Moranti would
00:34:14
indeed be spending the rest of his life in jail. However, just about a month or so ago, in April of 2025, the Locant
00:34:22
family's world was completely upended when Anony's now 92year-old father received a letter from the Massachusetts
00:34:29
Parole Board indicating that due to a recent state Supreme Court ruling, Robert Moranti could become eligible for
00:34:36
parole in the very near future. And we've come across this before. The ruling in question was the outcome of
00:34:43
Commonwealth versus Mattis, a January 2024 state Supreme Court ruling concluding that life sentences without
00:34:50
the possibility of parole for offenders between 18 and 20 years old accounted to
00:34:54
cruel and unusual punishment. We've talked about that before. Yeah. So now, and we've talked about it in other
00:34:59
states. Now it's happening in Massachusetts. And now the state of Massachusetts has started evaluating
00:35:05
cases where the offenders were between those ages at the time that the crimes were committed and considering certain
00:35:10
inmates for parole. In her press release following the ruling, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell said
00:35:17
the justice system should give young people the opportunity to turn their lives around and fulfill their
00:35:22
potential. Which, yeah, sure, in certain cases that's absolutely valid. Robert Moranti was 19 years old when he killed
00:35:29
Anthony Lacant and then he was able to live for another 12 more years on the run and didn't turn his life around. I
00:35:36
think that's that's the difference here cuz like I'm all for taking a look at cases and seeing if some some changes
00:35:44
have happened all that stuff for sure. That's the whole point of imprisonment. It's supposed to be that like you know
00:35:51
you the rehabilitation to become a productive member of society, right? But you got to look at each one. It's a case
00:35:57
by case scenario. It's a case by case because some of them are just not going to fit that mold. No. And I don't think
00:36:02
I don't think he does really because during the time that he was on the run, he had warrants, multiple war warrants
00:36:08
in other states. He was still selling large amounts of drugs when he got arrested for a DUI. I was going to say
00:36:13
which can kill someone. I literally go I wrote in my notes he's arrested for DUI,
00:36:18
still endangering the lives of others. Endangering people. He had the opportunity to turn his life around and
00:36:23
he hadn't. Mhm. And on top of that, Marie Lant said he showed no remorse when he was arrested and he was he was
00:36:30
an adult. He was in his 30s when he was arrested. He never reached out to us. It
00:36:34
would have given given us some healing if he had. Mhm. So that all matters. Yeah. Absolutely. And while the state
00:36:41
may see the ruling as extending young offenders the opportunity to turn their lives around, the Locant family, just in
00:36:46
this case, does not agree when it comes to Robert Moranti. Yeah. Anony's younger
00:36:50
sister, Marie, told a reporter for the Enterprise, "My heart breaks for my father. It breaks for us all. I'm so
00:36:55
angry. We We don't want to go through this again. I don't blame them. And she told us, "Loing Anthony shattered our
00:37:01
hearts. His death didn't just affect us. It changed us. It's something we carry every day. A pain that does not fade. We
00:37:08
miss his voice, his laughter, his energy, and the way he made us all feel safe and loved. Anthony Lacant was more
00:37:14
than just a brother or a son. He was a light in our lives. And though that light was taken from us far too soon,
00:37:20
its warmth remains. We love you forever, Anthony. You are missed beyond words. That just gave me so many chills and I
00:37:28
got a giant bump of cry in my throat. I know. I can't imagine losing someone that mean that way and someone like
00:37:38
Anthony. No, I can't. Like I really can't like I feel for this family so much. He just seemed like such a like I
00:37:46
there were so there were countless stories that Timmy was able to share from all his family members and I could
00:37:50
never share them all. We would it would take like years and years because there were so many great stories of who he was
00:37:57
and he and a great thing to point out is he got to live 24 years. He Robert Moranti hasn't even been in
00:38:04
jail as long as as Anthony Lant got to live. Yeah. Like come on. Yeah. And again, he had the opportunity to turn
00:38:13
his life around and he didn't. Well, that's Yeah. He was I think he was 34 by the time he got arrested. for them to
00:38:19
have to go through all this again and to open up all the wounds to have that relief and then have it kind of ripped
00:38:26
off before it was able to even scab over, you know, like that kind of pain. I can't even imagine. I can't. And for
00:38:32
his father to be 92 having to deal with this 92 in poor health, just finally got
00:38:38
to see justice and then it could possibly be reversed. Yeah. It's like that's I can't It's tough. I feel for
00:38:46
what they're going through. Very complex and very upsetting. Yeah. So, as of now,
00:38:50
Morganti is one of 209 inmates in Massachusetts who do possibly have a chance at parole. Oh, wow. Though,
00:38:57
members of the Locant family are committed to doing whatever they can to make this not happen to prevent this
00:39:02
from happening. The family has picketed at the state house and they are doing whatever they can to bring an awareness
00:39:07
to what's going on with Anony's case. Uh they also currently have a petition on change.org. There's almost 150
00:39:14
signatures. If you feel so inclined, more. We could definitely get them some more. You guys go [ __ ] crazy over
00:39:22
petitions. Yeah, you guys really bang it out with petitions. Sign this petition if you feel so inclined. We're going to
00:39:28
include it in the show notes and post on social. Yeah. And just do what you can,
00:39:32
you know. I always think like if the if the victim's family is this committed to
00:39:37
it, that's who I take my cues from. That's who I stand with. Yeah. That's who I take my cues from. Absolutely. Uh,
00:39:44
as of now, the Massachusetts Parole Board has yet to schedule a hearing for Robert Moranti, but one is expected to
00:39:50
be announced in the coming months. So, let's get those signatures going before that happens because those signatures
00:39:56
make a difference. This family going and picketing outside the state house makes
00:39:59
a difference. And the fact that they are still working this hard for Anthony tells you who Anthony was and how much
00:40:09
they care, you know, like it should like for them to be still I mean again his father's 92 years old, right? Like come
00:40:16
on. Yeah. And his siblings, his siblings all have their own children. Their children are having their own children.
00:40:22
They are still fighting for their brother. Still fighting for this. Yeah. Damn. It's just it's a heartbreaking
00:40:28
case. I just want to hug the Lacant family. I want to hug all of them. I know. And just the fact that Morganti
00:40:34
himself at one point allegedly said like, "I killed the wrong guy." Yeah. This was all a mistake. This all should
00:40:41
have never happened. Yeah. It never should have happened. And it's gut-wrenching that this family is still
00:40:45
dealing with something that just never should have happened in the first place. Absolutely. So, we'll share that in the
00:40:50
show notes. And, uh, with that being said, thank you for listening. We hope you keep listening. And we hope you keep
00:40:56
it weird. weird, but not so weird that you don't go rock that petition's world. Rock it. Sign it. Put your Herby Hancock
00:41:07
on the petition. On the petition. On the petition. [Music] [Music] [Music]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 90
    Most heartbreaking
  • 85
    Most shocking
  • 80
    Most emotional
  • 80
    Most intense

Episode Highlights

  • Meeting Magical Ryan
    Elina and Ash hang out with their friend Ryan in Salem, who they describe as a lovely, magical human being.
    “Go download Ryan's music. Go buy Ryan's books.”
    @ 01m 19s
    June 02, 2025
  • A Day in Salem
    Elina and Ash share their adventures in Salem, meeting listeners and visiting local shops.
    “We met a lot of cool people. Yeah, good vibes all around.”
    @ 04m 12s
    June 02, 2025
  • Remembering Anthony Locant
    The tragic story of Anthony Locant, a kind-hearted individual whose life was cut short.
    “To lose somebody that's like that in such a horrific way is heartbreaking.”
    @ 15m 03s
    June 02, 2025
  • Morganti's Confession
    Morganti admits he killed the wrong person, revealing the chaos of mistaken identity.
    “I just want my money. I killed the wrong person.”
    @ 18m 56s
    June 02, 2025
  • Family's Relief
    The Lukant family feels relief and anxiety upon hearing of Morganti's arrest after years of waiting.
    “I never gave up hope. I was always hoping he would be found.”
    @ 26m 03s
    June 02, 2025
  • Morganti's Arrest
    After years on the run, Morganti is finally arrested in California for murder.
    “Now what?”
    @ 27m 03s
    June 02, 2025
  • Trial and Conviction
    Morganti is found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
    “Anony's father openly wept in the courtroom, relieved that his son had finally received justice.”
    @ 30m 54s
    June 02, 2025
  • The Pain of Loss
    Marie Lant shares the deep grief her family feels after losing Anthony.
    “My heart breaks for my father. It breaks for us all.”
    @ 36m 52s
    June 02, 2025
  • Fighting for Justice
    The Locant family is committed to preventing Robert Moranti's parole.
    “They are still fighting for their brother.”
    @ 40m 23s
    June 02, 2025

Episode Quotes

  • We love the [ __ ] out of some of your candy.
    The Murder of Anthony LoConte | Morbid | Podcast
  • People will remember just like the smallest acts of kindness.
    The Murder of Anthony LoConte | Morbid | Podcast
  • I just want my money. I killed the wrong person.
    The Murder of Anthony LoConte | Morbid | Podcast
  • I never gave up hope. I was always hoping he would be found.
    The Murder of Anthony LoConte | Morbid | Podcast
  • Daddy did a bad thing.
    The Murder of Anthony LoConte | Morbid | Podcast
  • My heart breaks for my father. It breaks for us all.
    The Murder of Anthony LoConte | Morbid | Podcast

Key Moments

  • Tragic Loss15:03
  • Confrontation19:31
  • Morganti Arrested25:31
  • Trial Begins28:38
  • Guilty Verdict30:41
  • Life Sentence30:50
  • Struggle for Justice39:01
  • Heartfelt Reflection40:41

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown