In March 2005, two retired New York City detectives were arrested without much fanfare outside of Piero’s, a restaurant near the Las Vegas Strip. There was no shootout or dramatic chase, just federal agents closing in on a story that had circulated in law enforcement circles for years. The men in custody were Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa. Once-decorated members of the NYPD, they were charged with acting as paid killers for the Mafia. A federal jury convicted them 20 years ago this month. By the spring of 2006, as they stood in a New York courtroom awaiting sentencing, the rumor that two NYPD ...