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The Case Against Enrico Forti

43m 15s

The Case Against Enrico Forti

The 1998 murder of Dale Pike on Virginia Key, Florida, remains one of the most controversial unsolved cases in American criminal history. Enrico Forte, known as Kiko, was convicted of the crime based largely on circumstantial evidence, including sand grains from the beach matching those found on his vehicle, a phone card tied to him, and a boarding pass. However, no direct physical evidence links him to the murder, and experts dispute the forensic and timeline validity of the prosecution’s claims. The case was deeply flawed: the pathologist’s time-of-death estimate was challenged, the alibi of Forte’s dinner party was plausible, and key evidence—like the phone call from the gas station—was unverified due to police errors. A long-time suspect, Thomas Cannot, had a clear motive from financial fraud and allegedly bragged about being involved in a murder, though he denied it. He was deported to Germany after serving a fraud sentence, and his testimony remains uncorroborated. Despite evidence suggesting a possible cover-up and a lack of a credible trigger man, the jury convicted Forte, who has spent 24 years in prison. His supporters, including family, friends, and independent investigators, continue to argue that he is innocent and that a key suspect was overlooked. The case has drawn international attention, especially in Italy, where Forte is regarded as a hero. As of 2024, he is serving his life sentence in Italy, and ongoing calls for a retrial persist, driven by new witness accounts and a growing belief that the real killer—possibly someone with ties to the hotel deal or the local elite—remains unidentified. The absence of a definitive answer underscores the enduring mystery and the possibility that justice was not served.

Transcription

5808 Words, 31513 Characters

English
You want to go back to where your brother was found, boys? Yes. I want to go to the beach because that is where it happened. If any of the rocks could talk. It's my understanding that your brother was actually found in the underbrush over here. Del Pike was found on a beachwammy naked face down that shot twice in the back of the head. My name is Joe Takapina, I'm a lawyer, former prosecutor, criminal defense attorney who's one of the lawyers for Enrico Forte, an innocent man who's been wrongly convicted and has spent the last 20 years in jail. Mr. Forte? Yes. Did you have anything to do with Del Pike's death? Absolutely not. Did you ever in your wildest dreams ever think you'd end up in a place like this? Never. Never. Enrico Forte, his nickname's Kiko, was a world-class wind surfer from Italy. He was a father. He was a husband. There's no forensic evidence linking Kiko Forte to this crime, none whatsoever. People have made comparisons to this case in the Maddox. You don't decide this person's guilty and then look for evidence to back it up. Is that what you think happened to Enrico Forte? There's no doubt without question. The victim, in this case, is Del Pike, the son of Tony Pike, who owns a famous hotel in Ibiza, Spain. It's a place where parties go, where people go to do wild things, Spain's version of Las Vegas. You knew you were in this special place, so that attracted all different sorts of people, you know, whether it be Frank Zappert, Julio Glazier, WAM George Michael, and of course, Freddie Mercury. Did you know that your father was seriously entering into negotiations to sell the hotel to Enrico Forte? Yes, it just didn't feel right. Dale wanted to go and see this guy face-to-face. Del Pike was going to Miami and Enrico Forte was the one that was supposed to pick him up. All I knew that my brother was going over there for the deal, so it's really like it was the deal that created the death. What you're sitting here right now, do you think Enrico Forte, either help kill or actually killed Dale Pike? No, I do not. But you were one of the 12 jurors who convicted him. Yes, I know. [Music] The 1998 murder of Dale Pike has always been and is to this day a true murder mystery. Always questions, always questions. Brad Pike is Dale's younger brother. I also don't think I'll ever know the truth. What is known is that someone shot Dale Pike twice in the back of the head with a 22 and left his body on a quiet stretch of beach on Virginia Key minutes from Key Biscayne. Sean Crowley, a former captain with the NYPD, is now a private investigator. Virginia Key is a commonplace for wind surface. On February 16, 1998, a beachgoer found Dale's body. He sees indentation in the sand from the waterline into the vegetation. But in that indentation, he sees blood stains all along. So all the way from here, like from the edge of the water, all the way to vegetation? Correct. He's found completely naked? Completely naked, yes. His shirt was a little off to the side, but bloodied. And then some key pieces of evidence were under his body or right next to his body. Crowley, who works for Joe Takapina and Enrico Forte's current lawyer, believes the killer or killers, staged the crime scene with obvious clues so the body would be quickly identified, a boarding pass with Dale's name on it, appendent from Pike's hotel in Ibiza, Spain, and a phone calling card with only one number dialed. That number belonged to Forte, better known as Kiko, an Italian television producer living in Miami. As if to say to the police, just in case you don't know who made this murder, it's the guy who picked them up at the airport because he has the boarding pass and checked the calling card course. Kiko, Forte is number one at three times. Here you go, police. I was wondering, like how close were you to Dale? We were close, but I guess we were all so quite different. I loved very much the outdoors. Dale wasn't really interested in that. So he was interested more in the clubbing that sort of thing. Charming man? Yeah. Yeah, very much so. Brad was home in Australia when he got the news about Dale from a Miami detective. And she said, look, I'm sorry to inform you that your brother's been found murdered. I told him a whole story about what was happening. What was happening was that Brad and Dale's father, Anthony Tony Pike, had signed papers to sell his world famous Pike's hotel to Enrico Forte. We had our suspicions about it. Dale wanted to just lay it out and lie and say, look, I understand you want to do the deal. So what's the game? What are you playing up with now? The brothers believed the hotel was worth a lot more money than the sales price of approximately $1.6 million. In the 1980s, the hotel had become a destination resort. After George Michael and WAM chose it as a setting for the iconic video Club Tropicana. Tony Pike had a cameo role and he played it to the hilt. That video in Tony's sex craze persona made Pike's a hewnest hideaway and a haven for celebrities. He was a very, very adventurous and very tenacious man, incredibly charismatic, good looking, very charming, cheeky. Tony had asked Dale to help run Pikes after Tony became very sick in January 1997. They did test and immediately diagnosed him with AIDS and said he has fallen on AIDS and AIDS dementia. But thanks to medication, in November 1997, Tony was clear-minded enough to travel to Williams Island and exclusive enclave outside Miami. He was visiting an old friend, Thomas Knot, a German expat who had a taste for the good life. His idea of living was to drink champagne instead of water. Shavee Mesmer managed a shop on Williams Island and knew Knot well. Everything had to be the best, his shoes had to be Gucci, his everything had to be the best. While visiting Knot, Tony Pike met Knot's upstairs neighbor Enrico 40 and they hit it off. Very successful. Incredible person, he had contracts going with ESPN World Champions since 1982. In Italy, he had won a popular quiz show. And later produced extreme sports videos. He was a mover and a shaker, buying up properties right around in Williams Island seemed to be the perfect life, if you will. Forty's wife Heather was pregnant and the couple had two young daughters. Oh my God, the most loving father. And the way he felt about the baby coming, he was on Card 9. He loved Heather, with all his heart and soul. Then, in late 1997, Tony Pike told Forty, he wanted to sell his legendary hotel, and a few months later the hotel. tell Deal came together. Tony signed papers to sell it to Forty. And that's when Tony's sons got upset. They felt Forty had taken advantage of Tony. The nature of the AIDS dementia, as far as I know, is that he goes in and out of lucidity. I guess Dale and I were just suspicious that because he wasn't mentally together, that any deal that he was doing any way needed to be checked and looked at. Brad says Dale then flew to Miami to deal with Forty in person. And Rico Forty wants a sports champion who traveled all over the world. Today is restricted to a prison cell, but he says only his body is behind bars. I still throw a lot in my mind. That's my way to survive in here. He's constantly turning over the events that landed him here. Back in 1998, Forty was excited about becoming the owner of the legendary Pikes Hotel in Ibiza, Spain. Sales papers have been signed, but Dale and his brother Brad still had questions. My brother sort of said, look, one of us needs to go and have a look at the deal and just find out what's happening with this. Forty went to pick Dale up at the Miami Airport on Sunday afternoon, February 15, 1998. But Dale's flight was late. I almost left. I waited for him almost two hours. And when I didn't find him, I started paging him. These records show Forty and Dale's attempts to locate each other using the airport intercom. They stop playing this game of telephontated via the airport intercom system for about an hour and a half. Joe Takapina and Dina Nashwatt, Forty's lawyers, say Forty was nervous about the time, because he had promised Heather he would pick up her father that night at the Fort Lauderdale Airport, about 45 minutes north. And she said to him, don't be late to pick up my father. Forty says that when he and Dale finally did connect, Dale had a request. As soon as he arrived, he asked me for some cigarette. I know smoke, I didn't have cigarettes. So we stopped at the first gas station, then I could find Forty to buy some cigarettes. Dale Takapina in there goes into the phone booth and makes a call. And then Dale said, could you drop me off at first? He said, keep his cane and Kiko said, no, I can't go that far. You know, I have to go pick up my father-in-law. So he said, no, no, no, not Kiko's cane. Just take me to the Rusty Pelican restaurant and Kiko said, okay. Forty says they never talked about the hotel deal. Instead, Forty says Dale told him he was going to a party with, quote, friends of Thomas Cannot. Sound like something your brother would do? It's not out of the possibility of it being promised a good party. At the restaurant, Forty says Dale got out of the car and into a white Lexus in the parking lot. He says he didn't recognize the driver. The guy inside the car, there was waiting for him, was an elegant person with a white shirt, gold chain, gold watch. After dropping off Dale, Forty made a cell phone call to his wife Heather at exactly 7.16 pm. Forty knew she'd be upset that he had been wasting time with Dale. So Forty lied. And I thought I didn't pick him up. I didn't want to have an argument with her. I was extremely late. Forty picked up Heather's father at the Fort Lauderdale Airport and says he didn't give Dale another thought. In the moment that I left him, it was out of my mind. It's not that I would think he all was going to happen to him. No, he never, for a second, I can't do my mind. There's something bad or terrible could happen. Dale's body was found nearly 24 hours later on Monday evening on that wind surfing beach on Virginia key. About two miles from the Rusty Pelican. Forty says he heard the news about Dale's murder on Wednesday and that Tony was flying to Miami. I was confused and I was still undersharked. I spent all night trying to locate where Tony Pike was. Nobody knew where he was. And that's because the Miami police had spirited him away. They wanted to know more about Dale's trip and that hotel deal. They certainly were convinced that the deal with the hotel and the purchase of the hotel was, let's say, the impetus for the killing. Forty says he knew none of this when he reached out to the police on Thursday. I thought he was, did I think to do? Unwittingly, Forty was walking into the lion's den and police were ready to pounce. Suspicious of Forty and the hotel deal, detectives tried to trick him, suggesting that Tony might also be dead. The police lied intentionally to Kiko and what Kiko thought was, oh my god, I was in Miami. I picked up Dale Pike, he's dead. These guys think I killed both of them and he panicked. Forty then made what he says was the biggest mistake of his life. He repeated the lie he had told his wife. He told cops he had not picked up Dale at the airport. But if you were going to try to help the police, why didn't you tell them? You would pick Dale Pike up? Because when I arrived there, that moment, I realized it was a suspect. Of course, I was confused and I do believe there is no logic on the way that I behaved at night. Forty returned to the police station the next day and says he had made up his mind to tell the truth. When did you tell them you had, in fact, picked up Dale Pike? As soon as I had the opportunity, I don't remember exactly the time. But detectives say Forty only admitted picking up Dale after they confronted him. With those airport paging records, proving that he and Dale had made contact. Forty insists he came clean about everything. Telling cops all he knew about the Pike family. And 40 pointed investigators to that long-time friend of Anthony Pike, Thomas Cannot. And Thomas Cannot was stealing money left and right from Anthony Pike. The police weren't defying Cannot, but by then, Thomas Cannot had vanished. The man was just the happiest person I ever met. Chave Mesmer, New and Rico Forty even before Thomas Cannot arrived on the scene. He was one of the kindest, nicest, most appealing people on the island. But his downstairs neighbor, Thomas Cannot, she said. Well, he was a different story. When did you start to realize this is a common? Right after I married him. It turned out Thomas Cannot moved to Williams Island, straight out of a German prison. Cannot was convicted of 14 counts of fraud stealing millions. But when he turned up on Williams Island, the high-flying Cannot told everyone he was a tennis pro. So this guy who told you he was a tennis player and was making money for playing tennis, he would allow to tennis close. He just wore a lot of tennis clothes. Chave says Cannot was charming, and she eventually married him to help him get a green card. But the sham nut jewels were quickly annulled. When she said she saw his fits of anger. Thomas had a really bad temper. She wasn't surprised that Cannot vanished. When Dale Pike's body was found, I thought they got him for the murder. With 100% certainty, there was not any motive for Kiko forte to want Dale Pike dead. Zero. There was plenty of motive for Thomas Cannot. Turns out for months, Thomas Cannot had been illegally running up exorbitant charges on Tony Pike's credit cards. And Dale Pike knew it. 40 in Takapena believed that was a motive for murder. Cops caught up with Cannot days later in downtown Miami, but Cannot told police 40 had his own motive that Dale's concerns about the hotel sale could ruin 40's deal. Cannot made a very compelling case that Kiko must have killed him. Kiko's trying to swindle him from the hotel. Police had enough to charge both men with fraud cannot for running up $90,000 on Tony Pike's credit cards. Forty for allegedly trying to swindle Tony out of his hotel. But for the Miami police, Forty was still the prime murder suspect. The police had determined early on that it was Kiko. That was Kiko, it was Kiko. After all, Forty was the last known person to see Dale Pike alive. And he lied about it to the police. And Cannot had something Forty did not, an alibi. He was hosting a dinner that night. At a dinner party in his little apartment, because he had a lot of people in there at this particular time to give him enough witness for an alibi. But Takapino says if that alibi clears Thomas Cannot, then the timeline should clear Forty. There isn't enough time for Forty to pick up Dale, murder him, and then meet his father-in-law in 90 minutes. Prosecutors agreed that he might not be the trigger man. They don't accuse Kiko of being the gunman, the trigger man, the shooter. They don't accuse him of that. They said he was acting accomplice with someone else. With who? They have no idea. But with someone else. Even if Forty wasn't the trigger man, prosecutors decided they could prove he had a role in Dale's murder. Prosecutors cut a deal with Cannot to testify against Forty, even though the convicted command had failed three polygraph tests. And in October of 1999, they announced they had critical physical evidence linking Forty to the crime scene. What's the crucial evidence against Forty? Grains of sand, less than a teaspoon. Prosecutors say they recovered that much from Forty's car and that it matches the sand here on this beach where Dale Pike's body was found. Now let's focus on the evidence of the sand. The first two times they searched that vehicle, they came back with an insufficient amount of sand for the forensic technician to determine where that sand would have come from. The third time they recovered some sand in the trailer hitch. They removed the trail hitch. This wouldn't be allowed in a traffic court when alone a murder trial. This wouldn't be allowed in a food court. But it was. And at Forty's murder trial in 2000, prosecutors poured over blow-ups of microscopic images of sand particles. With their experts saying the Grains definitely came from Virginia key. And he lives in that area and he's got kids and he's a windsurfer. Why wouldn't he have the sand on his vehicle? Veronica Lee had just turned 20 when she was picked for the jury. She had her doubts. Were you troubled all about the fact that there was no DNA that connected the defendant? No fingerprints. Right. But the state pathologist did provide damning testimony. Based on undigested food that Dale Pike likely ate on the airplane, the pathologist said the time of death was consistent with some time between 6 p.m. and 7-16 p.m. when Dale Pike was with Forty and when Cannot was home at his dinner party. How big a mistake was it for the defense not to call their own pathologist? It was an enormous mistake by the defense not to call their own pathologist. Forty eight hours as pathologist Dr. Gregory Davis from the University of Kentucky to review the Miami Pathologist report. I'm shocked that this got entered into evidence. Is there like one word that sums up this affidavit? How would you sum it up? Irresponsible. Dr. Davis says pathologists have known for decades that people simply digest food at different rates. Can you pinpoint the time of death to a minute the way this is 7-16 as opposed to 7-17? Absolutely not. In fact, Dr. Davis believes the lack of animal or bug bites on the body and the state of decomposition indicates that Dale Pike could have died later even the following day when Forty would have an alibi of his own. Prosecutors stuck to their timeline. They highlighted that 7-16 p.m. phone call Forty made to his wife when he was supposedly heading north to pick up her father. A cell phone tower instead places Forty going in the opposite direction and prosecutors without any proof speculated that Forty was on his way to get rid of evidence. The defense countered that there were too many variables including the weather to determine why one tower picked up a call and not another. And they tried to offer Kannaat as a better suspect. Did you want to know more about Thomas Kannaat? Yes, I did. Every time they tried to bring him up, oh, he's not the one that's on trial here. Prosecutors ultimately decided against calling the convicted con man and on June 15, 2000, the case went to the jury. I tried to voice my opinion and tell them, look, there is no smoking gun. How can you put this man away, you know, for life? There is a point where I locked myself in the bathroom and started crying. Nobody would listen to me. They said I don't know what I'm talking about. I'm just a little girl, you know, and it was really hard. Veronica felt forced to vote guilty. He looked right at me. I mean, I couldn't even look at him in the eyes. I felt like I let him down so much. But I tried so hard. Some jurors did not like the fact that Forty initially lied. That's the only thing they have against me. The lie to my wife and the life and the lie to the police, nothing else. And that was a mistake? I think it was a mistake, of course it was a mistake. But it's a mistake they need to be punished with the life sentence. Forty was sentenced to life without parole. I felt like he was done wrong. I don't think it was a fair trial. So if Enrico Forty did not kill Dale Pike, was it Thomas Cunott? We went to find him. The Unsolved Mysteries podcast is back. I'm Jordan Murphy. And each week I'll take you inside a new investigation. It could be an unsolved murder and unexplained disappearance. The search for a wanted fugitive. Any mystery that still needs answers. We'll follow every new lead, every break in the case, and the moments what a mystery is finally solved. Because after all these years, one thing hasn't changed. Someone, somewhere, knows the truth. Listen to and follow Unsolved Mysteries, available now, wherever you get your podcasts. The only truth that I know for sure is that Kiko would definitely not kill a person. Like all of Kiko Forty's friends, Francesco Guidelli, who attended the trial, will never accept Forty's guilty verdict. The trial was tragic. And what's more, lawyer Joe Takapena says the police botched a key aspect of Forty's story that might have revealed another suspect. Forty told authorities that after he picked up Dale, they stopped at a gas station where Dale used a pay phone. They went and pulled the phone records from that telephone booth and they came back saying, he lied, there's absolutely no record of a call that was made from that phone booth on that day at that time. And what was wrong with that? The problem was they subpoenaed the wrong year. By the time the police subpoenaed the correct year, the records were no longer available. So because of police incompetence, we will never know who was on the other end of that phone call. It was mine blowing to me that he was convicted. Forty's friends and family agree and have kept a drum beat over the years, insisting he's innocent. In 2013, Forty's case came to the attention of Italian journalist Manuel Morreno. I was in U.S. and I was looking for a big story. I started to study, kick of Forty's story and I said, this is my story. Manuel visited Forty and he told her he was desperate for legal help. At his suggestion, Manuel contacted Joe Takapina. She said you have to take this case. She asked me to meet with the family. Few Americans have ever heard the name Enrico Forty, but five thousand miles away from his Miami prison. cell, it's a very different story. Here in Trento, Italy, he's the hometown hero. We met some of 40's closest friends, including Louisa Megastropa, 40's first wife, who remembered the days she and Kiko would ski and snowboard. Where are we exactly? It's the place where we used to come with Kiko. You said he always had to be moving. Yeah. Skis, snowboard, jumping, with the skis, everything, everything with the snow. Have you stayed in touch with his family? Kiko's family? Oh yes, they love me. And the mother loves me. She's 91-year-old and she's still a young chicken. She's my rock. You talk to her? Yeah, yeah, a daughter. She's great. She's speaking with? No, she doesn't. But she's very smart. Tell you communicate with her hands, so she will be able to communicate with you. She will give you a big hug. I guess. We also visited 40's Uncle Gianni, who is the keeper of all things Kiko. Italian magazines compare 40 to Amanda Knox. How often do you think about Kiko? It's not that I think of it. I have nightmares. I have spent 20 years looking at all the evidence to see if there was any basis. It's my life. After 20 years, we must say and prove that Kiko forte is not guilty. And he never was. Gianni's relentless campaign to keep his nephews' case in the public eye paid off. When a witness came forward with an intriguing story, after seeing a television program about 40's case, I met Thomas Cannot by chance on a yacht in Monte Carlo. We found Fabrizio Pandolfi in the small town of Luca. He's restricted to his hometown because of his own financial crimes. When he told his story publicly for the first time, he said that in 2011, he met Thomas Cannot at a party in Monte Carlo on a yacht called the gold finger. The true reason why I'm here is what I was able to hear and understand that there is a person who was in prison, who was innocent. I heard Thomas Cannot brag of things that he had done serious things, grave things, and he managed to get away with it, and others paid for him. He also used to mind the use of a revolver, of a gun like this. He used to say I did things that I didn't pay for. Pandolfi says Cannot never said he was the trigger man, nor did he use the name's Dale Pike or Enrico 40, but Cannot did refer to his friend Anthony, who had a hotel in Ibiza. Eventually Pandolfi provided this information to an Italian investigator, and she gave it to Joe Takapina. And what is your hope by giving her this information, by giving Kiko Forti's attorney this kind of information with her hope? That the investigation would be reopened, so that one could show that Kiko Forti, most likely, maybe for sure, had nothing to do at all with the murder. Cannot is always insisted he had nothing to do with Dale's murder, and after he served three years in Florida prisons, for stealing $90,000 from Tony Pike, he was deported to Germany. They let him walk out the door and let him take a plane and go to Germany and live the rest of his life. We wanted to ask Thomas Cannot about Pandolfi's story, so we left Italy and headed north on the Autobahn. The trail then led us here to Munich, Germany. This is where Thomas Cannot says he now lives. He even gave us his phone number, but when it came to sitting down with him for a non-camera interview or just meeting with him, you could see for yourself what happened. Can we just meet with you? I mean, all I'll do is no camera and just meet with you for coffee. We told Cannot about the story Fabrizio Pandolfi told us, "If you ever been on a yacht called the gold finger, so you have been." He confirmed that much. And so we have somebody who has come forward who said that he heard you actually say that you had been involved in a murder. You say he's a crook, but to be honest, Mr. Cannot, you have quite the criminal history as well. Cannot said Pandolfi had no credibility. One con man pointing the finger at another, "All right, thank you, sir." He said, "He's not going to meet with us. He got very, very agitated. He does not say UNRECO-40 is the killer. He just says, "You want to know who killed Dale Pike? Ask him." Back in the United States, we decided to fly Brad Pike, the brother of murder victim Dale Pike, in from Australia. He brought along family files where we found something written by the homicide commander that was extraordinary. That's the first time hearing of that iron. My reaction is to want to pound this table right now and say, "Are you kidding me? That's disgusting." It's been 21 years since Brad Pike's brother Dale was murdered on this Miami Beach. And Brad is here from Australia to finally see what it looks like for himself. Does coming here in some way just raise more questions in your head rather than answering them? It does, but then it also answers a lot of questions because now I know what the scenario looks like. I could think of a lot worse places to die. When Miami, Brad had a private meeting with a prosecutor who tried the murder case against UNRECO-40, stopped by the Rusty Pelican and visited Williams Island, where his father Tony spent time with 40 and Thomas Cunott. It remains now no longer an imagination, but the reality. Brad brought with him a stack of papers he had collected about the case, including this email. This is an email that was sent to Tony Pike after the trial. In the lengthy email sent to Brad's father after the trial, Lieutenant John Campbell, the homicide squad's commander, writes, "The prosecutors were very uncertain about proceeding and we almost had to threaten them to get 40 charged." "I get a little scared. I get a little scared that that's how the system just works out there." Lieutenant Campbell also wrote, "I was really nervous that the jury would find him not guilty because we just didn't have a lot of proof. Thankfully, they recognized that truth when they saw it. We showed that email to 40." From the beginning, they wanted to crucify me and they were just waiting to see how they could do it and that fact that you have in your hand, it's just in other evidence. Is that hard to read? Yes, it's hard to read. I wish I knew about these things when I could see a fight on a legal way. Your lawyer has this now. I'll begin to do something about that." Campbell now retired, admits he had a contentious relationship with an administrator in the prosecutor's office, but that he and other detectives all believed 40 was guilty and that they, quote, "had sufficient weight of evidence to meet our legal burden." Prosecutors refused our request for an interview, but wrote that they stand behind 40's conviction. "There's so many doors closed. Getting to sit down with the prosecutors is impossible. We've asked they said no thanks. We're not interested. We need somebody to listen." Enrico 40 hopes that someone will come forward with new evidence, like the identity of the man who 40 says picked up Dale Pike at the Rusty Pelican. We arranged this sketch to be made based on 40's description. "That's very accurate. The only thing he's missing is a goal chain, but otherwise it's a very accurate drawing of that person." "And how do you just keep going every day?" "I'm looking forward. You know, I do that for my kids. I do that for my friends. I do that for my family." 40's wife Heather was 25 years old and pregnant when he was first arrested. and his only son was born while 40 was out on bail. The couple also had two older daughters. When you were convicted, you said something to your wife. What did you tell Heather? I told her it was time for her to get her own life because it would have been a long battle. Eventually, Heather moved back to her native Hawaii with their three children. After divorcing 40, she married an old friend. And raised a blended family. 40's daughter Jenna once appeared on the CBS program, Hawaii 50. I'm adding these words to your life. And 40's son barely two years old when his father was convicted. Asked his mother for a special present for his 16th birthday to visit his father in prison. Do you think someday you'll have the life you had back? I don't believe so. I don't want to use the word of hope I believe in that. I'm very positive. My mind's still pretty much free. Remember, prosecutors conceded a trial that 40 may not have been the trigger man. No one else was ever arrested in connection with Dale's murder, which means the shooter is likely at large. Tony Pike died in February 2019. As for Brad Pike, he believes 40 has spent enough time in prison. And what do you want to say to Enrico 40? I forgive him. It's just a terrible, terrible, terrible situation. Whether he killed Dale or not. Had they met, Brad says he would have told 40 that he supports the calls to free him. And I don't think anyone will really know what the absolute truth is. There's only two people that know one of them's dead. And the other one pulled the trigger. It's those unsolved mysteries that we have to learn to live with. On March 1st, 2024, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced that he would allow Enrico 40 to be transferred to Italy to serve out his life sentence in Enrico 40 is serving the remainder of his life sentence in a prison in Verona, Italy. Hey, I'm Tony DeCouple, anchor of the CBS evening news. On my new daily podcast, Great Question with Tony DeCouple, we go deeper on the one big question you haven't heard answered, or maybe haven't even heard asked. Follow and listen wherever you get your podcasts. It was a gruesome discovery off a dirt road in Georgia. Hunters had found a body. Was it immediately clear to you that this woman had been murdered? Yes. But who was this mystery woman in the woods? That looks like Mindy. I'm Erin Moriarty. And from 48 hours, this is the woman in the woods. I've never wanted to be wrong like this in my whole entire life. Binge, the full series, The Woman in the Woods, wherever you get your podcasts.

Podcast Summary

Key Points:

  1. Enrico Forte (Kiko Forty) was wrongfully convicted of murdering Dale Pike, with no forensic or physical evidence linking him to the crime.
  2. The murder occurred on Virginia Key beach, with the body found naked and staged to suggest a quick identification, including a boarding pass and a phone card linked to Forty.
  3. Key suspicious details include the timeline inconsistency—Fourty claimed to have picked up Dale, but no phone records exist for that exact time, and his alibi with a dinner party contradicts the murder timeline.
  4. Thomas Cannot, a known fraudster with a violent past, had a motive to kill Dale due to illegal credit card charges and was a suspect, but was never charged in the murder.
  5. Prosecutors relied heavily on sand grain evidence from Forty’s car, matching the beach, but experts have questioned the scientific reliability and timeline assumptions.
  6. A pathologist’s report was used to establish a narrow time window, but a second expert dismissed it, noting that decomposition and digestion rates make such precision impossible.
  7. A witness, Fabrizio Pandolfi, claimed Cannot admitted involvement in the murder and had prior experience with firearms, but Cannot denied it and refused to cooperate.
  8. The case remains unresolved, with the victim’s brother and legal advocates asserting that the prosecution was flawed and that the real killer may still be at large.

Summary:

The 1998 murder of Dale Pike on Virginia Key, Florida, remains one of the most controversial unsolved cases in American criminal history. Enrico Forte, known as Kiko, was convicted of the crime based largely on circumstantial evidence, including sand grains from the beach matching those found on his vehicle, a phone card tied to him, and a boarding pass. However, no direct physical evidence links him to the murder, and experts dispute the forensic and timeline validity of the prosecution’s claims.

The case was deeply flawed: the pathologist’s time-of-death estimate was challenged, the alibi of Forte’s dinner party was plausible, and key evidence—like the phone call from the gas station—was unverified due to police errors. A long-time suspect, Thomas Cannot, had a clear motive from financial fraud and allegedly bragged about being involved in a murder, though he denied it. He was deported to Germany after serving a fraud sentence, and his testimony remains uncorroborated.

Despite evidence suggesting a possible cover-up and a lack of a credible trigger man, the jury convicted Forte, who has spent 24 years in prison. His supporters, including family, friends, and independent investigators, continue to argue that he is innocent and that a key suspect was overlooked. The case has drawn international attention, especially in Italy, where Forte is regarded as a hero.

As of 2024, he is serving his life sentence in Italy, and ongoing calls for a retrial persist, driven by new witness accounts and a growing belief that the real killer—possibly someone with ties to the hotel deal or the local elite—remains unidentified. The absence of a definitive answer underscores the enduring mystery and the possibility that justice was not served.

FAQs

No, Enrico Forte was never convicted of Dale Pike's murder. There is no forensic evidence linking him to the crime, and he has spent 20 years in prison for a conviction that many believe is wrong.

The prosecution relied on sand grains from Virginia Key matching those found in Forte's car, a phone call to Forte's number, and the timeline of events. However, experts challenge the validity of the sand evidence and the timeline.

No, there was no motive for Enrico Forte to kill Dale Pike. He was a wind surfer and father, with no known connection to the hotel deal or any conflict with the victim.

Thomas Cannot, a former friend of Anthony Pike, had a history of fraud and was accused of stealing from Tony Pike's credit cards. He claimed to have known about the hotel deal and alleged that Forte had a motive, but he was never charged with murder.

Yes, Thomas Cannot claimed he was hosting a dinner party that night, which provided an alibi. However, this alibi was not independently verified, and the prosecution did not pursue it as a key piece of evidence.

Yes, the case remains unresolved, and no one else has been arrested. Prosecutors admitted that Forte may not have been the trigger man, and the shooter is likely still at large.

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