FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A pair of attorneys for alleged child molester Louis Bianculli said in court Monday that they have been harassed in and out of the courtroom due to their representation of the millionaire developer.
"Since we have already been the target of the threats with the receipt of a dead pig," attorney Jayne Weintraub said.
Weintraub said her partner in the case, attorney Herb Cohen, was sent a package in the mail containing the body parts of a pig with a note reading, "Pigs get slaughtered."
The incident is now the subject of a federal investigation.
"I have never, never endured the threats that I have in this case and in this courtroom," Weintraub said.
Weintraub said the suspect in the pig package is George "Tako" Maniatakos, the boyfriend of Bianculli's ex-wife, who is also the mother of the alleged victim in the case.
Authorities said Bianculli routinely knocked the girl out with chloroform and tortured and molested her for years, beginning when she was 12.
Maniatakos' attorney, Fred Haddad, said his client refutes all the allegations.
"I've had to have cops take me to trials," he said. "It comes with the territory if you're going to practice law."
Weintraub asked Judge Michael Rothschild to bar Maniatakos from the courtroom, something Rothschild said was a drastic step because he had seen no outbursts from him in the courtroom.
"What you're asking me to do is weigh Mr. Maniatakos' right to be present in this courtroom against Mr. Bianculli's right to have effective counsel," the judge said.
A hearing on the matter is scheduled for May 17.
Meanwhile, Rothschild issued an order barring anyone from interfering with Bianculli's attorney's defense, which is punishable by a charge of criminal contempt of court.