Unconvinced that murder suspect Antonio Bertolini only intended to injure and intimidate his victim, a jury convicted the 32-year-old Huntington resident of second-degree murder for the fatal 1997 shooting of a popular Syosset Fire Department volunteer who was ambushed in front of his home on Fourth Place. He was also charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the second and third degree.

The ruling came down on Sept. 30, less than 24 hours after the trial went into deliberations. County Court Judge Jules Orenstein will sentence Bertolini on Oct. 28. Bertolini faces 25 years to life in prison.

Bertolini and accomplice Christopher Rustici, the 25-year-old triggerman, were arrested in November of 1997 for the death of 38-year-old Paul Behr, who bore the nickname "Roofman" for his affinity for climbing roofs of homes.

Behr was outside of his residence, tending to his lawn on Aug. 22, 1997, unaware that the two subjects were sitting in a nearby car, waiting for him to emerge from the house. Rustici approached Behr and shot him once in the side. The bullet shredded several of Behr's vital organs, including his heart. The two men then drove off.

Two young boys found Behr collapsed on his lawn and called for help. Behr was still alive when members of the Syosset Fire Department came to his rescue and, as he lay dying, he told them who he thought may have ordered the attack. Hours later, Behr died.

Behr had been living with his girl friend, Linda Coloccia, 55, who was at the time still married to her estranged husband, Frank Coloccia. Authorities believe that Frank Coloccia, in a jealous act of revenge, paid his nephew, Bertolini, $3,000 to injure Behr. Police publicly named Coloccia as their third suspect, but never charged or arrested him. They continue to investigate Coloccia's role.

Bertolini was arrested three months following the murder after his girl friend, Krista Vechione, informed police that he confessed his crime to her.

Bertolini admitted to police that he was involved in the attack; but it was his contention, along with that of defense attorney Dennis Lemke, that the gun he brought to the murder scene was intended for his own protection, and was misused by his accomplice, Rustici.

"The plan was that Mr. Bertolini and Mr. Rustici were going to...scare Mr. Behr, because he's basically involved with a married woman," said Lemke. The attorney said that Rustici was supposed to beat Behr with a baseball bat.

But Bertolini brought a gun as well, said Lemke, "just in case somebody wanted to be a hero." According to Lemke, Rustici, who is awaiting his own trial, "flipped out, got nervous and tried to shoot him in the buttocks, but he got him just slightly higher."

Lemke argued in court that, though his client never denied his guilt in the attack, Bertolini should only be convicted of second-degree manslaughter and criminally-negligent homicide because it was not his intent to kill. The result would have been a sentence of 12-and-a-half to 25 years.

Nevertheless, Assistant D.A. Joy Watson successfully argued to a jury of seven men and five women that bringing a gun showed a depraved indifference for Behr's life, which was enough to convict Bertolini of the more serious charge. Lemke is planning to appeal.

In an interview, Watson said that, regardless of the defense's argument, the fact that Bertolini brought a gun with him reveals the defendant's true intentions.

In addition to Behr's family, almost two dozen members of the Syosset Fire Department attended the trial when the verdict was read.