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| Talk About Crazy!!! |
But there were unbelieving smiles in the courtroom on the day the prosecution called a representative of Merrill Lynch to the witness stand hoping to prove that “Bishop Heidnik” was not as nutty as he appeared.
In 1975 a man calling himself “Bishop Heidnik” opened an account over the phone for $1,500 in the name of a phony church, said broker Robert Kirkpatrick.
Eight years later that small nest egg had swollen to an amazing balance of $540,000.
Far from being insane, Kirkpatrick’s impression from phone conversations was that Heidnik was “a very astute, rational investor.” He was also proved very astute by starting a “church” in his North Philly “House of Horrors” to avoid taxes.
During his 1988 murder trial, Heidnik had sat stoned-faced until the testimony about his money. Suddenly, he became animated and alert.
Broker Kirkpatrick read a note from Heidnik: “I saw that Tastykake has hit 11 yesterday. I hope we got 2,000 shares.” He placed order for another stock and reminded the broker, “Don’t forget my 35 percent discount.”
In an earlier court case on unpaid alimony, Heidnik moaned and groaned about losing money on Crazy Eddie stock. The electronics chain store owner had been caught in fraud and fled the nation.
“I just couldn’t resist Crazy Eddie,” he told the judge in the alimony case.
By the time of his murder trial, the courts had taken control of his investments but Heidnik was still upset over his Crazy Eddie losses and showed it in court.
Later his defense lawyer Charles Peruto Jr. told reporters, “He’s obsessed with Crazy Eddie.”
Despite having a genius IQ of 148, Heidnik had been in and out of mental institutions, his entire life. Peruto Jr. used an insanity defense and the jury might have agreed that a genius could also be insane. But his action – disposing the two bodies, lying to a cop who came to his house – showed the defendant knew right from wrong.
Crazy, yes but not “legally insane.” The jury found him guilty of murder and other crimes and sentenced him to death. Heidnik was executed on July 6, 1999 after telling lawyers to cease filing appeals.