Darrell Fuller's lawyer raises possibility of second suspect

Alleged cop killer Darrell Fuller's lawyer brought out testimony at his trial Friday that authorities at one point believed "two bad guys" may have been involved in the officer's slaying.

But a homicide detective told jurors that the possibility of a second suspect was soon thrown out as authorities investigated the Oct. 23, 2012 deaths of Nassau police Officer Arthur Lopez and motorist Raymond Facey.

Nassau Det. Jeannie Fitzpatrick testified in a Mineola courtroom that "very early on there was a question" about whether there were two suspects.

She said confusion arose from police not knowing at first if Facey, a 58-year-old construction worker from Brooklyn, was an innocent victim or involved in the killing of Lopez, 29.

Prosecutors have alleged that Fuller, 34, of Queens, fled a crash scene before fatally shooting Lopez in the chest after the officer approached him with a Taser during a traffic stop at the Nassau-Queens line.

Fuller then drove his disabled Honda Accord a short way south on the Cross Island Parkway before shooting Facey and escaping in his Toyota Camry, according to authorities.

Fitzpatrick also told defense attorney Francis Quigley Jr. of Garden City during cross-examination that Lopez's partner remembered seeing a black Lincoln Town Car at the scene when she talked to him later that day.

June Facey, the Brooklyn man's widow, said after testimony finished Friday that she didn't think jurors would take a theory of a second bad guy seriously.

"I know it will come out clearly," she said of the prosecution's case. "The detectives are doing a good job."