Murder in Miami: Stan and Joyce Cohen

In 1991, five full years after they were implicated in the case, Anthony Caracciolo and Thomas Joslin finally agreed to a plea bargain.

They pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and were promised sentences that would allow them the possibility of parole.

Caracciolo, the alleged triggerman, got 40 years and Joslin 30. Joslin is scheduled to be released on parole on Dec. 26 this year, 2006, and Caracciolo on Jan. 14, 2010.

Meanwhile, a Miami TV reporter came forward in 1998 to say that Jon Spear, the lead Cohen investigator, told her confidentially in 1993 that he believed Joyce Cohen had acted alone in shooting her husband. He said he believed Zuccarello made up the contract-killing story to get out of prison.

The reporter, Gail Bright, said she revealed the information after five years because she was overwhelmed by guilt that two wrongfully convicted men were rotting in prison.

Supporters of Caracciolo collected statements from two other law enforcers and a polygraph operator who also questioned Zuccarello's reliability.

But Zuccarello, who now lives in the Tampa area, has stood by his account.

A federal judge granted a hearing in the case last summer. Joyce Cohen reportedly is eager to have Zuccarello discounted becausemore than anything elsehis testimony led to her indictment and conviction.

So far, the key figures in the South Florida crime epic remain behind bars.