The murder, committed by Crispo's employee Bernard LeGeros, shocked the global art community and has since received wide international coverage by authors and journalists,[3][4] with writer Gary Indiana noting that Crispo never being charged in the murder was "one of the most surpassingly ugly things that ever happened in the art world.
[6] They handcuffed and hooded him with a black leather mask, and brought him back to the LeGeros family estate in the hamlet of Tomkins Cove, New York.
[6] Three weeks later, hikers discovered the victim's severely mutilated remains; the body had been burned and wild animals had largely eaten it away, with the exception of his face, which was covered by the mask.
[15] Gribetz later wrote about the case in his book (co-authored with H. Paul Jeffers) Murder Along the Way: A Prosecutor's Personal Account of Fighting Violent Crime in the Suburbs.
[21] In 1989, while Crispo was serving his sentence for tax evasion, his home in The Hamptons suffered a catastrophic explosion due to a natural gas leak.
[6][24] Following that release, Crispo sought to open another gallery in a space he purchased in a Brooklyn building, but could not raise sufficient funds.