Gaetano Oteri, below. Was Gaetano gay, and this was a lover's quarrel? And, why does Gaetano have a mugshot?
Gaetano Oteri, the father of former Saturday Night Live star Cheri Oteri, was murdered in Nashville this weekend by famed country songwriter Richard Fagan. The man found dead inside his 204 Burgandy Hill Road home Sunday afternoon, Gaetano Thomas Oteri, 69, is believed to have died from a wrist laceration that caused significant bleeding.Oteri’s roommate, Richard William Fagan, 61, is being held without bond on a charge of criminal homicide.Fagan, below
The investigation by Detectives Derry Baltimore and David Achord shows that Oteri and Fagan got into a fight inside the residence at approximately 9 p.m. Saturday. Fagan admits to pulling a pocket knife and cutting Oteri during the fight. He then left.
At 10:45 p.m. Saturday, Fagan was stopped by Officer Jessie Loy on Dickerson Pike near Grace Street for a traffic violation. Fagan smelled heavily of alcohol, admitted to drinking six shots, and was arrested for DUI. He bonded out of jail at 2:15 p.m. Sunday.
At 2:15 p.m., a friend of the roommates, who had been told of the fight by Fagan, called the Emergency Communications Center and reported that the screen door to the home was locked, the house appeared to be in disarray, and Oteri was not responding to his knocks. Medcom found Oteri dead inside.
Detectives immediately began looking for Fagan and found him with his bondsman downtown. Fagan was taken to the South Precinct, interviewed, and charged with Oteri’s murder.
Here's a little background on these two if you care. They call him a famed songwriter, but I've never heard of any of the songs. Country just isn't my thing.
Following his discharge in 1968, Fagan became a homeless vagabond. He married and had a son, but when the marriage failed in 1975 he sank again into drug and alcohol abuse, as well as homelessness. By this time, he had begun dabbling in songwriting. Philadelphia music entrepreneur Tom Oteri heard of Fagan’s talents and invited him to a recording-studio audition. Fagan arrived two hours late and drunk, toppling over three beer cans and a terrarium. Quipped Oteri, “I like the act so far. If he can sing, we’re taking him with us.”
Oteri, who is also the father of Saturday Night Live comic standout Cheri Oteri, urged Fagan to write more songs. In 1976, he recorded five of them and sent them around to various producers. Nothing happened. That might be because Fagan and Oteri had neglected to put an address or phone number on the tape.
