The Long Island man charged with killing a New Jersey high school football player outside a downtown axe-throwing bar was acquitted by a Manhattan jury — even after admitting to the fatal stabbing on the witness stand.
Gianluca Bordone, 21, was found not guilty of manslaughter and assault charges Thursday after convincing jurors that he acted in self-defense when he stabbed 17-year-old Rocco Rodden in the heart outside the Live Axe nightclub in TriBeCa the night before Thanksgiving 2023.
The three-week trial included a handful of witnesses who testified about the drunken, early morning melee where Bordone, an Oyster Bay event promoter, plunged a pocket knife into Rodden’s chest as both groups of friends fought.
“He inflicted the fatal blow, a fatal wound in the center of his chest that ripped through his rib cage and cut open his heart,” Manhattan prosecutor Alfred Peterson said at trial.
Bordone’s attorney, Anthony Ricco, told jurors that video of the Nov. 23, 2023, brawl would prove his client’s actions were justified as Rodden’s crew chased him down the block and started “beating the crap out of him.”
Bordone took to the witness stand Monday and told the jury that he stabbed Rodden — a high school junior and football player — because he feared for his life, according to Newsday.
“I was afraid that they would get me to the floor, stomp me, kill me, hit me with the bottle that I had seen before,” he said.
The trial included emotional testimony from Rodden’s family members, including his 21-year-old brother Anthony, who was also slashed by Bordone during the brawl.
Anthony told jurors that his younger brother and sister joined others in the city to celebrate a reunion back from college for the first time — and testified to having been drinking heavily at the time of the stabbing.
Dramatic police bodycam footage played at trial showed a bloodied and shirtless Anthony screaming “Where’s my brother! Where’s my f–king brother!” as EMS tried to get him to a hospital for his own slash wounds after the 1:30 a.m. fight.
The jury needed just four hours before they returned their verdict to Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Laura Ward Thursday.
Bordone, who graduated from Roslyn High School, was facing up to 25 years in prison if convicted of first-degree manslaughter.
His attorney did not immediately return request for comment Friday.
A spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office thanked jurors for their service and extended their condolences to the Rodden family.
“We thank the members of the jury for their service and respect their verdict,” the spokesperson said. “We extend our deepest sympathies to the Rodden family, who continue to mourn a devastating loss.”