The man who accuses his wife of sleeping with the former rector of St. Patrick’s Cathedral faces a new challenge to his credibility – a Connecticut police chief says Philip DeFilippo is lying when he claims he worked as a cop for nine months.
Try three days, insists Norwalk Police Chief Harry Rilling – who also admits he signed a reference letter for DeFilippo that is false.
DeFilippo insists the discrepancy over his résumé doesn’t detract from his credibility and his claim that his wife, 46-year-old Laura DeFilippo, had an affair with Monsignor Eugene Clark.
Chief Rilling told The Post that a letter stating DeFilippo was a Norwalk cop from October 1980 to July 1981 is incorrect.
“I’m embarrassed because my signature went on something that has an error,” the chief told The Post.
For his part, DeFilippo said if the letter is wrong, “that’s their mistake” – and said he relied on Norwalk’s information about his work history in seeking the letter.
DeFilippo obtained the letter in 1996 and used it in 2002 to apply for an NYPD pistol permit for his private-eye business.
DeFilippo passed Norwalk’s written police exam in May 1980 with a score of 87.95 percent – but didn’t fare well enough in the department’s agility/strength test to be hired immediately, the papers show.
He was finally hired as a probationary officer on July 23, 1981. Just three days later, on July 25, DeFilippo quit because he “did not like police work,” the papers say.
Meanwhile, Clark denies writing and signing a 2002 letter on St. Patrick’s stationery that DeFilippo also offered in his NYPD gun-permit application.
The letter states, “I have utilized the investigative services of Philip DeFilippo in this parish and my previous parishes in New York City, and I am confident to [sic] secure his services again.”
But Clark didn’t hire him, can’t recall writing the letter – and “wouldn’t write it in that fashion – the grammar,” said his lawyer, Laura Brevetti.
DeFilippo showed The Post a check indicating his security firm was paid $3,797.25 in 2003 to “provide personal & property protection” for several days because church officials feared a fired staffer would break into the cathedral.