Stamford Private Eye Reveals Case Secrets

Vito Colucci likes to call the days leading up to Feb. 14 Valenslyne Day. Those are the days this Stamford private eye's phone rings incessantly.

On the other end of the phone, usually, is a suspicious spouse looking for someone to spy on their cheating mate.

So when Colucci saw the Mercedes pull into his driveway and a well-dressed, good-looking man of 38 step out, he expected much of the same.

"He comes in, sits down and tells me he wants me to follow his wife," Colucci recalls. "He shows me a photograph of a beautiful blonde woman. So I start asking him the usual hundred questions — her name, the type of car she drives, where he thinks she's going. Then he tells me he wants me to start following her at 2 p.m. and asks if I can go past midnight to 2 a.m. I say sure. Then he says he wants me to call in a report every 15 to 20 minutes."

PI Who Broke Fay Case Publishes Book

He’s been on Larry King and many other news programs. He’s covered major national crime cases. He’s handled murders and vicious divorces.

But no case dumbfounded private investigator Vito Colucci like his investigation of former St. John Roman Catholic Parish pastor, the Rev. Michael Jude Fay, in the spring of 2006.

Fay, who pled guilty to stealing millions from parishioners in September, was initially investigated by Colucci, who was hired by former priest Michael Madden and former parish bookkeeper Bethany D’Erario.

“It was so amazing, so off the charts. It made my jaw drop,” he said.