"You could swear and you could brawl and it was all in the name of helping other people," he said in "Mafia Cop" - a book he wrote with a co-author, Bob Drury.

A few days earlier, the witness said, Mr. Eppolito had given him a copy of his book, "Mafia Cop," which described his break with the Brooklyn gangsters in his family's past.

It is the 251-page memoir "Mafia Cop," and it sits at the center of the most macabre and bizarre racketeering trial to unfold in years.

Both men testified that Mr. Eppolito gave them signed copies of "Mafia Cop," which has been mentioned at the trial almost every day.

Meanwhile, "Mafia Cop" has been reissued by Pocket Star with a cover line that reads, "The book by the ex-N.Y.P.D. detective whose recent arrest for multiple counts of murder made national headlines."

The Eppolitos were related to 'Mafia Cop' Louis Eppolito.

Mafia Cop: The Story of an Honest Cop whose Family Was the Mob.

It details his leading role in the case of Louis J. Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, the so-called Mafia Cops.

Mafia Cop (Pocket, £4.99 A, 26th)

As proof of this, Mr. Henoch turned to Mr. Eppolito's book, "Mafia Cop" (Simon & Schuster, 1992), which details his rise in gangland Brooklyn to the ranks of the police.