At 10:00 p.m. April 13, 1956, attorney Thomas Costello boarded a train at New York's Pennsylvania Station en route to Yemassee, South Carolina-the first leg of his voyage to the United States Marine Corps' training depot on Parris Island to defend his brother-in-law, Staff Sergeant Matthew McKeon.
Five days earlier, McKeon had led a training exercise that went tragically wrong, resulting in the drowning deaths of six recruits. McKeon was immediately arrested, and, less than twenty-four hours later, Marine Commandant Pate made a press statement that essentially accused the young man of manslaughter before a court of inquiry even convened.
McKeon's case would change US Marine training practices forever-that part of his story is well known. But Counsel for the Accused Marine Corps Drill Sergeant tells a different tale.
This is the story of Thomas Costello, defending his brother-in-law at the request of his wife. It's the story of a legal team that worked tirelessly for six months in McKeon's defense. And it's the tale of the volunteer counselor who strategized and executed one of the most brilliant criminal defenses in American history: Emile Zola Berman.
About the Author: Marie Costello-Inserra was born in Bronx County, New York, and grew up on City Island. A graduate of Iona College in New Rochelle and Fordham University School of Law, she is a practicing attorney of twenty-eight years.
Admitted to practice in North Carolina and New York, Inserra began her career in the Bronx district attorney's office in 1988 as an assistant district attorney. She has since worked in civil litigation and currently works with the office of the Durham County attorney in North Carolina as a senior assistant county attorney specializing in litigation.
The Costellos' involvement in law began with Inserra's father, Thomas P. Costello, the subject of Counsel for the Accused Marine Corps Drill Sergeant. Her uncle and two cousins also practice law.
Inserra currently resides in Cary, North Carolina, with her husband of thirty-six years, Paul Nicholas Inserra. They have two adult children.
