Reasonable Doubt: Who Killed Legs Diamond?
Legs: The Early Years
Jack Diamond was born in Philadelphia in 1897. His early years were spent growing up on the streets of Philadelphia before moving to New York City at the age of 18. His adult life put him right in the middle of Prohibition, a time when the manufacture, sale and distribution of liquor was outlawed, creating a network of illicit avenues to fill the demand – and Diamond was in the center of it all.
According to author, Dr. Denis Foley who researched the history of Diamond and who once lived in the apartment next to where Diamond was killed, “Diamond was a fantastic dancer. He used to dance at the Kenwood Club in Albany.” But Foley said that Diamond’s “Legs” moniker was also attributed to his speed in fleeing from the crimes he committed during his youth in Philadelphia.
A Magnet for Bullets
Undoubtedly, it was his criminal lifestyle that made Diamond a target. He was shot in at least four separate incidents before the shooting that would ultimately claim his life in 1931. Let’s take a look at those previous incidents:
It was reported that in 1924, Diamond tried to hijack a liquor truck and was shot;
a few years later, in 1927, he was working as a bodyguard for Jacob Orgen, known as Little Augie, another gangster of the day. Diamond was substituting that night for his brother Eddie Diamond. Two shooters attacked, killing Little Augie and injuring Legs.
In 1930, Legs was shot 5 times while at the Hotel Monticello in Manhattan. The news headline said, “Racketeer Near Death”, but he would pull through.[1] And then in 1931, he was shot while at the Aratoga Inn in the Catskills in New York. Diamond survived, but his days were numbered.
Kidnapping -Torture Trial and Acquittal
In December 1931, Diamond was on trial for the kidnapping of James Duncan and Grover Parks, two competitors of Leg’s liquor-peddling operation. Both were reportedly beaten and tortured. The victim’s claimed that they were assaulted by Diamond and two of his enforcers, John Scacchio and Jack Dalton. A trial concluded on December 17, 1931 finding Legs Diamond not guilty of kidnapping and torture.[2]
Assassination Follows Celebration
Diamond celebrated his acquittal at a party that night in the Ten Broeck section of Albany with his girlfriend Kiki Roberts, a famed Ziegfeld Follies starlet. After partying late into the night, Diamond took a cab to his apartment on Dove Street in Albany. Foley said that Diamond was drunk and sleeping it off when, from the darkness, he was shot three times in the head. Foley said that the landlady who lived downstairs told police that she’d overheard two men talking, one saying “did you think we killed him?” The Ogdensburg Republican Journal and The Daily News reported that one of the bullets that struck Diamond ripped through the base of his skull and that the other two were fired into the side of his head near the right ear.[3][4] The pair was reported to have rode away in a red Packard. Foley said that a newsboy in the neighborhood described them looking like detectives. “The detectives in Albany dressed impeccably in suits, with the beautiful fedoras.” The Glens Falls Times newspaper reported that a pearl-handled pistol was recovered a few blocks from Diamond’s apartment, wrapped in a handkerchief, along with a flashlight. Police indicated that three rounds had been fired from the pistol.[5]
Whodunnit – possible suspects (I moved this subtitle up one paragraph as the next para w/ Kiki was above it, not beneath it)
But, says Foley, the district attorney is suspicious of Diamond’s girlfriend, Kiki Roberts, who had reportedly fled to Boston to be with her mother after Legs’ death. But it appears that the investigation never linked Kiki to the death of her boyfriend.[6]
News reports of the day indicate that Diamond was at war with other gangsters, and anyone who he felt was in competition with his own illicit operations.
But, says Denis Foley, Diamond was also at war with the police. In Albany, New York, politics ruled during the era of Prohibition and those in charge were not about to let gangsters intrude on their territory.
Retired police chief and author of two books on gangster life in upstate New York. Greg Veitch says there are two mobsters who should also be at the top of the list of suspects: Irving Bitz, and Salvy Spitale. “These guys fly under the radar, they’re not as prominent as Meyer Lansky or Lucky Luciano. But a lot of these guys are the ones who do the dirty work, and you don’t hear their names mentioned.”
Veitch said that Diamond had scammed a significant amount of money from Bitz and Spitale in an overseas narcotics venture that never came to fruition. “They were not to be trifled with”, said Veitch about Bitz and Spitale, adding that Diamond never made any attempt to pay back the money.
Veitch said that another suspect to be considered is Little Auggie Carfano. “He’s another one that was implicated in a number of different murders and he’s that second-tier gangster. He was associated with Al Capone, and he was partners with Bitz and Spitale”, added Veitch. Carfano was likely responsible for a half dozen murders during his career, but said Veitch, was never captured, tried, or charged for any of those murders.
But Veitch does not dismiss the theory of the Albany Police Night Squad being implicated in Diamond’s murder either.
Other suspects mentioned included Dutch Schultz, an associate of infamous Arnold Rothstein, described as the godfather of modern organized crime; the Oley brothers, described as local thugs; and Red Cassidy, an Irish gangster of the day. But Veitch says you cannot discount Leg’s wife, Alice Diamond. “Alice was in the middle of breaking up with him over her jealousy of Kiki Roberts, and she (Alice) would certainly have connections to the gangsters,” said Veitch. “She would know his friends, and enemies”, he added. For a short time after Legs’ death Alice tried to cash in on her late husband’s fame, acting in a play and touring, said Veitch. But on July 1, 1933, a year and a half after Legs was murdered, Alice was found shot in her apartment, another death without an answer. There was speculation that this could have been a gang hit, but there is also a suicide theory. She was buried in Queens, NY alongside Legs. Curiously, thirty days after Alice’s death, her bodyguard was shot and killed in a New York City café.[7]
Politics and the Night Squad
Author Bill Kennedy wrote a book titled “O, Albany” a collection of stories of the city’s rich history and its infamous characters including Legs Diamond and political boss Dan O’Connell. Denis Foley said that Kennedy often spoke about Legs Diamond. In the book, said Foley, Kennedy places Diamond’s death in the hands of the Albany police Night Squad. To understand why the theory of police involvement would be plausible, it is necessary to understand the political dynamics of the 1920’s and 1930’s. “… the Democratic Party could tell you anything in Albany because it controlled the city”, said Denis Foley. “They controlled the illicit and a lot of the licit.” Kennedy reportedly interviewed Dan O’Connell, a powerful political party boss who was once described as the last of the old-time bosses[8], a man who survived state and federal gambling investigations, although he did serve a 90-day sentenced for contempt after refusing to testify before a grand jury.[9] O’Connell reportedly sent word to Diamond that he was not welcome in Albany. Foley said that “Dan O’Connell picked the detectives on the Night Squad, and they would report everything to Dan.” And, said Foley, “Dan didn’t want Legs in Albany.” Kennedy attributes a statement to O’Connell of a conversation between Legs Diamond and Albany police sergeant William Fitzpatrick telling Diamond he ‘would kill him if he didn’t keep going.’ Detective John McElveney was Fitzpatrick’s partner on the Night Squad, said Foley, and was also involved in warning Legs Diamond against operating in their city. Foley said that the theory of the police being responsible for Legs’ demise is somewhat validated by the fact of Fitzpatrick’s sudden rise in the ranks. “Fitzpatrick was the sergeant who becomes lieutenant,” said Foley. “And then, after Legs was killed, a little while later he becomes the chief. That’s a rise, right?” Foley said he spoke with a former Albany police department official who also indicated to him that “the Night Squad paid a visit to Legs that night,” referring to the night Legs was killed, though it is unknown whether that was based on knowledge or lore.
Night Squad Plot Twist?
In another twist, Police Chief Kennedy was killed in his office in 1945 by none other than Detective John McElveney. Reports say their relationship became contentious after the Chief allegedly punched McElveney in the jaw during an argument a few weeks before the shooting. One published report indicated there was disagreement over payment for dental bills.[10] Other reports indicate that a state grand jury investigation was underway, ordered by Governor Dewey at the time, over crime and corruption in Albany County. But a special prosecutor is quoted as saying there was no connection between the chief’s murder and the ongoing probe.[11] [12] McElveney was sentenced to state prison for the crime, but his sentence was commuted by the governor in 1957.
Epilogue
Marion “Kiki” Roberts faded from the headlines. In a newsreel interview[13] after Legs Diamond’s murder she said that she was going home to be with her mother in Boston[14]. We could not find any public report of her death.
And what ever happened to Legs’ co-conspirators in that kidnapping and torture trial from which Legs was acquitted? Newspapers at the time reported that Scacchio was convicted on the same evidence used to prosecute Legs. Scacchio was sentenced to 15 years. Dalton apparently fled, and there is no record about any prosecution for his role in the kidnapping.
As for Irving Bitz and Salvy Spitale, Bitz was 78 years old when he was kidnapped for ransom in 1981. It was reported that despite a payment of $150,000, Bitz was strangled and his body pulled from a Staten Island Beach about 3 weeks after his abduction. Newspapers at the time called him a prime suspect in the murder of Legs Diamond, on orders from Dutch Schultz. Spitale died at the age of 82 in Florida.
Eight years after Legs was gunned down, a man in Spokane, Washington claimed responsibility for the assassination of Legs Diamond. Arthur J. Dowling claimed to have served prison time in New York State, but reports of the day do not show that police had any interest in Dowling’s supposed confession.[15]
Reasonable Doubt
The unsolved murder of Jack “Legs” Diamond has become part of Albany, New York history. The speculation as to who killed Diamond began in the moments after someone pulled the trigger back in December 1931. Even if prosecutors had found evidence to charge someone in Diamond’s murder, with all of the prior attempts on Diamond’s life, the people who were his competitors, a jealous wife, people whom he had cheated, and others who simply wanted him dead, any trial would have certainly brought with it a lot of reasonable doubt.
© 2024 The Spawn Group; APB Cold Case
[1] Plattsburgh Sentinel; Oct. 14, 1930, p. 2
[2] Plattsburgh Daily Republican, July 15, 1931, p.1
[3] The Daily News, Tarrytown, NY; Dec. 18, 1931
[4] The Republican Journal, Ogdensburg, NY; Dec. 18, 1931
[5] The Republican Journal; Ogdensburg, NY; Dec. 19, 1931
[6] The Republican Journal, Ogdensburg, NY; Dec. 19, 1931
[7] Ogdensburg Journal, Ogdensburg, NY; Jul. 13, 1939
[8] New York Times, Mar. 1, 1977, p.32
[9] New York Times, Mar. 1, 1977, p.32
[10] Troy Record, Troy, NY; Jan. 29, 1946, p. 9
[11] Dunkirk Evening Observer; Jan. 6, 1945, p.10
[12] Salamanca Republican Press; Jan. 5, 1945, p. 9
[13] YouTube; https://youtu.be/D-pDDRY00qk?si=zuFbADIU_XsxcB5ke; Accessed 4/29/2024
[14] The Daily News; Tarrytown, NY; Dec. 21, 1931, p. 5
[15] Ogdensburg Journal; Ogdensburg, NY; Jul. 13, 1939
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© 2024 The Spawn Group, LLC; APB Cold Case; All rights reserved..
Connected by Evil: Who Killed Jennfier Hammond and Christina White?
The majestic Adirondacks in New York State offer beautiful year-round vistas and the promise of endless outdoor recreational opportunities for visitors and residents alike. The density of the forest is a natural paradise, but it can also provide isolation for any number of illicit activities.
Jennifer Hammond’s Journey
In July 2003 Jennifer “Moonbeam” Hammond left her home in Littleton, Colorado to join a travelling magazine sales team that would be operating in upstate New York. It sounded like a great opportunity for her to see the world and to meet new people. But it seems that the illusion of her great adventure lost its luster rather quickly as she had been in touch with her family and talked about returning home. Her father had even purchased a bus ticket for Jennifer to make the trip back to Colorado – the ticket was waiting for her at the bus terminal in Albany, NY.
Jennifer Dropped Off at Trailer Park, Never Seen Again
It was on August 30, 2003 when Jennifer and her colleagues would be working a shift going door-to-door in the Town of Milton near Ballston Spa in Saratoga County. Jennifer was the first one dropped off by the company van at the Creek and Pines Trailer Park at about 6:30 PM where she would have knocked on doors for about an hour or so. She was the first one dropped off, and would have been the first one picked up. But when the driver returned at around 8:30 PM, Jennifer was not at the pickup point. The driver continued to pick up the other sales reps and then returned to Creek and Pines Trailer Park for Jennifer. But again – she was not there. The driver drove through the park honking the horn, trying to locate her. When she couldn’t be found, the driver called his manager. Because this type of travelling magazine sales involved a transient work force, it wasn’t unusual that some reps would go off on their own or just quit. There was also some thought that Jennnifer may have taken her father up on his offer to return home. After all, there was that bus ticket waiting for her in Albany. But some of her friends in the sales crew grew concerned. They would later call Jennifer’s family to make sure she came home. When it was discovered that she did not return home, the magazine sales company called police. But now, it was November 2, 2003 – more than 2 months since she got out of that van at the trailer park in Milton.
The Investigation of Jennifer’s Disappearance
Undersheriff Jeffrey Brown of the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office was an investigator at the time and remembered working the case. “We did canvass the park, we attempted to determine if she did knock on any doors.” Brown said they did not find anyone who recalled a magazine solicitor from August, or anyone matching her description. Brown said that part of the investigation was complicated by the delay in the report and the fact there is a high turnover rate of renters and residents in the trailer park. There was no information indicating that she made a single sales call to a single trailer.
Investigators thought they caught a break when Jennifer’s mother called them to say there was a prescription charge from a Wegman’s grocery and pharmacy store in Rochester, New York. But when they checked the details, the sale was on August 20, 2003 – 10 days before Jennifer went missing.
Investigators also checked the bus terminal in Albany, finding that the prepaid bus ticket had never been picked up. There was still the question as to whether Jennifer left of her own accord. But some of her co-workers did not believe that was the case. Jennifer’s personal belongings were left behind at the hotel room they were sharing during their travels. They thought that something was very wrong. But without a crime scene – or something pointing police to a specific point to focus their investigation – the case goes cold.
Another Girl Missing: Christina White
A year and a half passes when another young girl goes missing from the same Town of Milton. Christina White was 19 years old when she left home on June 30, 2005 from the Stockade Mobile Home Park on Rock City Road for one of her regular nighttime walks. Christina was very petite, 5’ 3”, with blue eyes, and dyed-black hair in the goth style. She would have been wearing a long trench coat.
Christina didn’t come home that night, but she had stayed away for periods of a time in the past, so that did not immediately cause concern for Christina’s mother. But when Christina had still not returned home by July 3rd, the day before her 20thbirthday, her mother called the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office to report her daughter missing.
The Investigation of Christina’s Disappearance
As police investigated Christina’s disappearance they learned that she’d had an argument with her brother the evening that she was last seen. But the disagreement was nothing that caused investigators to believe that it was a factor in her not returning home. As police investigate Christina’s disappearance, they canvass the trailer park where she lived and they interview friends and boyfriends.
Investigators found a witness who remembered seeing Christina walking around 9:30 PM on June 30thnear Rowland Street and Geyser Road in Milton which would have been a route to go to the nearby Cumberland Farms convenience store, a regional 24/7 chain in the northeast selling food, snacks and gasoline.
Police focus their efforts in that area, setting up a ‘road check’ where they passed out missing person flyers and questioned drivers passing through the area.
One lead that surfaced was from an online acquaintance of Christina’s who said that she once mentioned having a stalker. Police spoke with the source of that information but were unable to develop any details of the alleged stalker. Police check Christina’s financial records – she received regular income through a debit card, but there had been no activity on the card since the date of her disappearance.
Cases Go Cold
Just like the case of Jennifer Hammond, police are faced with a missing girl, but without a specific location of something happening – there were no personal effects of Christina’s found, no clothing, nothing - the case goes cold.
Hunter Discovers Skull in Forest: Christina is Found
A man is out walking through the woods, hunting crows in the Daketown State Forest located in the Town of Greenfield on March 10, 2006 – 8 months since Christina White was last seen, and about 8 miles from where she was last seen. (see map in show notes at www.apbcoldcase.com).The hunter’s dog heads into a thicket and begins sniffing. When the hunter investigates, he notices a human skull. Undersheriff Brown was part of the search team that worked on the excavation and retrieval of remains the following day. The autopsy identified the remains as those of Christina White; and her cause of death was stab wounds to the abdomen. Undersheriff Brown said they only recovered her socks and some jewelry, leaving unanswered the question as to whether she was sexually assaulted. Police are not saying what else they found at the scene, but it was noted that her telephone, wallet and a knife that she always carried were not found.
Hunters in Same Forest Find Skull: Jennifer is Found
Three and a half years after Christina’s remains were discovered, hunters find a human skull in a wooded area off of Lake Desolation Road in the Town of Greenfield (see map in show notes at www.apbcoldcase.com).The skull was located along a remote dirt road about 10 miles from where Christina White’s remains were previously found, but it is along the same road which becomes more isolated the farther you travel into it. A search of the area yields no other body parts – only the skull. Undersheriff Brown said that by the time the skull was found there had been several seasons of leaf fall. An autopsy determines that this is Jennifer Hammond. The cause of death is also homicide, but the manner of death is undetermined.
Now Labelled as Murders, a New Investigation
In both cases, it is unknown whether the victims were killed in the forest and their bodies dumped there, or if they may have been killed at the locations where their remains were found. Because of advanced decomposition and the passage of time, little evidence was recovered from either scene. With this new information on the identification of both girls and the determination that their deaths were homicides, police canvassed the trailers parks (Creek and Pines, and Stockade). Undersheriff Brown noted that the high turnover of residents at the trailer parks made the investigation more difficult.
A Snag in the Timeline?
Police learned that Jennifer Hammond had been corresponding with April Pickett, a friend back in Colorado. This was during a time before the modern smart phone, and their correspondence was in the form of a paper notebook where they wrote messages to each other and then mailed it back and forth. April shared the notebook with police in hopes that it might aid in the investigation. Police are not saying what the contents of the communications are between Jennifer and April, but they did note that one of the entries is odd. It’s an entry purportedly in Jennifer’s handwriting with the date: November 29, 2003. That date is 3 months after the day that Jennifer was last seen (August 30). Unfortunately, the mailing wrapper does not exist and reportedly, April did not recall when she received the notebook. “It always made us wonder, did she write the date inaccurately, by accident, or was she alive for a longer than we think?” said Undersheriff Brown, adding, “Most people would assume that she was dropped off in the park that summer, and was last seen walking into the park, and met her demise soon after that.”
Again, Cases go Cold
With no new leads, again, both cases go cold.
The Similarities
The girls are both 18-89 years old when they disappeared, and were of similar build – very petite. Jennifer Hamond was 5’ 2” and 110 pounds; Christina White was 5’ 3” and 95 pounds. Their bodies were both found in remote, wooded areas in the Town of Greenfield in Saratoga county along the same roadway, about 10 miles apart; both girls were likely alone at the times when last seen; their ‘last seen’ locations were about a mile and a half apart: Jennifer walking door-to-door at the Creek and Pines trailer park, and Christina walking around town by herself. Both teens had been in or in-the-area-of the Creek and Pines Trailer Park;
Lead: Man Attempts Kidnap of 17-year-Old in Nearby Community
Investigators scrutinized other potential leads, including one man who tried to kidnap a teen from a high school parking lot about 4 miles from where Christina was last seen. On October 31st, 2005, almost 4 months after Christina White went missing, John Regan attempted to abduct a 17-year-old high school track star from the Saratoga Springs High School parking lot. Fortunately, the girl’s coaches heard her screams and intervened, chasing Regan who drove off in a van as police were alerted. Regan was apprehended and charged with the attempted abduction. Published reports said that Regan had positioned the sliding door of his van alongside the victim’s car, ambushing her as she was preparing to get into her own car. Most disturbing was what police would find inside the van – the back seat had been removed, they found a tarp, liquor and pre-knotted ropes, one of which had been formed into a noose.[1] Regan was previously charged with the violent rape of one his friend’s wives. It was reported that Regan entered the woman’s home in 1993 while her husband was away and as her children slept in a nearby room.[2] Undersheriff Jeff Brown and Sheriff Michael Zurlo were both investigators at the time and they went to Saratoga Springs PD to learn more about Regan. Brown said that Regan was working on a home in Saratoga Springs at the time of the attempted abduction in Saratoga Springs. In recent years, Regan has been reinterviewed, and to date, they have made no connection between Regan and the murders of Hammond and White. According to New York State prison records, Regan was sentenced to up to 12 years for the attempted kidnapping at Saratoga Springs High School. Records show that he was discharged in May 2023, being released to “another agency”, “which is not specifically identified, but one news report indicated that Regan was detained for at least 4 years under New York’s civil confinement law, technically known as the Sex Offender Management and Treatment Act. That law allows the state to impose strict and intensive supervision or confinement in a secure treatment facility, depending on the danger level of the subject even after they have served their prison sentence for a crime. We were unable to determine where Regan is today or if he is even still incarcerated – he does not appear in the online records[3] of New York or Connecticut.
Lead: Man from Milton Abducts 9-Year-Old Girl
On a warm summer evening in September 2023, a 9-year-old girl who was on a camping trip with her family was riding her bicycle around a large, looped trail with her cousins at the Moreau State Park in Saratoga County. Around 6:15 PM, she wanted to make one more lap on her own, but she never returned. Hundreds of search-and-rescue personnel descended on the area in a massive search for the missing girl and an AMBER Alert was issued. During the search, a written ransom demand was found inside the family’s mailbox. The police laboratory examined the note for fingerprints and they got a match to Craig N. Ross, Jr. who lived nearby. Two days after the abduction, police descended on Ross’ mother’s property in the Town of Milton. They found the young girl hidden in a cabinet in a trailer behind Ross’ mother’s house. Ross was charged with kidnapping for ransom and predatory sexual assault against a child.[4] In February 2024 he pled guilty to those charges and is expected to spend upwards of 50 years in prison.[5] APB Cold Case asked Undersheriff Brown about the proximity of Moreau State Park. “The Town of Moreau is the northernmost town in the county. The town of Milton and Greenfield where a lot of the activity was on these particular cases of Hammond and White is the central part of the county.” Brown said that they have not found any proof that Ross lived in either of the trailer parks in question, but, he said, Ross lived just a few streets away. We asked if they had found any connection between Ross and the Hammond-White cases. “He is somebody who was not on our radar prior to the kidnapping locally here, and we see no connection with Craig Ross in either of our cases. He was a local man, he’s always been a local man, so he was local during that time frame,” said Undersheriff Brown.
Hammond & White Cases Likely Connected
“Obviously we have looked into a lot of different people, and we do not have a prime suspect,” said Undersheriff Brown. But Brown says the investigators who have worked on these cases agree that they are likely connected. “I think the general consensus is that we believe that they're related due to the proximity of where they both disappeared from, their age, how they look, and where the remains were found. You know, there’s a lot of similarities.”
There has also been speculation that the murders of Hammond and White might be connected in some way to the disappearance of Suzanne Lyall, a resident of the Ballston Spa and Milton area. She was last seen on March 2, 1998 after leaving the Crossgates Mall in Guilderland outside of Albany, New York. She was seen boarding a Transit Authority bus heading to the State University of New York at Albany where she was a student. It is believed that she got off the bus at Collins Circle and has never been seen again. Authorities have found no connection to the Hammond-White investigations and the Suzanne Lyall case remains unsolved.
The Red-Head Denominator?
The Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office points out that there has been speculation in social media that because both girls had red hair, that the killer had an interest in red-heads. But police say that Christina’s hair was dyed black at the time of her disappearance. The photographs used by police in their bulletins show both victims with red hair since they were among the best full-face images they had for the girls at the time. (Pictures in show notes at www.apbcoldcase.com).
Status of the Investigation
Some of the technology that might be leveraged in a contemporary investigation was not available when Jennifer and Christina disappeared. Cell phone pinging technology was different, and the prevalence of security cameras was a small fraction of what we have today. And while investigators have a general idea of the areas where Jennifer and Christina were last seen, there was never an exact spot to focus upon for forensics. Nor did the time lapse and environmental conditions in the forest help investigators in their search for trace evidence. These cases remain open at the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office, and investigators encourage anyone who might have a piece of information that can assist in the investigations to call them at 518-885-6761.
Show Notes at www.apbcoldcase.com:
[1] Waterbury Observer; Busted!: 11/1/2005; New York Times, In an old family, a suspect in crimes old and new; 11/28/2005
[2] Waterbury Observer; Busted; 11/1/2005; New York Times; In an old family, a suspect in crimes old and new; 11/28/2005
[3] Inmate records or sex offender registries
[4]Accusatory instrument; People v. Craig M. Ross; New York State Police; Oct. 2, 2023
[5] CBS News; Craig-Ross-Plea-Deal; Feb., 21, 2024
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© 2024 The Spawn Group, LLC; APB Cold Case; All rights reserved..
A Family Night Out
In the ‘90s, the New Frontier Bowling Lanes at 4702 Center Street (now the site of Home Depot) in Tacoma, Washington was a hub for locals in the community to gather and have fun. Tacoma resident, Theresa Lewis Czapiewski was a busy mom of five young girls and didn’t have the opportunity to get out much. But on January 23, 1999 her brother convinced her to spend that Saturday evening with his family and some friends. After dinner they drove to the New Frontier Lanes There were several groups bowling when they arrived, but it wasn’t very busy. Some of the kids in their group explored the arcade which was tucked into an alcove on the main level about six feet from an exit door that opened to the parking lot. Theresa’s 2-year-old daughter, Teekah Lewis, was having fun in the arcade where she was drawn to a race car game. “She was trying to play it,” said Theresa. “Her feet couldn’t reach the pedals, so she just acted like she was playing.”
Bowling Alley Gets Busy, and a Strange Encounter
As the night wore on, more and more people arrived and the bowling alley became quite busy. One of the patrons that night was a strange woman who reportedly kept asking people if she could hold their baby. There were three babies in Theresa’s group which apparently drew the attention of the woman and while Theresa’s brother obliged her, Theresa sternly declined the woman’s request to hold her own 10-month-old.
Altogether, Theresa’s group consisted of about a dozen people – they were assigned to lanes 7-8 of the 32-lane alley. The adults took turns watching the kids as the adults in the group took their turns bowling.
Where’s Teekah?
It was around 10:15 PM when it was Theresa’s turn to bowl. She asked her boyfriend and her brother to keep an eye on Teekah. The last time she saw her, Teekah was still playing in the arcade area with her cousin and another child who was about 9 years old. After Theresa bowled her frames and turned back around, she could no longer see her daughter. “where’s Teekah?”, asked Theresa, to which everyone responded, ‘she’s in the arcade.’ But she wasn’t there. She was gone. They began looking, hoping that she just wandered away from the arcade. Theresa described the moment saying, “Everybody in our group started looking. I looked in between the arcade and the bathroom that was right there.” Theresa described a small locker area that she searched – but still, there was no sign of her daughter. “And then, I went to the opposite end of the bowling alley because they had another bathroom down there,” she said. Theresa and her family quickly scoured the facility in a desperate search for Teekah, but they found no sign of her.
Searching for a Missing Girl
Theresa remembered seeing an off-duty Tacoma police officer who was working security there that night. She ran to the service desk and told him her daughter was missing. The officer announced over the P.A. system that a little 2-year-old girl was missing, and gave her description: Teekah is multi-racial: African American, Caucasian and Native American with ancestry from the Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa Nation; Teekah was 3’ tall, weighing about 35 pounds. Her hair was black with a silver streak along the right side; she has brown eyes and was wearing a green Tweety Bird t-shirt; white sweat pants; little red, white and black Air Jordan sneakers; red stud pierced earrings; and she was carrying a little purse, a recent Christmas present from her grandmother which had been filled with her favorite Starburst candies that night by her uncle.
After the announcement there was still no sign of little Teekah, and the police officer called for reinforcements. Detective Julie Dier of the Tacoma Police Department is in charge of the case today. She told APB Cold Case that on the night of Teekah’s disappearance, officers stopped cars that were leaving the bowling alley parking lot, searching the trunks for any sign of the missing girl. “They called out more officers to the scene and eventually did a full call-out. Search and rescue started coming out, and this progressed over hours and days… eventually they did a command post there,” said Detective Dier.
Theresa was desperate – she was asking anyone and everyone if they had seen her daughter while the rest of her family were also searching or watching her other kids. Theresa asked a couple sitting by the door at the arcade if they had seen anything – they did not. Theresa doubted that Teekah would have walked away on her own, describing Teekah as a ‘momma’s girl’, afraid to approach or go with anyone unknown to her.
That Woman Has Your Baby!
As Theresa was speaking with some of the police officers in the parking lot, her sister-in-law came running up to her shouting, “that woman has your baby in her car!” It wasn’t 2-year-old Teekah, but it was Theresa’s 10-month-old baby. Theresa demanded that the lady give her baby back to her, but the woman refused. Theresa alerted police and the officer told the woman to get out of her car. Theresa took her 10-month-old while police placed the woman in the back of a squad car. The woman was identified as Rita Miller. Detective Dier told us that while Miller was in the back of the police car she attempted suicide* with a seat belt. Dier said that Miller was involuntarily committed to a hospital that night. Some men who were with Miller were questioned by police.
What Teekah Left Behind
The night wore on without any sign of Teekah. With nothing more that she could do at the bowling alley, Theresa left. When she got home, she saw what Teekah had left on the couch. “That night she told me she was going to be a big girl and she was gonna leave her Pooh bear at home. So, she put him to sleep on the couch. And that’s where he lay”, said Theresa, crying as she recounted the heartbreaking memory.
A Car Speeding Away from the Bowling Alley
In the first hours of Teekah’s disappearance Theresa and her family desperately waited for any bit of news, but there was nothing. And then, 2 days later police received a tip from a woman who had driven into the bowling alley parking lot at about the time Teekah went missing and saw a car speeding away. The vehicle was described as a late 1980’s to early 1990’s Pontiac Grand Am, possibly dark red or burgundy in color*, with dark tinted windows and a rear spoiler. Police continued their investigation into the search for Teekah, checking DMV records for a similar Pontiac Grand Am, and using dozens of searchers[1] and canines on the ground, as well as a helicopter with infrared technology. During their searches, two canines tracked to an area across from the bowling area[2] where a ball of men’s clothing was found beneath a bush. Police said that they have made no connection between the recovered clothing and Teekah’s case.
Man Ushering a Little Girl to Bathroom
Another witness came forward saying that they had seen a man ushering a little girl similar to Teekah’s description toward a bathroom in the bowling alley on the evening she went missing. The man was described as a white male in his 50’s, about 5’ 10”, with his most distinguishing feature being a pock-marked face. The same night that tip was received, Tacoma police received a call from a woman who was concerned over something her son said to her. “If I were to leave town right now, would you come with me?” the woman recalled to police. Detective Dier said that they investigated that lead and interviewed the man. Dier said he did not give direct answers to their questions, and they were not able to connect him to the bowling alley. But about one month after interviewing the man, he died. Police did not disclose how the death occurred but said they are still exploring that lead.
Attempted Kidnapping Same Day as Teekah’s Disappearance; Pontiac Grand Am
Another lead that police examined was an incident that occurred the same day that Teekah disappeared. Earlier on January 23, 1999, a man described as having curly brown hair allegedly tried to kidnap two children from a park less than a mile from the bowling alley. The children’s father chased the man who then fled in a blue* 1995 Pontiac Grand Am.
Other Incidents
There were also another pair of previous incidents at the New Frontier Bowling Lanes that police examined. A couple months before Teekah disappeared, a 4-year-old boy was sexually assaulted in a bathroom at the New Frontier Lanes. A few weeks later, a man attempted to lure a 6-year-old boy from the bowling alley. He claimed to police that he was the boy’s father. Police said the man had mental health issues and had called the boy and his mother by different names.
In October 2010 a 56-year-old man attempted to lure of a 3-year-old girl from the Tower Lanes on Sixth Avenue in Tacoma. The girl’s father intervened and the suspect fled temporarily before being apprehended by police.[3] No connection between this man and Teekah’s case has been cited.
Why Don’t You Give Me Teekah?
It is a routine part of a missing person’s case to investigate the parents. Theresa told us that Teekah’s father was incarcerated at the time when Teekah disappeared. Reports indicate that Tacoma Police and the FBI simultaneously investigated the disappearance while also scrutinizing family members. But about 1-2 weeks before Teekah went missing, Theresa’s boyfriend’s mother asked if Theresa would give her Teekah. “When I was dating my ex at the time, his mother had asked me for Teekah,” remembered Theresa, adding “And that was maybe a week or two prior to Teekah’s disappearance. She said, ‘hey, why don’t you give me Teekah, you have a newborn...’”
Several Theories and Possibilities
With all of the theories and suspicious activity surrounding this case, investigators have their work cut out for them. Could the luring incidents at the bowling alley be connected to Teekah’s disappearance? Or the attempted abduction at the park on the same day as Teekah went missing? What about Rita Miller? Or Theresa’s then-boyfriend’s mother who said she wanted Teekah?
Precious Doe?
As the investigation continued, there was a lead in 2001 that drew the attention of Tacoma police. The discovery of a torso in Kansas City, Missouri that matched the description of Teekah Lewis. The case there was dubbed Precious Doe, whose body was found decapitated and unclothed. Her head was located later. As the investigation into that case developed, DNA would later confirm that Precious Doe was Erica Michelle Marie Green of Kansas City.[4] Her parents were charged with her murder.[5]
Again, Teekah’s case goes cold.
Another Incident at the Bowling Alley
Then, in 2010, John William Black was charged with the attempted luring of a 3-year-old child from Tower Lanes in Tacoma. Police said that the man reportedly frequented the New Frontier Lanes. But police say that Black is not connected to Teekah’s case.
No Evidence
In many missing children cases there is a single theory or a particular person of interest. But in this investigation, there are several possibilities. Police have eliminated some of those theories, and they continue to analyze others. It becomes more complicated because they have no witness to an actual abduction. “We know kind of what she was wearing the last time she was seen. But none of those items have ever been found,” said Detective Julie Dier. “We don’t have a body that we could get evidence off of. There is nothing. And that’s what makes it, a unique case,” Dier added.
In recent years Detective Dier said that she did re-interview Rita Miller, but said that her condition has deteriorated and she does not remember anything that will help their investigation.
Searching for Answers, Closure
Dier urges the person responsible to come forward and tell their story. “Give the family the answers they need, give them the closure. It’s not fair to her family, it’s not fair to Teekah.” Theresa also is looking for closure. “Just tell me what happened to my daughter, she said. “Tell me where she’s at or what happened to her, that’s all I want to know. I been saying this for 25 years. It’s time to bring Teekah home to us. Regardless if she’s here or not. Just bring her home. I want to know”, added Theresa.
If you think you might be Teekah
If Teekah was brought up under another identity, perhaps she still has memory of her mother and sisters, Starburst candy, her red stud earrings, her clear plastic purse with a fish design, or her favorite Winnie the Pooh doll. If you think that you might be Teekah, call Tacoma PD detectives. You can see photographs of Teekah at www.apbcoldcase.com and at MissingKids.org.
What are the clues?
If you were in Tacoma in the years before or after Teekah’s disappearance, do any of these clues sound familiar to you?
· A man with a pock-marked face and a mustache;
· Someone with access to a Pontiac Grand Am (descriptions range from dark red to blue*);
· Someone connected to Rita Miller;
· A person or family who suddenly had a 2-year-old resembling Teekah in the household in 1999 – the girl may be using a different name, and may be within Tacoma or far beyond.
There is a reward for information in this case. Call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or Tacoma PD at 253-591-5950.
Follow us on social media for updates on this case. Visit apbcoldcase.com for show notes including photographs, timeline, map, and Who’s Who.
*Editor note: the description of the car by two witnesses in separate observations is specific to a Pontiac Grand Am. The color of the vehicle differs, however, with one witness describing a dark red-burgundy color, and the other witness a blue car. In this writer’s experience where night time exterior/security lighting in the 1980’s and 1990’s routinely consisted of sodium vapor lights which produced an orange-yellow glow, interfering with true color recognition by witnesses and police officers. It is unknown if that effect may have a bearing on witness observations in this instance.
*NOTE: If you are having thoughts of suicide or other self-harm as a means to cope with stress, there are people who can help you. Check our Resources page for places to call for help.
We encourage you to use the resources listed in our Help Center if you need support. These include organizations specific to your location. You can also visit findahelpline.com to look for local mental health care providers.
[1]2-year old still missing after intensive search; Centralia Chronicle; Jan. 25, 1999, p. 5.
[2]Police seek public’s help in child’s disappearance ; Centralia Chronicle; p. 4; Jan. 29, 1999
[3]Man arrested after attempted child luring incident at Tacoma bowling alley; The Olympian; Oct. 14, 2010
[4]Missing girl’s DNA sent to Kansas City; Walla Walla Union Bulletin; May. 10, 2001, p. 14
[5]Stepfather faces first-degree murder; Sedalia Democrat; Aug. 3, 2005, p.3
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Tortured: Who Killed Jeanette Tambe?
This is the story of a most horrific and sadistic murder of a young woman whose body was found more than 35 years ago on a remote property in New Jersey. The circumstances of the homicide evokes a range of emotions – not just because of the brutality from which she died, but in the circumstances of fate that changed her name from Jane Doe to Jeanette Tambe.
On a hot, humid day in August of 1986, a young couple from Philadelphia was driving to Buena Vista, New Jersey to check on the progress of a new home they were building. But when they arrived, their excitement turned to horror. They discover the body of a young woman lying in a corner of the property. They call New Jersey State Police. Detective Taylor Bonner is in charge of the case today and has visited the crime scene in recent years. He described the remoteness of the scene, and the dirt roads that lead to the property past a railroad crossing. “If I didn’t know the area, I would have never located it,” said Detective Bonner. If this was the location where the young victim was killed, her screams would have gone unheard.
The body was that of a white female, 18-24 years old, about 5’ 6”, 115 pounds with brown hair. She had pierced ears and was wearing a blue Varsity House brand pullover sweater, Sergio Valenti jeans, and grey, size 8 high top sneakers. She had orthodontic brackets in her mouth, indicating that she had braces or retainers at some point.[i] There was no identification on the body, and her name was a mystery – at that time, she becomes Jane Doe.
The brutality of the assault that took place was something that Det. Bonner had not seen in any other of his unsolved cases. “Throughout all these cold cases, it’s just so hard to describe, how brutal and intense it was what they did to her.” Bonner described that the victim’s hands had been bound behind her using copper pipe hangers, the kind used in home plumbing, though they did not appear to have come from the house under construction where she was found. Her legs had been bound with fabric which was apparently used to drag the body to its final resting place. She appeared to have been fully clothed, and her pants were still buttoned, although acid had been poured on her and had eaten away at her skin and her shirt, so detectives are unable to determine a motive or conclusively say whether there was any sexual attack. Most disturbing was the finding by the medical examiner that there was sulfuric acid in her lungs – Jeanette was alive when the acid was poured on her. “It was brutal,” said Det. Bonner.
Police interview neighbors, but the canvass does not elicit any leads. The investigation stalls.
Less than 2 years after Jane Doe is found in Buena Vista, skeletal remains of another young woman are found in an abandoned industrial well in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, about 50 miles from Buena Vista, NJ. Similarly, there is no identification with the remains, and that girl becomes known as Publicker Jane Doe. Police review missing persons cases in an attempt to identify the body, but there are no matches. That case goes cold until 2002 when Detective Christopher McMullin of Bensalem, Pennsylvania PD picks up the file. At first, he thinks that Publicker Jane Doe could be missing 14-year-old Tracy Byrd of Bensalem, and he collects family DNA samples for comparison (learn more about the Tracy Byrd case in our podcast, Family Secrets). The DNA indicates that the skeletal remains are not Tracy Byrd, so McMullin explores other possibilities, one of which is a missing person from Bensalem named Jeanette Tambe. Again, Det. McMullin obtains a family reference sample from the Tambe family, and waits. After several months, he gets a call from the Center for Human Identification telling him that there is a match to the Tambe family. McMullin is excited about getting the identification, thinking it is for the remains found in the well in his jurisdiction. But then the detective is told, “She’s a Jane Doe that was found in Buena Township in New Jersey in August 1986.” Jeanette Tambe was not the girl in the Publicker Distillery well. Instead, she was the murder victim that New Jersey State Police recovered in 1986. Detective McMullin still did not have an identification on his Publicker Jane Doe at that time, but now, New Jersey State Police have a significant lead in their investigation (Learn about the eventual identification of Publicker Jane Doe in our episode, Girl in the Well).
Now that New Jersey State Police know who their victim is, perhaps they can determine who her killer is. But as they get deeper into the investigation, they learn that Jeanette was always on the move. The 22-year-old spent her last years living on the road - a free-spirit. Some of that time was with her boyfriend.
Among the last people known to have seen Jeanette alive was her cousin who saw her in Philadelphia with her boyfriend in July 1986, after she was reported missing by her family and just a month before her body would be found. Police have looked at a number of people and examined several leads in their investigation, including Jeanette’s former boyfriend. Investigators are also reviewing the physical evidence in this case hoping that modern forensics might provide a clue. Detective Bonner said that some items have been sent to the lab for re-examination. While the sulfuric acid may have tainted some of their samples, Bonner said that there are portions which were unaffected.
But the biggest obstacle, says Bonner, is the lack of information on Jeanette’s day-to-day life. When Jeanette’s brother last saw her in October 1984 she was with her boyfriend; and when her cousin saw her in July 1986 in Philly, she was again with her boyfriend. Police said that the boyfriend was in Florida at one point. Did Jeanette go with him, or follow him there? Police have not ruled him out, but they say he is now deceased.
State Police are interested in Jeanette’s travels and her boyfriend and would like to hear from anyone who knew them. Said Det. Bonner, “Whether you knew Jeanette in 1980, 1984, 1986, anything…that little bit of information might help lead us to a suspect.”
If you have any information about the murder of Jeanette Tambe or if you can help police in reconstructing her whereabouts, call New Jersey State Police at 1-833-4NJCOLD, or send an email to ColdCase@NJSP.gov.
© 2024 The Spawn Group; APB Cold Case
[i]New Jersey State Police Bulletin 86-6; Sept. 10, 1986
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As spring approaches in upstate New York, a farmer out surveying his property, finds a dead body at the edge of his field and calls authorities. But before police could even explore the ‘whodunnit’, they had to determine ‘who is it?’.
This gruesome discovery of a decomposing body in 1981 quickly became a cold case when the John Doe did not match any missing persons in the region. Years would pass before an intrepid police sergeant was tasked with finding the case file – a challenge unto itself. The search for the identity of John Doe became a monumental investigation in which the sergeant would be faced with several obstacles ranging from destroyed records and misplaced bones, to legislative hurdles and a novel epidemic. But in this case, perseverance paid off.
When Bethlehem, NY police officer Adam Horning was promoted to sergeant in 2013 he was tasked with updating the John Doe record from 1981 that had been entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) as unidentified human remains. But that was the first mystery – no one who worked the case in 1981 was still on the force. Then, Sgt. Hornick was unable to find the official files which had apparently been destroyed when town records storage area had been flooded – on 2 occasions. So he sets off to re-create the case file.
The NCIC record was also filed with the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services which, fortunately, kept paper copies of records of unidentified deceased persons. Sgt. Hornick was able to get those records which included a copy of the original Bethlehem police reports, detectives notes, and a sketch of the area where the body was recovered.
Hornick learned that on April 3, 1981, Frank Vadney, the owner of a farm on the edge of the town of 25,000, discovered a body and called Bethlehem, NY Police. The partially decomposed body was clothed and there were some papers scattered nearby. But there was no wallet or any identifying information as to the man’s identity. The body was sent to the Medical Examiner’s office for autopsy.
Hornick scrutinized the limited information he had in front of him. But most interesting to Hornick was that the NCIC record indicated, “jaw bones available.” But Hornick, who was also in charge of the department’s evidence room, knew that there was no evidence from that case with his agency. He assembled some of the former detectives and contacted the Medical Examiner’s (M.E.) office to learn as much as he could about the original investigation and any theories about the man’s identity or cause of death. The M.E. provided some preliminary notes about the case to Hornick along with the M.E. case number: 81-078. That number was burned into his memory.
Sgt. Hornick spent countless hours poring through records of missing persons from the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System – NAMUS. He found about 10 cases with similarities, and he compared every one, but found no matches to his John Doe. In the back of his mind, he kept thinking about the notation from the NCIC record that indicated “jaw bones available” – he needed to find those bones! He began checking the dentist’s name who had completed the original dental charts for the John Doe, but learned that he retired and was living in Arizona. But the dentist told him that his former office was still in operation. Hornick located a telephone number for the dentist’s office and made the cold call. Linda Haner answered the phone. She had worked at the dental office since the 1980’s. Hornick asked her if it was possible if there were any old records that might be on file. Haner remembered the call. “As soon as he explained that he was looking for old cases I knew exactly what he was talking about.” Haner knew that the former dentist had done several dental identifications for law enforcement over the years and that some bones were maintained in the office. As she went through the box of old bones, she came across a specimen marked “81-078”. When she told Sgt. Horning that number, he told Haner,, “Those are my bones, I’m on my way.” Hornick met with Haner and retrieved the decades-old jaw bones.
Sgt. Hornick’s next move was to determine whether he cold get a DNA specimen from the bones. But first, he needed to get them identified to be sure that they were the same as what was recorded in the original NCIC report. Working with renowned forensic odontologist Dr. Lowell Levine, the bones were compared to the original dental charts and matched. Hornick could now go forward with an attempt to retrieve DNA. Fortunately, the specimens were preserved by the original dentist as a lab case and were in good condition. Hornick sent the bones to some labs for analysis and was provided with a partial DNA string. With each incremental step Hornick took, he was becoming more optimistic that he might be able to give his unidentified an identity other than John Doe. He sent the DNA profile to the State of New York to begin the process for familial DNA. But then came answer he didn’t expect – the law in New York State did not permit the use of genetic genealogy for identifying an unknown deceased person. Hornick, who had now been promoted to Commander in his department, continued to work the case. He was committed to it and was not ready to hand it off to anyone else. He called a press conference in December 2019 to talk about the case and hoped that the publicity might cause a change to change the law. Hornick said that it seemed that the strategy was being successful, but then COVID struck, and everything slowed down, including the state legislature.
Knowing that the existing laws in New York State were holding him back, he called the FBI to see if they would take the case – and they did. A federal laboratory like the FBI was not constrained to the law and regulations of a state lab, so Hornick thought this was his next best shot. About 6 months after submitting the case to the FBI, the law in New York State was changed, so Hornick also submitted the case to New York State. But once again, the state lab said ‘no’, the sample he was submitting was insufficient under their guidelines. But a few months later, Hornick got news from the FBI – they had developed a lead. Hornick said that the FBI had determined a fourth-cousin kinship ratio, and were building a family tree, but most of the people were deceased. That is, except for a woman in Massachusetts who provided a DNA swab. But even before the results came back, the woman told agents that the description and circumstances sounded like it could be her nephew: Franklin Feldman. The woman explained that the family had not seen Franklin in 50 years, that he suffered from some mental health issues, and was in upstate New York at one time. Police also located another cousin who also provided a DNA swab, which confirmed the identification – the man who had been buried in a pauper’s grave in 1981 was Franklin Feldman. The two DNA swabs provided by family members would turn out to be related as an aunt and first cousin.
For Commander Adam Hornick, his tireless efforts to rebuild the case file, locate the bones, pursue the DNA evidence, and overcome regulatory hurdles, were vindication. Hornick says it was a fortunate circumstance to learn the identity when they did, telling APB Cold Caset hat if they didn’t identify the remains soon, the possibility of identifying any surviving family members for DNA would have become more remote. But police now know the deceased man’s identity – the man who was found at the corner of the farmer’s property dubbed as Dead Man’s Cove ever the remains were discovered on the Vadney Farm in 1981. Family members who never really knew Franklin, but know of him, can also draw some relief in knowing that he has been found. But, as Hornick said, the mystery of how Feldman died is still unanswered. Because of the condition of the body when found, there is no official cause and manner of death. The case remains open at Bethlehem Police Department. Anyone who knew Feldman or who has information about him can contact detectives at 518-439-9973.
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You may have heard about a serial killer named Lemuel Smith who terrorized upstate New York in the 1970’s, wreaking havoc in the Capital Region near Albany, and also bringing terror to the citizens of Baltimore, Maryland. But while in prison in 1981, Smith gained national attention for the murder of Donna Payant, the first female prison guard to be killed in the line of duty in United States history. And even if you are familiar with Smith’s crimes, you may not know the details of what is possibly his first murder: the death of Dorothy Waterstreet of Amsterdam, New York, in the 1950s.
On the evening of January 21, 1958, 46-year-old Dorothy Waterstreet, the treasurer of an adult Sunday school class, attended a church meeting a couple blocks from her home. Her friends offered her a ride, but it was a short distance. So, at 10:35 PM, Dorothy made the fateful decision to walk home from the church, cutting through the Acme parking lot. In a dark corner of that parking lot, just steps from her home, she was savagely attacked and beaten severely about her head with some type of metal weapon. The blows were so brutal that her husband would not be able to identify her body. A pastor living nearby saw something laying in the parking lot and called police. There, they found the deceased body of Dorothy Waterstreet. She still had cash in her pocket, and her purse was found across the street also containing cash. So, what was the motive? During the police investigation they noted a large shoe print near the victim’s body and also in the area of the discarded purse. Police interviewed several people. One of those was Lemuel Smith having been seen in the area by witnesses who lived nearby. Police collected his clothes and his size 13 shoes, and noticed what appeared to be blood stains. Lemuel explained that stains were from an injury he received while playing basketball.[1][2][3] Now you have to remember that this is 1958. The evidence they had was purely circumstantial. And at that time forensic blood testing was limited to ABO typing which could only identify the characteristics like blood type AB or type O positive – DNA technology was decades away. They needed a strong witness, or better yet, a confession. Reports from the time indicate that the prosecutor attempted to interview Smith, but that Smith refused to sign a waiver of immunity.[4][5]He was never charged and the case went cold.[6]His mother sent Lemuel to Baltimore to get away from the trouble in Amsterdam, NY, but did he bring trouble with him?
Let’s take a look at Smith’s known criminal activity:
· According to various published reports, Lemuel Smith was convicted in the brutal 1958 assault of a 25-year-old female in Baltimore, Maryland.[7][8][9]The young woman survived her attack, and Smith was sentenced to prison.
· Smith returned to upstate New York upon his release from the Maryland prison, and in May 1969, he kidnapped and sexually assaulted a woman. Later that same day he kidnapped and raped a friend of his mother’s. In that case, he was also sentenced to prison.
· In 1976, two persons were murdered at a religious store in Albany, New York.[10] [11]
· While Albany police were investigating that double homicide, a 24-year-old was raped and murdered in her car at Colonie Center Mall in a suburb of Albany.
· In the summer of 1977, a 30-year-old woman was found strangled along the railroad tracks in Schenectady.
· A month later, an 18-year-old female was kidnapped and raped by Smith.[12]This was the case which would lead a concerned citizen - Curtis Hakes - to go out and search for the missing girl, leading Colonie police officers to stop the car and take Smith into custody.
In March 1978, Smith was sentenced to prison for two of the murders in the greater Albany area – he was not prosecuted for two other murders as there was no opportunity for an additional penalty.[13]
Despite being locked up in state prison, his murderous crime spree did not end. In 1981, Smith killed state prison guard Donna Payant. At the time, the crime carried the death penalty.. But it was Lemuel Smith’s case on appeal that overturned the state’s death penalty law, so he received another life sentence.
How did police finally apprehend Lemuel Smith?
Curtis Hakes played a pivotal role in the capture of a serial killer back in the 1970’s. Working for General Electric at the time, Hakes had an interest in Citizen’s Band (CB) radios.
Hakes recalled the events in 1977, “I was working third shift on a Friday night. That night I went out to get pizza for me and my wife. On the way back home there was a police car that was pulled into one of the local banks. I turned on my CB radio.”
Hakes heard a bulletin over the radio about a missing girl and they gave a description of her car, a yellow, Chevy Vega.
John Grebert, then a patrol officer with Colonie Police Department, remembered the incident. “Earlier in the day an individual by the name of Lemuel Smith had kidnapped at gunpoint a young woman from an office in Schenectady and had forced her to drive him up to an abandoned home in Saratoga County where he brutally assaulted her.” Grebert said that Lemuel Smith had his victim drive the two of them back toward Albany. He also said that when that young woman didn’t show up at home after work, her parents reported her missing to police.
Hakes said he went out in his CB radio-equipped truck and started driving around, looking for the yellow Chevy Vega that had been broadcast in the news and over the CB radio during the evening. He paused at a four-way stop. He said, “There was no other traffic around me. But then down the road came the car and I said, ‘yellow Vega!’ I pulled behind them and got up close. I verified the license number and then called REACT Radio Emergency Associated Communications Team) on CB radio channel 9 and told them what I found.” Hakes said that the REACT operator called Colonie police while he was travelling down Albany Street. He said, “At that point I was backing away so I wouldn’t be suspicious. I followed the car all the way to Route 155 and took a left on 155, then followed the car to Route 5, and then to Central Avenue. We ended up going by Colonie Center Mall on Route 5, and past the underpass for I-90.
Hakes continued, “The CB REACT operator told me, ‘when you see a police car on your right side back off so they can slide in’. And it happened just about that time by the bridge.” The police car intercepted the car where they found Lemuel Smith and the young woman. “My legs were shaking – I was overcome”, said Mr. Hakes.
Hakes, the Samaritan who saved the life of a young woman that night, remembered hearing her and her family at the police station that night. He recalled, “The lady who was involved, her door was shut but I could tell that she was in that room, I heard her crying. Her parents had not come yet. The parents came in later and they were in there an hour or two. I stayed there; I didn’t know what to do. Pretty soon the three of them, the mother, father and daughter, came out and walked by me as they left the police station building. The mother came back in and gave me a great big hug and said, ‘thank you’. She said, ‘when my daughter went by she pointed you out and said you were the one who helped the police to stop the car.’
Colonie Police Officer John Grebert said this was the most serious case he was ever involved with, and remembers it vividly to this day. Grebert said, “It’s being in the right place at the right time, which, as anyone in law enforcement knows, that’s all that makes the difference between someone’s life being saved and someone losing their life.” Grebert said that while he and his partner felt good about the arrest that night, they did not immediately realize how serious of a criminal they had arrested. Grebert credits Curtis Hakes for saving the young woman’s life by getting involved. He said, “This woman was probably doomed to a terrible death...”
According to the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, Smith remains incarcerated at Wende Correctional Facility in Alden, New York. He is eligible for parole in 2029 when he will be 87 years old. When he was sentenced in 1976, everyone probably thought his multiple life sentences would take him to the end of his life. But as of this posting, that parole date is now just a few years away. And even though he has spent most of his life in prisons, some feel that if he was released on parole, he would still be a danger to society. Denis Foley is the author of a book about Lemuel Smith called Lemuel Smith and The Compulsion to Kill. Foley, and interviewed Smith in prison. When asked about Smith’s danger if he was released from custody said, “… I would still think that he could be a risk. I really believe he is a case study on evil. And I think one of the characteristics is, they accept no responsibility and they have no remorse, and whatever they did or do, it was alright. …. And he was definitely evil.”
Listen to: Serial Killer’s First Victim (Link)
Credits and citations for background on this article: John Grebert (Colonie Police Dept., Retired), Dave McCall (Colonie Police Dept., Retired), Michael DeMarco (Albany Police Dept., Retired), Curtis Hakes, Dr. Denis Foley.
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UPDATE
Lemuel Smith had a date in federal court in February 2024 over what he contended to be cruel and unusual punishment after decades in solitary confinement. It was reported in various news outlets that the matter was settled out of court on February 23, 2024. While no specifics were offered, it appeared that there was some agreement reached related to relaxing Smith’s solitary confinement.
[1]Interview with Dr. Denis P. Foley; and his book, Lemuel Smith and the Compulsion to Kill, The Forensic Story of a Multiple Personality Serial Killer; New Litriem House Publishing, LLC, Delmar, NY;
[2]Glens Falls Times; Jan. 23, 1958
[3]Glens Falls Times; Feb. 6, 1958
[4]Troy Times Record; Boy Refuses to Waive in Murder Probe; Mar. 1, 1958, p. 7
[5]Troy Times Record; Amsterdam Youth Held in Baltimore Bludgeoning; Aug. 1, 1958, p. 9
[6]The Journal; Ogdensburg, NY; Robbery-Kidnapping Trial Continues; Jul. 20, 1978
[7]The Baltimore Sun; Jan. 24, 1959, p. 6
[8]The Baltimore Sun; Oct. 2, 1958, p.24
[9]The Baltimore Sun; Apr. 14, 1959, p. 25
[10]People v. Smith, 59 N.Y. 2d,160
[11]Buffalo Courier Express; Suspect Convicted; Feb. 3, 1979
[12]People v. Smith, on appeal
[13]Grondahl, Paul; A Difficult Journey Into the Mind of a Killer; Times Union, Albany, NY; Oct. 26, 2000
© 2024 The Spawn Group, LLC; APB Cold Case; APB Behind The Badge; All rights reserved.
It is a case that was perplexing from the start: The skeletal remains of a young pregnant girl found in an abandoned industrial well without a clue to her identity. As police methodically work through the facts, the process of what they learn, and how they learn it, is at times, both bewildering and confounding. This is the riveting account of how police are finally able to give a name to the Girl in the Well, and how the investigation is strangely intertwined with two other cases. And while we now have the answer as to her identity, one question still remains… Who Killed Lisa Todd?
_____________________
BODY FOUND - PUBLICKER JANE DOE
The abandoned Publicker Distillery in Bensalem, PA had long been used as a dumping ground after operations ceased in 1982.[1] And it wasn’t unusual to find the property littered with stolen cars and trash.[2] But on a cold, bleak day in January 1988 the skeletal remains of a young, pregnant girl are found at the bottom of an old industrial well by a couple walking their dog. Former Bensalem Police Detective, Chris McMullin told APB Cold Case about the traumatizing discovery they made, “They were walking along, they looked down, they see a skeleton. First, they thought it may have been a mannequin.”
BODY SEEMINGLY PLACED WITH RESPECT
McMullin described the curious way in which the remains were found in the underground well. “…she’s laying on her back, and she’s wearing jeans, and she had a, a purple blouse.” McMullin said that her clothing was tattered and the body was completely skeletal when discovered. He felt that she was placed in the well. “She definitely didn’t fall, because it was at least 10, 12 feet, and she had no injuries consistent with falling. And I don’t think she would have landed the way she laid”, adding, “it was almost like she was laid there with a little bit of reverence or respect.”
THE INVESTIGATION
In addition to the clothing on the body, McMullin said that police also recovered two pairs of shoes, and other articles of clothing, almost as if those items had been discarded with the body. An autopsy reveals the remains to be of a white female, 17-23 years old, 5’ 4” and 110 lbs., and she was 6 months pregnant at the time. A full set of fetal bones were recovered as well.
Bensalem police check for any connections to missing person cases in the area, but there is no solid connection. DNA technology is coming of age, but at the time her body is discovered, the science required a substantial sample, something that apparently was not available from the remains at that point. They would have to wait for science to catch up. With no new leads, the case goes cold.
PROMISING LEADS, TWISTS AND TURNS
In 2002, Detective McMullin is recovering from an injury and is assigned to light duty. He is handed a couple of cold cases to follow-up on. One of them is a missing and possibly pregnant 14-year-old girl named Tracy Byrd of Bensalem. (Check out more on the Tracy Byrd case in our episode titled, Family Secrets).
By the time McMullin gets the cold case there had been major strides in DNA technology. No longer was a significant bone or tissue sample needed. So he sends the remains to the Center for Human Identification. McMullin said the lab was able to extract a DNA sample from the remains of the girl in the well and upload the profile into CODIS, the national DNA database which is used to compare against unidentified remains. As part of his investigation into missing Tracy Byrd, McMullin asks for family reference samples from Tracy’s brothers and grandmother. Everyone he asks provides a sample, and the profiles are also loaded into the CODIS database. McMullin requested a direct comparison between Publicker Jane Doe and the Byrd family samples, feeling confident that he is heading down the right track. But surprisingly, the lab comes back with a ‘no hit” – it’s not Tracy. So, who is Publicker Jane Doe?
A diligent Detective McMullin pursues other possibilities – using the Internet he distributes photographs of the jewelry and clothing recovered with the body, hoping someone will recognize an item. He also tries isotope analysis which examines bones, teeth, hair and fingernails to identify composition that can demonstrate a region where a person lived in, or perhaps travelled to, or their diet.[3] He also considered phenotyping, one of the latest advances in DNA science, which develops a physical profile of what a person might look like based upon their individual DNA.[4] As McMullin is looking into other investigative strategies, a detective in his department suggested that the body could be Jeanette Rose Tambe, a 22-year-old with ties to Bensalem and who had been missing since 1984. McMullin locates a brother who provides a DNA sample which, when examined by the lab, comes back with a match – but it’s not a match to the girl in the well! It is a match to another Jane Doe, a murder victim in Atlantic County, New Jersey. The DNA would lead to the confirmed identity of Jeanette Rose Tambe as the victim of a horrendous homicide in a rural area where a new home was being built. (listen to our episode Tortured for details on this case.)
So now, McMullin knows that the girl in the well is not Tracy Byrd, nor is it Jeanette Tambe. But he is not giving up. In 2012 there had been enough advances in DNA technology for a partial genetic profile to be developed from the skeletal remains. Those results were entered into GED Match, a website for genealogy researchers. At first, the results were said to be insufficient to develop a family tree. Again, McMullin waits.
In the meantime he explores the possibility that the girl in the well could be the victim of an infamous California killer – Victor Paleologos, a man portraying himself as a casting director who would lure young women to secluded areas on the premise of a photo shoot. He would instruct the women to bring extra changes of clothing. But why would a west coast man be a suspect in an east coast murder? Because, said McMullin, “in 1985, Paleologos lived in Bensalem.” So, detectives have another lead worthy of close examination.
ENTER: GENETIC GENEALOGY
While following up on a variety of leads and evidence, McMullin engages the assistance of a private lab in order to take a deeper dive on genetic genealogy – or familial DNA. He teams up with famed crime scene specialist Yolanda McClary. “Once we got Jane Doe’s profile uploaded and Yolanda actually started working and building the family tree, I could not keep up with her”, said McMullin.
Then, McMullin gets information from McClary that she has identified a first cousin of Publicker Jane Doe in the Pocono region of Pennsylvania. The next step? McMullin needs to talk with that first cousin. “It was a strange call,” said McMullin. “After all, you’re asking someone about a relative who is missing… or dead.” Detective McMullin speaks with that first cousin, identified through familial DNA - but then, his hopes are dashed. “She was excited about it, and wanted to help me, but she said that she was adopted and didn’t know much about her biological family,” recounted McMullin. “As much as she wanted to help me, she just, she didn’t have the knowledge,” he added.
JANE DOE’S SIBLINGS IDENTIFIED
Again, it’s back to the drawing board. But this time, its only a couple of days that pass when McMullin gets a new lead – and this one will be a turning point. Yolanda McClary sent a text message to McMullin saying, “check your email.” McMullin goes directly to his computer and sees the message: “Your Jane Doe is the sister of Linda Todd and Joseph Todd.” McMullin scrambled to find contact information for Linda and Joseph Todd. Instead, he locates a telephone number for a woman named Kristin, whom he believed would be the daughter of Joseph. In the conversation that followed, McMullin said he asked Kristin if her father ever had a sibling that was missing. McMullin said the call is etched in his memory. He said, “She said, yeah, he did. He had a sister that disappeared… around 1985.” McMullin then asked, “what was her name?” Kristin answered, “Lisa.” Finally, an answer to the ‘who’ question – Publicker Jane Doe is Lisa Todd. McMullin was ecstatic. He arranges to talk with Kristin’s father, Joseph, who calls him back “in a world of emotion”, remembered McMullin, who arranged to drive to Joseph’s home in Philadelphia that evening with 2 other detectives to talk about the case.
McMullin brings pictures of the clothing and jewelry found with the body to show to Joseph. There was a distinctive ring that had been recovered, in the shape of a belt buckle. And when Joseph Todd saw it, he said, “that’s my sister’s ring”, recalled McMullin.
SHE WAS REPORTED MISSING AFTER ALL
Detectives mentioned that the Publicker Jane Doe case was in the newspapers, along with other publicity that Bensalem PD had done, and considering that Lisa’s home was about a 15-minute drive from Bensalem, he wondered if Lisa had been reported missing. Joseph Todd told McMullin that he remembered the police being at his parents house when his older sister Lisa was missing. She would have been 17 years old at the time. So there was a missing person report. But when Bensalem police were comparing missing persons reports to Publicker Jane Doe, it turned out that her missing person report had been purged by Philadelphia police from NCIC – the National Crime Information Center which is the repository for missing persons cases. For some unexplained reason, Lisa Todd’s missing person report was removed on her 18th birthday, even though she was still missing, something that particularly disturbs former Detective McMullin. “How many other times has this happened? How many juveniles were in the system as missing and upon their 18th birthday it was taken out and they’re still missing?” Added, McMullin, “…it pissed me off. Lisa’s mom and dad died before she was found.”
A RECONCILIATION
But now, Lisa’s surviving family has an answer to where Lisa was. But the answer as to “who” is responsible remains unanswered. Lisa dropped out of Frankford High School in Philadelphia in the ninth grade. She had a 2-year-old son at the time who was 37 years old when Lisa was finally identified. McMullin and another detective met with Lisa’s son and attended Lisa’s funeral. “We shared the entire case file with him. He said, ‘you have no idea how much I appreciate you doing this,’ said McMullin. “It was very bittersweet. But now he knew that his mother didn’t abandon him.”
LISA IS IDENTIFIED, BUT HER KILLER IS NOT… YET
It was an arduous journey to finally get an identification of the Girl in the Well. Although Lisa Todd’s remains have been identified, her cause and manner of death are still listed as ‘undetermined’. But McMullin believes it is a case of homicide. “For several reasons: One, she had a, a small fracture on her right maxilla, on her cheek, she also had a chipped tooth, and she was a 17-year-old girl that went missing, was found hidden in a well at an abandoned building – to me that, that suggests some foul play,” said McMullin.
HE KNOWS HE’S A SUSPECT
Retired Detective McMullin who is now a Lieutenant with the Bucks County (PA.) Sheriff’s Office said he has an idea who the suspect is, but he is not ready to share that information publicly. “I think he placed her there, and hid her there, because they were aware of that location. Like I said, she wasn’t, she didn’t fall, and if she was deceased when she was brought there, she wasn’t just dropped down that hole, she was placed there.” McMullin added, “He knows he’s a suspect – I’ll tell you that.”
At the time of Lisa’s disappearance she was 6 months pregnant, living with her boyfriend, Joe (not his real name), and his family. Joe’s brother said that Lisa and Joe did argue a lot, and assumed that Lisa left to get away from Joe.
TIPS: CALL BENSALEM POLICE
The Lisa Todd case remains an open investigation at Bensalem Police Department. If you have any information about the murder of Lisa Todd, call Bensalem detectives at 215-633-3719.
EPISODE LINK
WEBSITE: www.APBColdCase.com
[1] The Former Publicker Industries; Historical Society of Pennsylvania; https://m.philaplace.org/story/1766/; Accessed 3/4/2024
[2]The Doe Network; The International Center for Unidentified and Missing Persons; https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/461ufpa.html; Accessed 3/4/2024
[3] Bartelink, Eric J.; Recent Applications of Isotope Analysis to Forensic Anthropology; Forensic Sciences Research; Volume 4, Issue 1, March 2019, Pages 29–44, Accessed 3/4/2024
[4]Parabon Labs; https://parabon-nanolabs.com/dna-forensics/index.html; Accessed 3/4/2024
© 2024 The Spawn Group, LLC; APB Cold Case; APB Behind The Badge; All rights reserved.
Almost 50 years ago in a Victorian house on Maple Avenue in Jackson, Michigan, the Shanes family settled down for the night. The children had asked their mom if they could sleep downstairs. On the couch was Adam, age 10; Mandy, age 8; Natasha, age 6; Desiree age 4 and Chance, age 6 months.[1] Also in the house on May 7, 1985 was Susan Shanes, the mother of all the children, and her boyfriend Robert Forbes, the father of baby Chance.
During the night Susan Shanes would later say that she heard what “sounded like someone being struck by a car.”[2] But when she woke the next morning and came downstairs, Natasha was gone and the door was open. Susan called police.
Detective Michael Galbreath of the Jackson, Michigan Police Department is in charge of the case today, and told APB Cold Case that there was no forced entry.
Older sister Mandy recalled that when she woke that morning, the house was flooded with people looking for her sister, combing through every room in the house. She also remembered police driving up and down the street calling Natasha’s name over the public address speaker. An alert was put out for Natasha Shanes (also spelled Natashia); age 6, about 4’ tall, and about 57 pounds. She has brownish, blonde hair and brown eyes, a scar on her right cheek, a small scar on her forehead, and a birthmark on the back of her neck. She has pierced ears and was last seen wearing a white shirt and a blue jeans skirt with a safety pin on it. Natasha has epilepsy and requires medication on a regular basis.[3]
On the day of her disappearance, in addition to searching the house, police searched the yard and surrounding area. Police said that there was no forensic evidence at the scene – no struggle, no blood, no tool marks on any doors or windows from forcible entry. They enlisted the assistance of the local news station’s helicopter to search the city. Minutes turned into hours without any sign of Natasha. Police interview Natasha’s mother, and they particularly wanted to speak with her boyfriend, Robert Forbes.
Jackson police detective Mel Hartman was assigned to the Detective Bureau and remembered getting summoned to work on the case of the missing girl. “I had been out on an undercover narcotics assignment for a little over a year when she became missing. I was contacted by some of my people to find out what was going on, because I didn’t know anything about Natasha, but her mother was dating one of the Number 1 drug men in Jackson,” said former Detective Hartman.
So Detective Hartman assembled with other police officers in the Jackson PD conference room where officers were detailed to canvass the neighborhood. Hartman was curious to see if there was any connection between Natasha’s disappearance and Robert Forbes.
Mandy Shanes told APB Cold Case that Forbes was “quiet and polite”, but he didn’t really have a lot of personal interaction with the children because his focus was mainly on spending time with her mother, Susan and his own 6-month-old son, Chance.[4]
On Day 1 of the investigation police scoured the neighborhood looking for Natasha, which did not result in any leads as to her whereabouts. But on Day 2, Detective Hartman was at home after work, when he saw Robert Forbes walking down the street toward Hartman’s home. “He knocked on the door and asked if he could come in and talk to me”, said Hartman. “He came in and told me, ‘I’ve done a lot of things in my time. I’ve never hurt a child, and I did not hurt Natasha.’” Hartman replied, “well, you need to tell me more about what’s going on.” But Forbes told him, ‘I’d rather not at this time,’ and Forbes got up and left. Hartman said he did not find it unusual that Forbes knew where he lived as Hartman lived in the same home for 25 years. When asked if he believed that Forbes was presenting him with an alibi or some other defense about his involvement with Natasha’s disappearance, Hartman said he never believed that Forbes had anything to do directly with her disappearance. Jackson police said that during their investigation, Forbes had told them that he had “no idea who would be vindictive enough to bother the children that had revenge with him in mind”[5] But that statement by Forbes would seemingly imply that there were people who might have a vengeful motive toward him.
But that visit would not be the last time that Detective Hartman would see Forbes. The next day which was Day 3, as Detective Hartman was on his way to work, he saw some of his fellow officers in an alley near Main and Francis Streets. When he arrived at the police station, he was told that it was Robert Forbes’ body they had found. He had been shot, and most of his head was missing.[6] Was this a homicide or suicide? The controversy continues today. But at the time Hartman said officials wanted to label it as a suicide, but Hartman said he convinced prosecutors to leave it open while he continued to investigate. Nat Gross was a police officer with Jackson Michigan PD, too, familiar with Robert Forbes. “I tell you what. Robert Forbes wouldn’t take his own life. There was no reason for him to kill himself. He didn’t carry that kind of a guilt.”
Forbes was the main drug dealer in Jackson for heroin and cocaine, said Hartman. But there was a group of 5 businessmen who funded Forbes drug trafficking operation which they would receive a share of the proceeds. Hartman recalled information he received from an informant who told him that the businessmen wanted a bigger cut of the money, but they feared Forbes. So, the group decides they had to get rid of Forbes and they hire a hit man. But the first two attempts on Forbe’s life, described as a drive-by shooting, and another in which he was chased on city streets under gunfire[7], are unsuccessful. Said Hartman, “they could never get close enough to kill him.”
So then, according to an informant as told by Hartman, “There was an agreement struck between the hit man and the mother that she would leave the window, downstairs window partially open, with the child laying on the sofa, so that they could take the child to use as leverage to make him come to a location so they could kill him.” But Hartman added there was apparently confusion which resulted in Natasha being taken rather than Forbe’s biological infant son. Hartman theorized, “and that’s when they stuffed a shotgun in his mouth and made him pull the trigger.”
Hartman persists in his investigation, and eventually identifies the man suspected of having the contract to kill Forbes. But, said Hartman, that suspect had subcontracted the hit to another man only identified at that time by a nickname. It would take Hartman 3 more years to finally learn his last name, and Hartman finds him at the state prison. This is a turning point in the investigation, said Hartman who tells the suspect he wants to know wherethe child is. Hartman remembered the conversation, telling APB Cold Case, “He says, ‘well, the child is dead’, that she got sick and she died that same night.” Hartman said that Natasha’s body was put in the trunk of a car, and when they got to Detroit, they placed her in a suitcase and buried her outside a gambling house in a backyard.[8] But when Hartman goes back to the prison a couple months later to follow-up with the man, bad news. He had died 2 days earlier from cancer.[9]
But Detectives Hartman and Gross speak with another informant with knowledge about the location where Natasha is reportedly buried. This informant accompanies the detectives to the plot of land that was once the location of a gambling house – an after-hours ‘blind pig’. Former Detective Nat Gross described a ‘blind pig’ as an underground location where people go once bars have closed, to continue drinking and gambling. Gross was with Hartman when the informant pointed out the location. Gross remembered that the informant told them that Natasha was buried in a garden at that location.[10] Gross said the location has changed significantly over the years, but a Burger King restaurant once sat opposite the location, and that there was a gang shootout there in years past. Gross said there is a Comcast building and small fence in the same area today, and the remnants of a concrete slab nearby that was once part of a factory. The detectives approached Detroit police as the location was in Detroit’s jurisdiction. But they said local officials were not interested, fearing that there could be other bodies buried there.
But Detectives Hartman and Gross are confident in the information they developed. Gross credits Hartman with teaching him about handling informants, and he trusts the credibility of Hartman’s source. “Mel had some of the best informants, and, he usually didn’t disclose who his informants were, but this informant said that they would go with us to Detroit,” said former Detective Gross.
Why weren’t Detroit police more interested in pursuing a tip that could lead to the recovery of a missing girl? Did they question the authenticity of the information coming from he Jackson detectives? Let’s take a look at the limited knowledge we have about the source of the intel – the confidential informant (CI): First, the CI wasn’t ‘working off’ criminal charges, that is to say he wasn’t looking for a deal with prosecutors in exchange for intelligence which can always lead to suspicion about the their true motive in providing information; Second, the informant physically accompanied detectives to Detroit to demonstrate his knowledge, providing context to his testimony; Third, if the CI possessed information about the concealment of Natasha’s body after the fact, those could be admissions against his penal interest, meaning that the information he's providing could result in criminal responsibility, which can also lend credibility to a source.
In the years following Natasha’s disappearance, Mandy remembered digging in the yard for a pond when she discovered bones. She placed them in a bucket. Mandy said that she travelled out of state following her discovery and that when she returned, the bones were gone, reportedly taken to school by a sibling. We were unable to find any details of why someone didn’t intercept the bones and give them to investigators, especially if they knew Natasha was missing. But later, Mandy found one more bone in the same spot at home and took it to the police station where she was later told that it was not human.[11]
Reports say that Susan Shanes would not let police do any digging on her property. But in 2023, according to Detective Mike Galbreath, police had their opportunity to thoroughly search the former Shanes home when the city took over the property which had been condemned. They enlisted the services of cadaver dogs and an anthropologist in the search, but found no signs of a body. Former Detective Hartman is confident about his information indicating that Natasha is buried in Detroit, but the search of the Shanes home was part of the due diligence that police need to address as part of their investigation.
Over the years there have been people who came forward claiming to be Natasha Shanes, but none of those claims has ever been confirmed. DNA samples from Natasha’s mother and Mandy are on file with CODIS, a national DNA database, in order to be compared with any unidentified persons.
Mandy Shanes said that after Natasha disappeared, it affected the lives of she and her siblings. “We really didn’t have a childhood after that,” she said. And she wants answers, saying, “without closure, there’s no peace.” In the years following Natasha’s disappearance, Mandy said the family travelled through many states posting flyers about Natasha. (See flyer in Show Notes). But Mandy says they are still a close family and hopes for the day when there is a resolution to Natasha’s investigation. The detectives are likewise hopeful to bring Natasha’s case to closure. Current case detective Mike Galbreath said that the case will remain open until there is an answer. A solemn retired detective Nat Gross said, “No child should be some place where their loved ones can’t visit them.” For seasoned detective Mel Hartman who worked on Natasha’s case in the first hours back in 1985, he said, “That’s been my lifelong goal, ever since that she disappeared, was to just find her and return those remains back to the family.” When APB Cold Case interviewed Hartman he was hospitalized, anxiously awaiting his discharge. We told Hartman that our interview could wait until he was better, but Hartman insisted on talking about Natasha’s case. It was personal to him - something he wanted to solve. Days after our interview, Mel Hartman passed away.
If you have any information about the disappearance of Natasha Shanes, call Jackson Michigan Police at 517-788-4100 or Crime Stoppers of Mid-Michigan at 517-483-7867.
[1]Mandy Shanes
[2]Det. Galbreath, Jackson MI PD
[3]Inside Detective magazine; May 1986
[4]Mandy Shanes
[5]Det. Galbreath, Jackson MI PD
[6]Det. Hartman
[7]Det. Hartman
[8]Det. Hartman
[9]Det. Hartman
[10]Det. Gross
[11]Mandy Shanes
© 2024 The Spawn Group, LLC; APB Cold Case; APB Behind The Badge; All rights reserved.
Suspended from school? Pregnant? Missing mother?
March 1983: Tracy Byrd was just 14 years old when she was dropped off at school by her mother’s boyfriend. Then she disappears. Months later, Tracy’s mother is kidnapped and murdered. This is a twisted tale full of secrets, rumors and theories. Through it all, the same question lingers – where is Tracy?
_____________________
BACKGROUND: TRACY DROPPED AT SCHOOL, THEN MISSING
It was pouring rain when Tracy Byrd was dropped off at school by her mom’s boyfriend, Paul Greenwald on the morning of Monday, March 7, 1983. That would be the last point on the timeline according to authorities that Tracy was known to have been alive. She was not on any attendance rosters in at Bensalem High School that day as she had been suspended, a fact that she had apparently hidden from her mom. Where did she go? Even Tracy’s best friend Dene’ Boushell, who had seen Tracy during the preceding weekend and who lived in the same apartment complex didn’t know where her good friend was. “She sat in front of me in algebra class. Monday was algebra - it was first period and she wasn’t there.” Boushell told APB Cold Case that she was shocked when she learned that Tracy was missing. Boushell and her brother were interviewed by police the following day, she said. Boushell and other friends checked the places where they usually hung out together, but there was no sign of Tracy.
“SHE TOLD ME SHE WAS PREGNANT”
Tracy’s brother, Dale Raesly, Jr. who was 18 then, remembered the last day he saw Tracy. He was sleeping on the couch that Monday morning when he remembered Greenwald calling to Tracy to get ready for school. “I remember Paul saying, ‘you’re gonna be late’ to Tracy,” said Dale. He said that Greenwald and Tracy left, and very soon afterward, Greenwald returned home. After school that day Tracy didn’t come home, but that wasn’t so unusual, he said. Dale believed that it was the following day when Jean called Tracy’s school and learned that Tracy had been suspended and wasn’t even supposed to be at school the day before. We were unable to determine why Tracy had been suspended. Jean called police to make a missing person report and the investigation began.
Boushell said that the weekend before Tracy disappeared, the two of them had been together. “She told me she was pregnant,” recalled Boushell of the words spoken by Tracy. Boushell described the conversation as Tracy telling her that her period was late. Boushell said that Tracy had a boyfriend, described as the son of a man at the apartment complex where Dene and Tracy both lived. “I asked her if her boyfriend was the father and she said, ‘no’,” added Boushell.
There were no smart phones and few security cameras compared to today. As much as they tried to find Tracy, there were no clues. The girl who loved music, dancing, and the movie Grease was gone. Weeks turned into months. During the summer of 1983 Tracy would have turned 15. It was an emotional and stressful time on the family.
MOM’S BOYFRIEND ABUSIVE; KIDNAPPED HER; STABBED MAN; RETURNS HOME
Tracy’s brother Dale told APB Cold Case that Paul Greenwald had been physically abusive to his mother, Jean. According to published reports, in November 1980, 3 years before Tracy’s disappearance, Jean Byrd had broken up with Greenwald. It was reported that when Jean was at her apartment with another man, Greenwald forced his way inside. It was alleged that Greenwald stabbed the man and fled with Jean. Said Dale, “He kidnapped her, dragged her down three flights of steps, stabbed the boyfriend in the hand… and proceeded to drive through 20 Middletown Township and Trenton police officers.” After a 12-mile police chase that ended with Greenwald crashing into a tree, he was charged with a crimes including felonious restraint, burglary, and assault.[1]Ironically, it was Jean Byrd who testified in defense of Greenwald at his sentencing for the burglary and abduction charges. It was reported that the Deputy District Attorney (D.A.) asked for jail sentence, but the judge gave him probation. The D.A. was quoted as saying that decision was likely attributed to Jean’s testimony.[2]To the dismay of Dale, his mother let Greenwald back into their lives.
SPLIT UP AGAIN; STALKED BY FORMER BOYFRIEND; MOM GOES MISSING
With that background about Greenwald and his relationship with Jean, let’s go back to 1983 and the months following Tracy’s disappearance. There have been no significant leads as to her whereabouts. The stress in the home was palpable with the already-tumultuous relationship between Greenwald and Jean. Dale told us that things got to the point where they weren’t paying their rent, and Jean and Greenwald split up again. Jean and son Dale moved in with one of Jean’s friends at nearby Country Commons Apartments, while older brother Frank stayed with one of his friends. They were all away from Paul but were still concerned how he would react to another breakup. Then, on October 7th, seven months after Tracy had disappeared, Jean goes missing. She had left her apartment to go out on a date that evening, said Dale, heading to her car wearing blue jeans and a white sweater. By the next day she had not returned home. Police question neighbors but there were no reports or signs of a scuffle or fight. Police believed that something happened between the time she left her apartment and before she ever reached her car in the parking lot. Dale told us that he and his mother both knew she was being watched by Greenwald. “Paul would stalk my mom. He’d park the green station wagon across the street at the church, hide it behind some high hedges and just sit there and watch the house all day from 11 in the morning until the lights went down at night.” Dale said that his mother was no match for Greenwald whom he described as a strong man who swung a hot-mop doing roof jobs, and describing his mother as petite. Dale said that when she left to go out that evening, it was the last time he ever saw his mother.
MOM’S BODY DISCOVERED IN A FAMILIAR DELAWARE LOCALE
About 10 days after Jean left her friend’s apartment, a body was discovered in a shallow grave in the 5000-acre Blackbird State Forest in Delaware. A couple of photographers were hiking in the area on October 18 when they came across a decomposing body. The victim’s head was bound in duct tape, and was partially clothed. The body was taken to the morgue and a physical description was sent over the police teletype in an attempt to identify the female body. Later that evening, detectives in Bensalem, Pennsylvania who were investigating Jean’s disappearance reached out to Delaware authorities wondering if this could possibly be Jean Byrd.
The coroner determined that the woman’s cause of death was asphyxiation, and the manner of death was homicide. But the identification would be later confirmed through dental records – it was Jean Byrd. She was wearing the same sweater and jewelry she had on when Dale saw her leave the apartment just days before.
Dale Byrd told APB Cold Case that Blackbird State Forest was a familiar location. It was a place where they had all gone as a family. And when the FBI took Dale to the area to look over the location, he recognized it instantly. It was a location that, until then, was a good memory of a couple of family camping trips. “It was fun. We’d sit around the fire and do the normal things that families do…” Tragically his mother’s body had been recovered by police just yards away from where he remembered sitting around that campfire. The most obvious suspect in Jean’s murder is Paul Greenwald. He had a violent past, especially with Jean; he had been stalking her and was familiar with the location where her body was found.
FORMER BOYFRIEND IS ARRESTED AGAIN - NOW FOR HOMICIDE
Police continued their investigation and in November of 1984 – about one year after Jean Byrd’s body was found, and about a year and a half after 14-year-old Tracy went missing, 38-year-old Paul Greenwald was arrested by Delaware State Police for Jean’s murder. Reports indicate that he ultimately admitted to suffocating Jean who was found with duct tape wrapped around her mouth and face.[3][4]And just as a jury had been seated and his trial was about to begin, Greenwald entered a plea to manslaughter.[5]
GREENWALD DEAD
He was due to be sentenced on March 20, 1986[6], but to everyone’s surprise, he evaded any penalty by taking his own life, overdosing on pills that he had stockpiled. The prosecutor’s office had reportedly pressured him to disclose whatever he knew about Tracy, but he maintained that she was alive and well when he dropped her off at school, and never admitted to any wrongdoing or knowledge of her whereabouts.[7]
DETECTIVE BRINGS NEW EYES TO THE CASE
Any hopes of getting information from Greenwald was gone. With no new information, Tracy’s case goes cold. Then, in 2002 Bensalem , Pennsylvania Police Detective Christopher McMullin is given a couple cold case files while he’s on light duty, recovering from an injury. The first file is labelled, “Tracy Byrd,” a file that was already 19 years old. McMullin begins by talking with Tracy’s brothers, friends, and grandmother. The detective also speaks with Jean’s ex-husbands. As he speaks with family members, the astute detective is routinely asking them for a DNA swab. In the days when Tracy went missing, DNA was just entering the scene in forensics. But as McMullin was doing his legwork in the early 2000’s, DNA had become commonplace. McMullin told APB Cold Case that when he spoke with Mr. Byrd, the man believed to be Tracy’s biological father, he said that the gentleman admitted that he might actually be Tracy’s father. But McMullin got a DNA swab from him just in case. He also tracked down another man who could have been Tracy’s father, and enlisted the assistance of Florida authorities to get a DNA swab from him. All of the DNA specimens are in the national DNA database known as CODIS in the event they can be linked to an unidentified DNA specimen.
COULD PUBLICKER JANE DOE BE TRACY BYRD?
McMullin continues his investigation and quickly learns of an unidentified female whose body had been recovered from an underground industrial well at the former Publicker Distillery in nearby Bensalem. Skeletal remains were discovered by a couple walking in the area in 1988 and were determined to be of a young white female, between 17-23 years old, and it was believed she had been there for 3-5 years. They also found a set of fetal bones within the skeleton. Everything was beginning to line up with Tracy Byrd, although the age estimation was off a bit, but again, these were estimates. Detective McMullin was encouraged that he may have just found Tracy Byrd, and he waits for DNA results from the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) – a national database of DNA profiles. “I had requested CODIS do a direct comparison between the family reference samples, between her brothers and alleged fathers and maternal grandmother,” said the detective. As we discussed this lead, I could feel he excitement that he must have felt at that point in the investigation. The facts and circumstances pointed to the very real possibility that this would be, should be Tracy. McMullin said, “I would have bet my next check back then that I was going to get a hit.” But then the results came back – it was not Tracy. It was another missing girl from Philadelphia. (Listen to our upcoming episode: The Girl in the Well). So another family has information about their loved one, but Tracy’s family still waits for answers, and McMullin forges ahead with other leads. Among those leads was, of course, Paul Greenwald. After all, it’s not every missing persons case where the last person in contact with your missing person is charged with killing the mother months after the daughter’s disappearance. It was a lead that had to be scrutinized. Detectives did search Blackbird State Forest after Jean’s body was discovered, but they found no traces of another body. When asked if he suspected any inappropriate conduct by Greenwald against Tracy, Dale told us, “As far as I know he made no sexual advances toward Tracy – he might have.”
OTHER SUSPECTS, OTHER MOTIVES?
But could the violent, stalking, and homicidal behaviors of Greenwald be distracting us from another motive and perhaps another suspect? McMullin explored that as well. If you presume the rumor to be true that 14-year-old Tracy was pregnant, if the father of the baby was an adult, he could have been worried about a statutory rape accusation, said McMullin. If the father was close to Tracy’s age, he might have been fearful about being a teen parent. Said McMullin, “there was always a theory that the father of her child may have attacked her and killed her, as well.”
TRACY’S FAMILY WAITS FOR ANSWERS
Tracy’s family still holds out hope that maybe someday they will get an answer. “Forty years is a long-time. I’ve had 7 hearts attacks, I’m in congestive heart failure, and I don’t have much time left. And I’d like to see this done before I go,” said Dale.
Tracy’s school friend will never forget her beautiful friend who dressed stylishly and wore feathered earrings. “She was a good friend, and a good confidante.” Said Dene Boushell.
Tracy’s friends and family want to bring her home; any hopes of her being found alive somewhere were dashed decades ago. They all wonder who could be responsible – was it her mother’s boyfriend who was last seen with her; or someone who feared the ramifications of having gotten her pregnant? Or could it be some other motive altogether? Police say this case will not close until there is an answer. If you have any information about the disappearance of Tracy Byrd, call Bensalem Police detectives at 215-633-3719. Visit APBColdCase.com for show notes, including photographs, a timeline, and a “Who’s Who” for this episode.
Upcoming episodes will explore the cases of two other young women from Pennsylvania whose cases are strangely intertwined with Tracy Byrd’s investigation. Check www.APBColdcase.com for more information.
RESOURCES
[1]Bucks-Mont News; Doylestown Intelligencer, Nov. 12, 1980, p. 98
[2] Estranged husband pleads guilty to suffocation death of woman; Doylestown Intelligencer, 12/19/1985, p. 94
[3] Inside Detective; RGH Publishing Co., New York; May 1986, pp. 46-47
[4]Estranged husband pleads guilty to suffocation death of woman; Doylestown Intelligencer; Dec. 19, 1985, p. 94
[5]Inside Detective; RGH Publishing Co., New York; May 1986, pp. 46-47
[6]Delaware County Daily Times, Chester, PA; Mar. 26, 1986
[7]Ibid
© 2024 The Spawn Group, LLC; APB Cold Case; APB Behind The Badge; All rights reserved.
Shootout with the Boston Marathon Bombers
The 8 ½ Minutes You Never Heard About
BOSTON MARATHON FINISH LINE
On April 15, 2013, two pressure cooker bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing 2 and seriously injuring several more. That event launched one of the most extraordinary terrorism investigations in United States history. The two suspects were seen on surveillance cameras, their photos released to the public, and soon they were the subject of an intense manhunt.
MURDER OF OFFICER SHAWN COLLIER; CARJACKING
Three days later, on April 18, 2013 at 10:25 PM[1] the suspects murder Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Police Officer Shawn Collier, shooting him in the head at close range. They attempt to steal his service pistol but are unable to do so; then at 11:00 PM[2] they carjack and kidnap a driver; Shortly afterward, at 12:15 AM[3] (on April 19), the kidnap victim escapes and summons police. Police receive information from OnStar that the hijacked car is in Watertown, just outside of Boston. But at the time, police only know that they have a stolen car. They have no idea who’s inside.
STOLEN CAR TRACKED TO WATERTOWN
As Watertown police assemble for the midnight shift on April 18, they are briefed about MIT police officer Shawn Collier. A saddened group heads out to patrol the small city of Watertown. Within minutes of hitting the street, they are alerted to the carjacking which has been tracked from Cambridge to Dexter Avenue in Watertown. Officer Joe Reynolds heads in that direction while Sgt. John Maclellan approaches from the opposite end of Dexter. As those two officers are responding to the stolen car, Sgt. Jeff Pugliese is sitting in his personal car outside the Watertown police station. He had just finished his evening shift and was listening to the news about the shooting of Officer Collier. He’s also listening to his police radio and hears his colleagues trying to wrangle the stolen car. Pugliese decides to head in that direction just in case they need help. He is driving toward Dexter Avenue, still in his personal vehicle.
Editor’s note: For the next series of events which we describe here, we will refer to the suspects as Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev for clarity of the story. However, their identities were unknown to Watertown police at the time of the shootout on Laurel Street. In fact, the officers were unsure exactly how many shooters were involved at first, and there was no information that connected these carjacking suspects to either the Boston Marathon bombing or the murder of MIT Officer Shawn Collier.
POLICE FACE OFF WITH CARJACKING SUSPECTS; SHOTS FIRED
Officer Reynolds and Sgt. Maclellan are now on Laurel Street just off of Dexter Ave. and they both have the stolen Mercedes in sight. Maclellan radios to Reynolds that he sees the car and tells Reynolds to “light ‘em up”, to turn on his emergency lights and stop the car. But the Mercedes pulls over on its own. It’s now 12:43 AM[4]. Reynolds recalled, “One of the suspects exited the driver’s side of the vehicle and started approaching my cruiser, at which point he lifted up his right arm and started firing at my cruiser.” Reynolds quickly and expertly puts his cruiser in reverse and traverses an extended distance while bullets are hitting his police car. Reynolds radios in, “shots fired, shots fired!”, which is overheard by Sgt. Pugliese who then begins racing to Laurel Street to help his fellow officers.
MORE GUNFIRE AND A TROJAN HORSE
One of the suspects sees Sgt. MacLellan in another police car. MacLellan had just put his Ford Expedition in park. “He takes one shot at me. I see the gun light up and I get sprayed with glass,” said Maclellan. The bullet was so close to his head that Sgt. Maclellan believed that his ear had been shot off; but he was okay. The bullet would later be recovered in the headrest of his cruiser. Sgt. Maclellan is under fire, and he knows that Officer Reynolds is also taking rounds. Maclellan decides to grab his patrol rifle - but it’s not releasing from the rack. He runs through the series of steps to unlock the rifle, but to no avail. “I’m looking down the street. I see a Honda with three doors open and a Mercedes with two doors open. I got people shooting at us. I don’t know how many bad guys we got downrange,” said Maclellan. He added, “There’s only two of us, we just called out ‘shots fired’, but it’s going to take a while to get people to us. So I figured I’d send my cruiser down, get some cover, and look and see who engages the vehicle cause they’re gonna think someone is in it.” Maclellan’s police vehicle has become a Trojan horse for police. The police car begins gliding down Laurel Street, and the diversion works! The suspects begin firing at the empty police cruiser.
THE FIRST BOMB
Then, one of the suspects lobs an improvised explosive devices – a pipe bomb – at Maclellan’s police unit, shattering windows. Maclellan is taking cover behind a tree. From Reynolds’ perspective, he fears that Maclellan is taking fire inside the police car. But Maclellan spots Reynolds and calls him over to the tree. A puzzled Reynolds asks Sgt. Maclellan, “who’s driving your car?” to which Maclellan says, “I’ll tell ya later!” As the officers crouch behind the tree the first bomb detonates. Both officers are trading gunfire with the suspects, yelling commands for them to surrender. But volleys of gunfire continue from both sides. Now, the suspects lob a second explosive – this one will be worse than the first. Maclellan said that he and Reynolds took cover, and then, heard a huge explosion. “It was like four guys standing around me with baseball bats and hitting me in the chest. The concussion was huge.” Maclellan continued, “My eyes were shaking in my head. I had to reholster and grab my eyes – I couldn’t see.” Maclellan said he was about 12 feet from that device when it exploded, but, miraculously neither he nor Reynolds were hit with any shrapnel.
MORE BOMBS, MORE GUNFIRE
Officer Reynolds makes a dash to his police car to retrieve his patrol rifle while Maclellan tries to get closer to the suspects. And then comes bomb number 3. Maclellan was obviously their target as it landed next to him. He described the device as round, “like a softball” with two caps. He braces for the explosion… but nothing happens.
Reynolds said that the suspects sent 3-4 bombs at police, the last one being a pressure cooker device. Said Reynolds, “As I saw that being thrown I could see it was a larger bomb. I knew there was going to be a larger blast radius so I grabbed Sgt. MacLellan I said, ‘run, run!’”
The officers were vaulting fences and navigating through backyards to get a tactical advantage over the suspects, changing their positions and seeking cover and concealment. Reynolds recalled that when one of the suspects appeared in his sights, he took a shot to try to end the rampage. But both suspects continue to fire on police.
SKIP-SHOTS; FIRST SHOOTER TACKLED
Sgt. Jeff Pugliese had arrived on Laurel Street just a couple of minutes after Reynolds “shots fired” radio call. He was still in uniform from his earlier shift, pausing only briefly as he got out of his car on Laurel Street to don his body armor. Pugliese sees his fellow officers pinned down by gunfire while also returning fire. Pugliese, a military veteran and a police firearms instructor, decides to go through backyards in order to flank the suspects. As he makes his way in the darkness, a pressure cooker bomb explodes. Pugliese felt something skim by his face. But he continues to advance in order to train his sights on the suspects. As Pugliese gets a visual on the shooters, he sees that they are taking cover behind an SUV. So, Pugliese starts skip-shooting, aiming his shots under the SUV at the suspects’ and letting his bullets skid along the pavement into the legs and feet of the shooters. Former Police Chief Ed Deveau told APB Cold Case that Pugliese struck Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older brother, at least once in the leg. It seemed that Tamerlan “felt defiant, invincible”, said Deveau, noting that Tamerlan and Pugliese were firing at each other from close range, and once Tamerlan ran out of ammunition he threw his gun at Pugliese before charging toward the sergeant who tackled him. Pugliese was joined by Maclellan and Reynolds and together they handcuffed the elder Tsarnaev brother who continued to struggle.
SECOND SHOOTER RUNS TO STOLEN CAR; RUNS OVER AND DRAGS BROTHER
The younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev ran back to the stolen Mercedes SUV. Former Chief Deveau told APB Cold Case, “He turns around and comes roaring down the street and now Joe (Reynolds), John (Maclellan) and Jeff (Pugliese) are in the middle of the street, and his plan is to just to run them over.” It’s 12:50 AM[5] as Sgt. Pugliese tries to drag Tamerlan by his belt out of the street to safety. But at the last moment, Officer Reynolds yells “get out of the way”, at the same time Pugliese saw the vehicle speeding toward them. “I felt the breeze of the headlights go by my face”, said Sgt. Pugliese. “I’m lying on my back and I saw the wheels go over the older brother and he bounced up between the undercarriage and the pavement a couple times. He got hung up in the rear wheels, and he got dragged about 25 feet, and they smashed into one of our cruisers.” Pugliese continued, “For a brief second you could hear the engine racing, he was trying to break free of the collision. And he finally broke free, took off, and as he broke free the rear wheels went over the brother.”
According to the federal indictment against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, when he “…drove the Mercedes at the three police officers, he barely missed Sergeant Jeffrey Pugliese, who was attempting to drag Tamerlan Tsarnaev to safety. Then Dzhokhar Tsarnaev ran over Tamerlan Tsarnaev, seriously injuring him and contributing to his death.”[6]
Dzhokhar is last seen driving away with a hail of bullets being fired in his direction. Tamerlan, even though he is handcuffed, shot, hit by an SUV and dragged, continues to struggle.
OFFICER DOWN
It’s at this time that officers hear a frantic radio call: “officer down!” Just down the street, an officer who had responded to the ‘shots fired’ alert had been struck by a bullet. Officer Richard ‘Dic’ Donahue of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) had been shot. Officer Reynolds holsters his gun, grabs a medical bag from his cruiser and runs to the aid of Officer Donahue. “He was bleeding pretty profusely,” said Reynolds. “There were other officers tending to his injuries and starting CPR,” he added. An ambulance arrived and transported the critically injured officer to the hospital. Reynolds described Donahue’s wound as grave. “He was bleeding out. He lost all his blood.”
Former police chief Edward Deveau credits on-scene responders and hospital staff for saving Officer Donahue’s life. “Days later I talked with the doctors down there. They said, ‘Chief you’re guys did a great job but Donahue lost all his blood. You guys are doing CPR, but CPR doesn’t work if there’s no blood in the body.’” Deveau describes Officer Donahue’s recovery as miraculous. “Those emergency room doctors just did incredible work; they wouldn’t give up.”
YOU GOT THE BOMBERS!
So now, the dust had settled on Laurel Street, and police had a huge crime scene. But at that point, Watertown police still felt that they were dealing with carjackers. Pugliese recalled that several other police agencies began arriving on Laurel Street after Dzhokhar had fled the scene and Tamerlan had been transported to the hospital. Sgt. Pugliese said, “…the other agencies were telling us, ‘you know who you have there?’ I said, ‘a couple carjackers’, and they said ‘no, you got the bombers.”
SECOND SHOOTER ESCAPES
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev abandoned the Mercedes SUV on Spruce Street in Watertown and destroyed both of his cell phones.[7]He concealed himself inside a drydocked boat in the backyard of a resident’s property until he was apprehended by police following an historic community lockdown.[8]
AFTERMATH
Edward Deveau has since retired from the Watertown Police Department. You can sense his pride in his officers as you listen to his interview in Shootout with the Boston Marathon Bombers: The 8 ½ Minutes You Never Heard About. He lauds the skill of Officer Reynolds in tactically reversing his cruiser while under fire, a move that Maclellan said saved his life. And how Sgt. Maclellan told him that despite taking fire and shrapnel, there was no retreat option. And MacLellan sending his unattended police car down the street as a diversion which drew the attention of the shooters; And how Sgt. Pugliese tactically advanced on the shooter’s flanks, skip-shooting under the SUV they used as cover. The collective ingenuity, bravery, and grit exhibited by the Watertown police in stopping two violent terrorists was unrivalled. Chief Deveau was not the only person who recognized the heroic work of his officers that night. Said Deveau, “I talked to some of the Boston Tactical Teams, (and) the federal people, and they said, ‘where are your guys, I want to shake their hands’. They have some intestinal fortitude with all that was happening.”
THE 8 ½ MINUTES
The now retired police chief said that this handful of police officers, like in so many other communities throughout the nation, are the first and last line of defense; they were the ones to assess the situation and deal with it in a matter of minutes. Putting the timeline into perspective Deveau stressed that although Officer Reynolds had already broadcast “shots fired” over the radio, these officers were on their own. “The calvary was coming”, said Deveau. “but they’re by themselves for a while and as we all know the average police gunfight lasts 10 seconds, a minutes a long time, they were by themselves for 4 minutes and the whole thing lasted 8 and a half minutes”
Speaking about his officers, a proud Chief Deveau said, “They knew they were protecting this little community, this little street in Watertown. And as we all know, their plan when they carjacked that vehicle, was to take the bombs and the ammo, go down to Times Square and they wanted to kill more people. So I’m proud. The WPD stopped these guys from killing more people. It was remarkable what they did in the early morning hours.”
LINK HERE
[1]Indictment, United States v. Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, a/k/a Jahar Tsarni; hereafter, “Indictment”; p. 10; FBI.gov
[2]Indictment, p. 10; FBI.gov
[3]Indictment, p. 10; FBI.gov
[4]Indictment, p. 11; FBI.gov
[5]Indictment; p. 11; FBI.gov
[6]Ibid.
[7]Indictment, p. 12; FBI.gov
[8]Indictment, p. 12; FBI.gov
© 2024 The Spawn Group, LLC; APB Cold Case; APB Behind The Badge; All rights reserved.
BONUS CONTENT – BEHIND THE BADGE
Postscript: A Cop’s Wife and the Alaskan Alert
As you heard in our story, Sgt. Jeff Pugliese had just finished his evening 4 PM – 12 Midnight shift as he sat in his personal vehicle in the police parking lot. He was listening to news on the radio about the murder of Officer Shawn Collier at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in nearby Cambridge. And as you already know from the blog above, Pugliese became involved in one of the most intense shootouts in American police history.
On an ordinary 4-12 shift for Sgt. Pugliese, he should have been home by 12:43 AM. Instead, he was in the middle of a protracted gunfight with bombs exploding and shrapnel flying through the air.
How did his wife find out that something was going on in Watertown? One of Sgt. Pugliese’s brothers who lives in Fairbanks, Alaska was watching the television news when he heard a reference to Watertown, Massachusetts, his hometown. There was live coverage of the shootout on Laurel Street and it had apparently been connected, or at least surmised by the media that it could be linked to the Boston Marathon Bombing. Pugliese’s brother calls his sister-in-law, waking her out of a deep sleep and says, “Watertown is on the news. You don’t know what’s going on? You’ve gotta get up and watch the news!” Pugliese’s wife, realizing that her husband should have been home by now, wakes another brother-in-law who was visiting from out of town, and they turn on the tv.
At this point the gunfight was over, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had fled the scene, Officer Dic Donahue was being rushed to the hospital having lost all his blood from a gunshot wound, and Tamerlan Tsarnaev was also on the way to the hospital for multiple injuries from gunshots and being run over by his brother; Laurel Street became a major crime scene, and law enforcement officers from nearby agencies along with Boston PD and the FBI descended on Watertown. Sgt. Pugliese was still coordinating activities on the ground at Laurel Street, and then at a command post that was set up in nearby Kohler Square, a business district in Watertown about a half mile from the crime scene.
Sgt. Pugliese told APB Cold Case that, in the minutes following the dramatic shootout, he received a phone call from his wife. Sgt. Pugliese recalled the conversation, his wife asking, “Where are you?” He replies, “I can’t talk, I’m very busy right now.” His wife asks, “Are you in Kohler Square?” Puglise says, “I’m up on the East End, but I can’t talk. I just shot a guy, I’m okay. I’ll call you back.” About an hour and a half later Pugliese would have a brief opportunity to call his wife back and fill her in on some of the details.
Pugliese and other officers involved in the gunfight were at the command post until about 6:00 AM when they returned to Watertown Police headquarters where they were interviewed by a stress debriefing team from Boston PD, which lasted until about 11 AM. It wasn’t until about 1:30 PM when Sgt. Pugliese finally got home after being awake for 30 hours. He spoke with his wife, son and brother about the incident, but then he just wanted to get some sleep. As he took off his uniform, he noticed that his undershirt was drenched in blood. “My wife freaked because she saw all of the blood and thought I had an injury.” Said Pugliese, “I didn’t notice it at the time, but when I tackled him (Tamerlan Tsarnaev), my uniform acted like a sponge.
And that is the story-behind-the story of the circumstances of how one cop’s wife in Watertown, Massachusetts first learned about the dramatic events from her brother-in-law almost 4500 miles away in Alaska.
© 2024 The Spawn Group, LLC; APB Cold Case; APB Behind The Badge; All rights reserved.
Pieces of the Puzzle: Who Killed Patricia Fairbanks?
The passing of half a century has not erased the memory of 14-year-old Patricia “Patty” Fairbanks from the Chautauqua County community where she lived. Patty disappeared on November 29, 1972 while on an errand for her mom. Thirty-one days after she went missing, Patty’s bludgeoned and strangled body was discovered behind a house, just across the street from where she lived. Through the decades, police have not forgotten about her either. The investigation into Patty’s murder is currently in the hands of veteran detectives whose policing careers began in California. Investigator Tom Tarpley began working with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in 1981, and went on to serve with the Tustin, CA police. Investigator Tom DiZinno worked for 17 years with the San Diego PD, and 14 years with National City, CA PD. Today, they work in the cold case unit at the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office in Mayville, New York.
CHAUTAUQUA MURDERS
“There’s around 45 unsolved cases in Chautauqua County”, said Inv. DiZinno. He added, “Over the years, the fact that there are so many unsolved murders and abductions of women, it weighs very heavily on the community”. DiZinno said that the impetus for working these cases so diligently is the community. We asked if any of those other Chautauqua cases appear to be connected with Patty’s murder – detectives said that while most of the missing women were from the same area, those incidents came years later and they have found no connection to the Patricia Fairbanks case.
TROUBLE AT HOME
Patty lived on West Ninth Street in Jamestown, New York with her mother, older sister and younger brother. Her biological father had been out of the picture for years, and her stepfather had left the home under, as police described it, ‘a cloud of suspicion’. Patty’s best friend was Mary Hagga who remembered the torment that Patty shared with her. Patty confided to Mary that she was molested by her stepfather. “She was trying to put herself back together after that happened to her,” said Hagga. “Patty was broken and she was trying to find herself.” APB Cold Case was unable to confirm the allegations.
PATTY ON ERRAND; MISSING
Police had been looking for Patty after her mother reported her missing on November 28, 1972, the night when she failed to return from an errand. Earlier that evening Patty was sent from home by her mother to the local drug store about a quarter mile away at West Tenth and Main Streets to pick up cotton swabs for Patty’s little brother. Patty returned with the supplies but told her mother she was fifteen cents short, and she wanted to go back with the change. That was the last time Patty’s mom ever saw her daughter alive. When she didn’t return that night, her mother called police. There was some suspicion early on in the investigation that Patty may have gone off on her own. She had a wide circle of friends and acquaintances and was described as a bit of a ‘nomad’. Police canvassed the area and notified the press, but found no sign of Patty. Days turned into weeks – still, no Patty.
PATTY’S BODY FOUND; AUTOPSY CONFLICT
Then, on December 29, just 31 days after she was last seen, her body was discovered behind the house of the neighbor across the street, just 75 yards from Patty’s home.
The investigation into Patty’s disappearance was now a homicide, and police stepped up their efforts. Her cause of death was reported as a skull fracture with resulting brain damage, according to one published report. Detectives said that she had also been strangled. Police at the time had a hard time believing the coroner’s finding that Patty had only been dead for a few days, and they requested a second autopsy, which meant that Patty’s body was exhumed. The new autopsy seemed to back up the original time of death, just a few days before her body was discovered. However, there was a difference of opinion on the method of strangulation. One pathologist saying it was manual choking, the other said it was by a ligature.
THE FIFTEEN CENTS
But police still were unconvinced that Patty was killed in the few days leading up to December 29 because of a particular piece of evidence they found – “there was fifteen cents at the end of her outreached hand,” said Sr. Investigator Tom DiZinno. And this becomes another piece of an intriguing puzzle - If Patty was on her way back to the pharmacy from her home with the fifteen cents, why is that same amount of change she still with her 31 days later, particularly if she had been alive 3-4 days before her body was found?
PATTY SEEN DURING HER ‘MISSING' TIME
To add to the mystery, there were a couple people who knew Patty who told police they saw Patty in the downtown area around December 22. That would seem to lend credence to the estimate of her time of death. But could they all be mistaken? What part of the timeline can authorities actually confirm? We asked Inv. Tom DiZinno about the possibility of Patty’s body going unnoticed for 31 days at the location where she was found. He told APB Cold Case that he believed it to be “highly unlikely” for her body to lie behind an occupied house without being noticed. (see photographs and map of the area at APBColdCase.com)
PATTY’S TWO RINGS
Reports indicate that 14-year-old Patty was engaged to an 18-year-old named Bruce. Mary Hagga said she thought it was odd that Patty’s mother allowed her to get engaged, but said Mary, “Patty was so happy when she showed me that ring.”
That wasn’t the only ring that Patty wore, however. She also had the ring of the 33-year-old man she babysat for – we will call him Gary (not his real name). Patty’s mom found out about the ring at one point, and took it from Patty to give back to the man. But when Patty’s body was found, she was wearing that ring along with the one from her fiancé. How did Gary’s ring end up back on her hand? Does that add suspicion about the fifteen cents also being found next to her outstretched hand at the crime scene? These are just some of the pieces of a complex puzzle that investigators have been dealing with, and they’re relying on a review of those old forensic reports by a new set of eyes by having a pathologist and anthropologist review prior findings. But forensics cannot explain away witness accounts attesting to seeing Patty around December 22, nor can they provide rationale for why the fifteen cents is near her outstretched hand.
LOGISTICS REVISITED
In addition to the timeline, we also need to take a look at the logistics. (check out a map in our show notes). Patty lived on 9th Street; her body was found across the street behind her neighbor’s house. The drug store was located on the corner of West 10th and N. Main Street, walking distance from Patty’s home.
The proximity of these key locations to the pharmacy has become important for detectives as they believe it is possible Patty was killed near the pharmacy. Inv. DiZinno said that one of his theories is that she was killed near the pharmacy, her body thrown over a fence, and brought to the house on West Ninth Street across from Patty’s home. It was at that neighbor’s house where it appears Patty was bludgeoned in the head with a concrete block – the block coming from the foundation of a garage at the neighbor’s house that was under construction at the time. Inv. DiZinno believes the use of the concrete block was a coup de grace, a last statement by the killer.
A DNA SOLUTION?
There is hope in getting some answers, however: evidence from under Patty’s fingernails. Could she have struck back at her attacker and gotten skin, blood or other cells from her attacker under her fingernails? That’s what today’s investigators are working on.
WILLIAM SWARTZMAN
And while police examine the relationship between Patty and Gary (not his real name), detectives continue to research other people who knew Patty. One name that appeared in the case file was William Swartzman a resident at the Rescue Mission in Jamestown in 1972. Police say that Swartzman’s girlfriend lived near the pharmacy where Patty was headed on November 28. Additionally, the brother of Swartzman’s girlfriend had an apartment next to the pharmacy on North Main Street.
On January 31, 1973, about one month after Patty’s body was found in Jamestown, New York, William Swartzman had an encounter with police in Pennsylvania. Swartzman told police he wanted to recover some personal property from his brother-in-law in that state, and Swartzman reportedly said that there could be trouble. A Pennsylvania State Trooper explained to Swartzman that a property dispute was a civil matter and that he should go to court. But according to police, Swartzman did not take that advice. instead he broke into his brother-in-law’s house and attempted to strangle him. On February 1, 1973, Swartzman was arrested. At some point in the aftermath of Swartzman’s first encounter with Pennsylvania police and his arrest, Jamestown, NY police learned about the incident and those reports became part of the case file in the Particia Fairbanks murder. Why? It was because of what Swartzman said to a Pennsylvania State Trooper in what is described as a heated conversation. Inv. Tom Tarpley told APB Cold Case that the Trooper carefully documented Swartzman’s words which mentioned the killing of Patty Fairbanks. The Chautauqua Sheriff’s Office is not releasing the content of exactly what Swartzman said, but it appears that those words are consistent with what police know about the 1972 crime scene – and perhaps information that would only be known by someone who was there or who had knowledge of the circumstances surrounding her death. For those reasons, William Swartzman has now become a focus of the investigation.
As police delve into Swartzman’s background, they learned about:
• His residence at the time: the Rescue Mission in Jamestown;
• His girlfriend’s apartment near the pharmacy in Jamestown;
• His girlfriend’s brother’s apartment, next to the pharmacy;
• His girlfriend’s younger step-brother who was friends with Patty
• And the stolen car he was driving when arrested for the attack on his brother-in-law in Pennsylvania.
As cold case detectives are probing Swartzman, they speak with someone who tells them Swartzman attempted to strangle a 5-year-old girl in her bed in the 1950’s. Inv. Tarpley told APB Cold Case that he and his team located and spoke with that victim whose family never reported the incident to police. Inv. DiZinno said, “…the 5-year-old screamed and alerted the mother…”, and Swartzman left.
Armed with that information, police wanted to speak with Swartzman. But he died in 1997 at his home in Warren, Pennsylvania. His decomposed body was found some time after he died and he was cremated. But that does not close the door on the possibility of a DNA comparison against any evidence under Patty’s fingernails – the forensic evidence that police hope will provide some definitive answers. In recent years Inv. Tom Tarpley located three sons of Swartzman whom he described as “very nice men”, raised by their mother. All three have contributed DNA swabs to assist law enforcement in a genetic analysis. Police have also asked other people whom they have interviewed for DNA swabs as they prepare their forensic case for submission to the New York State laboratory. Inv. Tarpley said that, in his experience, the cooperation they have been receiving is unparalleled. “…this is the first case that I’ve ever had where 100% of the people that we ask for a DNA swab give it to us.” He characterized the conversation with Swartzman’s sons, saying, “This was a young girl that was murdered, and we’re not going to hinder the investigation in any way, we’re going to cooperate fully.”
Investigators believe they may be more victims of Swartzman out there, and they encourage anyone with information to reach out to them. Though he lived in Jamestown, New York at the time of Patty’s disappearance, Swartzman was brought up in Erie, Pennsylvania, and lived in North East, PA and Warren, PA, and South Ripley, NY by the PA border where he had a farm. Inv. Tarpley said the Swartzman was selling eggs, and beef at one point, but he didn’t seem to be very motivated to work or provide for his family. As we mentioned, Swartzman died in Warren, PA which is the same location where police say they discovered an alleged stalking victim of Swartzman. Tarpley said that Swartzman did have other run-ins with the law, and it appears that most were dealt with hospitalization rather than jail time.
SUMMARY
In the months and years that followed the original investigation, police focused on the resident of the home where Patty’s body was found. But today’s detectives do not believe the man had anything to do with Patty’s death. DiZinno told APB Cold Case that the man had no motive, and he liked Patty and her friends. Some of those friends, said DiZinno, had nothing bad to say about the gentleman.
Police are sifting through the old case file and interviewing anyone they can find, though some have died as more than 50 years have passed since Patty’s body was found. But for now, police continue to prepare their forensics case, and they are interviewing and re-interviewing any witnesses they can find. They are interested in anyone who can provide even the smallest bit of information about Patricia Fairbanks, Robert Swartzman, or any related incidents in the area in 1972.
Mary Hagga Rivera misses her friend whom she had plans with for their future, including naming their children after each other. Mary held true to that promise, naming her daughter Patricia. They planned on living next to each other. “That was her goal, to grow up, get married, and have a family. A white picket fence, and her Prince Charming.”
Tips and information on the Patricia Fairbanks case can be directed to investigators at the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office at 716-753-4578 or email to UnsolvedChautauqua@Sheriff.us The cold case unit also has a Facebook page at UnsolvedChautauqua where they frequently post updates on various cases they are working.
EPISODE LINK
© 2024 The Spawn Group, LLC; APB Cold Case. All rights reserved.
She Can't Just Be Gone
Where is Brittany Williams?
BRITTANY BORN W/ AIDS
In 1993 Rose Marie Thompson was due to give birth to a daughter, and just a few months before her delivery she learned some shocking news – she had AIDS. On March 20 that same year in Henrico County, Virginia, Rose Marie gave birth to a beautiful girl – she named her Brittany Renee Williams. Brittany was born with AIDS.
Rose Marie took Brittany to the Richmond hospital for treatments, and that was when they first met Kim Parker. Parker ran a charity organization called Rainbow Kids to help care for children with HIV, AIDS and other illnesses.
CUSTODY TO KIM PARKER
Rose Marie’s condition did not improve, in fact, it became grave. Just a few months before she died in 1996 Rose Marie gave guardianship of Brittany to Parker.
BRITTANY MISSING
About four years later – on August 18, 2000, it seemed that 7-year-old Brittany was missing. She should have been attending school, but was not. The school registered a complaint which started an investigation and child protective services.
KIM PARKER CLAIMS SHE DOESN’T KNOW WHERE BRITTANY IS
During the investigation it was reported that Parker told authorities that she did not know where Brittany was; and at one point she claimed that Brittany was living with two women in California. Police eventually tracked down the two women who lived in Richmond at one time and who were familiar with Brittany and her story. But according to Michael Feinmel, Deputy County Manager for Henrico County, the women said that they were planning to have Brittany come and visit them; but the trip never happened. As for Parker’s assertion that Brittany was with those women, Feinmel said, “… police completely exhausted that lead and determined that was not a true story.”
KIM PARKER CLAIMS BRITTANY IN CALIFORNIA
Similar to the infamous Lori Vallow Daybell case, Parker was summoned to court to answer the question – Where is Brittany? But Parker claimed she could not disclose what she did not know. According to an AP news report, Parker said she did not want to know the exact address of Brittany and the women in California so that Brittany’s incarcerated father could not locate her.[1] Parker was sent to jail for contempt of court for failing to disclose Brittany’s whereabouts.[2] APB Cold Case was unable to locate Brittany’s father. This would not be the only time Parker would face the legal system.
KIM PARKER STEALING BRITTANY’S BENEFITS
Kim Parker began receiving social security and Medicaid benefits for Brittany once she brought her into her home. Today, Michael Feinmel is the Deputy County Manager for Henrico, County, Virginia, but in 2003 he was a prosecutor for the county. He told APB Cold Case that even after claiming to have sent Brittany out of state to live with the women in California, Parker continued to accept those state and federal benefits. She was prosecuted under state and federal law for fraud. Prosecutor Feinmel handled the state’s case.
BRITTANY FOUND?
There was a glimmer of hope in the investigation of Brittany’s disappearance in June 2021 when an Indiana woman came forward saying that she was Brittany. The adopted woman had been researching her roots and found Brittany’s case online. She felt that the description and photo could be her, and she pursued genetic testing. It was reported that there was a 95% chance that she and Brittany’s sister were half-sisters. Police began working on that lead and submitted DNA swabs to a lab for analysis. In January 2022, Henrico County police released a statement saying, “After a thorough investigation, we have concluded that the person who came forward is NOT Brittany Williams.” There was no indication as to whether the woman was related to the Williams family in any way.
PROSPECTS OF FINDING BRITTANY ALIVE
Brittany required medication on a regular basis. And those medications would have been very expensive. But Feinmel said there were no charges against Brittany’s social security or Medicaid accounts. Feinmel said that they also searched for similarly aged girls who may have been listed under a different name, or in a different state, but they found nothing. Because of her fragile medical condition and the fact that there was no proof of her receiving the lifesaving medications, the possibility of her survival is not promising, said Feinmel.
SEARCH OF PARKER RESIDENCE/GROUNDS
During the investigation police conducted a search at Kim Parker’s residence, which included digging on the grounds. To date, they have not found any signs of Brittany.
FEINMEL: THE CASE THAT STICKS WITH YOU
Feinmel, who never met Brittany said, “It was certainly that case that sticks with you throughout your career. Brittany was represented to me as a happy young lady. I can picture her smile… Every picture you see of her was smiling, and joyful…” Feinmel said that Brittany’s family and the community deserve an answer, and mostly, Brittany deserves an answer. “This girl is gone. She can’t just be gone. That just can’t be the end of this story,” said Feinmel.
If you have any information about Brittany Williams, call Henrico County Police at 804-501-5000 or send an anonymous tip through Metro-Richmond Crime Stoppers at 804-780-1000 or online at p3Tips.com.
Epilogue
This case struck us from the outset – a vulnerable little girl who is missing without resolution or consequence. Although Brittany was born with a serious disease, she was living at a time when medications could have helped her through it. And we can only believe that her mother thought that she was doing the best thing for Brittany by ensuring she would be cared for by placing her in the hands of Kim Parker.
How can we be confident that the right thing happened? How can a caregiver “not know” where a child is? We know that Parker received Brittany’s public assistance checks even after her disappearance, but does that financial motive line up with Brittany’s disappearance? How long would this have gone on if not for the inquiry by the school where Brittany was supposed to be attending? These are questions that demand answers. A court once compelled Parker to answer, but she did not, and was found in contempt. But the question is still unresolved.
Fortunately, Brittany has a strong advocate in former prosecutor Michael Feinmel. His spontaneous knowledge about the case about 20 years after he handled it made it obvious to us that he is “all in”. And when you hear him speaking about the need to expand Brittany’s story, you can tell that he will always carry this case in his head and in his heart for the rest of his life. He wants answers – We want answers – The world should demand answers.
-APB Cold Case
All persons are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
[1] Woman says she gave girl to ‘friends’; Associated Press; The Daily News Leader, Staunton, VA.; Feb. 1, 2003, p. 3
[2] Guardian of girl jailed for contempt; The Daily News Leader, Staunton, VA.; Feb. 22, 2003, p. 3
© 2024 APB Cold Case; The Spawn Group, LLC; All rights reserved.
The Holiday
Where is Jill Beaty?
Jill Beaty grew up in Eugene, Oregon. She had 3 brothers and 2 sisters. Jill was born deaf and according to her sister Tina, she could read lips, but had limited speech.
The first time she moved to Reno, Nevada was in 1990; she stayed there for a couple of years but ultimately returned back home to Oregon. In 1994 while Jill was living with her sister, Tina, in Eugene, she again decides to move to Reno. According to her sister, Jill wanted to get away from her former boyfriend – we will call him “Steve” (not his real name).
Apparently angry over their breakup, Steve barges in to Tina’s apartment in Eugene and demands to know where Jill is. According to Tina, Steve put his hands around her neck and began to strangle her until she almost blacked out. In an effort to pacify an enraged Steve, she made up a story about where Jill went. Steve left the apartment, threatening to come back and kill her if he did not find Jill.
But Jill was already on a bus on her way to Reno. In early August 1994 Jill moves into a shared apartment on Wells Avenue with a friend we will call “Robert “(not his real name). Robert and Jill’s relationship begins as platonic, according to sources, but turns sexual for a short time. Thereafter, the two mutually decide to just ‘be friends’. On August 14, 1994, Jill goes to visit Robert at his place of work – The Holiday Resort and Casino on Mill Street in downtown Reno, where he was working as a bartender. This would be the last time and place where Jill is seen, as reported by her roommate-friend Robert.
When Robert arrives at his apartment that night, Jill is not there. Robert does not report Jill as missing because she had previously left for periods of time, so it did not apparently concern him. Jill’s mother had also not heard from Jill, and similarly, did not find it unusual at first. It is reported that Jill’s mother wanted to give her daughter some space. But when Jill’s birthday on October 3rd comes and goes, her mother Cecilia apparently became increasingly worried and continued to try and contact Jill. On October 18, 1994, Cecilia drives to Reno and speaks with Robert, noticing that Jill’s belongings are still at the apartment appearing as if she would be returning. With that knowledge, Cecilia went directly to Reno Police headquarters and filed a missing person report. The following day, the case landed on the desk of Detective Charlie Dimino.
Now retired, Detective Dimino knows the case better than anyone. He told APB Cold Case that in the early days of the investigation they spent a lot of time focusing on the last person to see Jill alive: Robert. And after a year of questioning and checking facts, including a polygraph examination of Robert, he was cleared. Others who also frequented Robert’s apartment were also questioned and cleared. Police posted flyers in the areas frequented by Jill, hoping that someone would recognize her and have information of her whereabouts. But there was not a single tip.
Almost two years later, in May 1996, police receive information from Jill’s mother which she reportedly overheard from another source. This hearsay information indicated that Steve said that Jill had died from a drug overdose in Reno. But Reno PD had no such record. Detective Dimino said that throughout his investigation, he was routinely checking official files for any proof of life or death of Jill. Dimino told APB Cold Case that there was no record that indicated that Jill was either dead or alive. It was also around May 1996 when Steve’s then-current girlfriend who we will call “Chloe” (not her real name) had filed for a restraining order against Steve. Sources said that Chloe eventually returned to Steve. But in November 1996, it was reported that Chloe sought another restraining order against Steve, and she ends the relationship. But during the time that Chloe and Steve were together, Chloe told police that she had found a letter in Steve’s vehicle. It was in a pink envelope, dated in August of ‘94 and was purportedly from Jill. In it, Jill said that she was looking forward to seeing Steve in Reno. Detectives say this meeting would have been at the time that Jill was last seen, giving police cause to delve deeper into Steve’s background.
A couple months after Chloe ended her relationship with Steve, around January 1997, he is incarcerated for a parole violation. A month later, Reno detectives travel to Corvallis, Oregon where Steve had been working on a farm. They interview the farmer who showed detectives the ramshackle structure or “shelter” that Steve lived in – it had no running water, no septic system, and no electricity. This was a location described to police by Chloe previously, and it was also a place that Jill would have known because of her relationship with Steve.
While at the farm and examining Steve’s shelter, they found things that corroborated what Chloe had said; in particular, they found what appeared to be a bullet hole, something that Chloe had talked about. Chloe told detectives about a conversation that Steve said he had with Jill, saying that Jill had picked up a handgun one night during an argument and fired a shot at Steve. Detective Dimino said that they did find a bullet hole in a door frame. Chloe had mentioned, too, that Steve was into the occult, that he was a satanic worshiper, and that during intimate sessions he would burn her with hot wax.
Chloe also told police that Steve wanted her to accompany him to a place on the farm property at midnight on one occasion. But she was afraid and she didn’t go. The area where Steve wanted to take her was where there were reinforced bunkers – the type built by families during the WW2 and cold war era over concerns of nuclear war and fallout. When police visited the farm back in 1996 weather conditions were unfavorable, and they were unable to conduct a search of the bunker area. Detective Dimino said that such a search would have also required heavy machinery. Once detectives finished their investigation at the Corvallis farm they went to the jail to interview Steve. But, said detectives, he was uncooperative, and admitted to nothing.
The focus on Steve by Reno detectives seems well placed. There’s the letter reportedly found by Chloe which confirms a previous relationship between Steve and Jill; and the timing of his visit to see Jill in Reno coincides with the approximate time when she goes missing; And according to Chloe, Steve confirmed to her that he visited Jill; also according to Chloe, Steve had commented to her that, “you’re going to end up like Jill”. Additionally, there is the false rumor where Steve allegedly told one of Jill’s friends that Jill died of an overdose in Reno. There is also the reported history of violence by Steve reported by both Jill’s family and Chloe.
There’s much more to this story – listen to the APB Cold Case audio podcast: The Holiday – Where is Jill Beaty? LINK
Postscript
The investigation of the disappearance of Jill Beaty was another one of our episodes that demonstrates how personal these cases can become to investigators. Charlie Dimino was the Reno Detective who first got the case when Jill Beaty’s mother came to Reno to make the report in October 1994. Now, more than 29 years later, when we asked Reno PD for information about Jill’s case, they connected us with Detective Dimino, now retired and working in the private sector. He was more than willing to speak with us – and we could tell that he is just as vested in this case today as he was almost three decades ago. Said Dimino, “You look for answers. You dig for answers. You’re tedious… when you sleep things come to your mind…”
The retired Reno cop said that there are some cases that haunt detectives, and this is one of his. He often thinks about what else they could have done. “What did I miss here? There’s got to be something I missed,” said Dimino. “That’s why I’m doing this podcast to be honest with you. I mean, you contacted our police department on this case, and they contacted me because I have the most information, because I worked it the hardest.” Detective/Retired Charlie Dimino is quick to credit all of the detectives who worked on the case with him in the early days, and all who have been assigned the case in the years since.
For Dimino, it’s not just about getting an answer to where Jill is, but it is a sense of obligation to Jill’s family. “The pain on her mother and father’s faces, the conversation I had with them. Her mother understood that she could possibly be getting information that Jill was deceased.” Dimino said that he’s sure that any parents in a similar position would want closure. But sometimes that is beyond the grasp of the best detectives. But what he could promise, was that he would give all of himself in the investigation. “And I said, I can’t promise you a total disposition, but what I will promise is that I will do everything in my power in this case…. I’ll promise you that.”
Dimino is keeping his promise to the family. He spent several days with APB Cold Case in preparing for our interview and with follow-up questions during production. It is obvious to the producers of APB Cold Case that is still a goal for the retired detective to get a resolution to the question, ‘Where is Jill?’ Said Dimino, “I guess you’d say, truly, it’s personal, too. Personal in the fact that, here’s a 25-year-old girl that we can’t locate.”
-APB Cold Case
© 2024 APB Cold Case; The Spawn Group, LLC; All rights reserved.
God Help Me, I’m Shot!
The Sherrill, New York Incident
Message from Mark Spawn
As the host of APB Cold Case, I’m excited to share some special episodes with you throughout the season featuring untold stories of law enforcement called APB Behind The Badge. Our first special episode is a personal memory for me.
This story centers around a tragic chain of events that occurred on September 8, 1969. It is a story that I remember from my childhood. As a 9-year-old, it was the first sense of loss that I had ever felt. And while I didn’t actually know the people involved at the time, the ripples of shock and mourning resonated throughout the community, and even as a child, it was palpable. I had no idea that decades later, I would have the privilege to speak with many of the people who were directly affected by these events.
This story begins in Central New York State and touches on the counties of Madison, Oneida, and Onondaga. On Monday, September 8, 1969 at about 7:00 PM, 33-year-old Martin Fitzpatrick, said to have been a security guard at Syracuse University, a cub master and an employee of the aluminum plant in Oswego, left an apartment in Syracuse believed to be that of his girlfriend. He reaches Canastota and at 9:30 PM arrives at Finn’s Gulf Station at the intersection of Route 5 and Peterboro Street That particular evening Paul DiGeorge, a friend of the owner of Finn’s Gulf Station in Canastota, covered the station as the attendant while the owner stepped away for a brief time. Fitzpatrick got gas and left the station. But he returned moments later to dispute the change he received, insinuating he was shorted, an apparent ruse to begin an armed robbery. He produced a gun and threatened DiGeorge who handed over $400-500 cash from the station’s receipts. Fitzpatrick ordered DiGeorge to open the safe as he held the gun to his head. He then forced DiGeorge to go outside around the back of the station and demanded, “hand over your wallet!” DiGeorge, fearing for his life, complied. At that same moment, a car pulled into the gas station, occupied by two females.[1]Did Fitzpatrick see the car’s headlights? Was it the drive-over bell that announced a customer at the pumps? Whatever it was, Fitzpatrick fled, but not before telling DiGeorge to give false information to police: that the robber was a short, black man. As soon as Fitzpatrick, a tall, white man, was gone, DiGeorge called Canastota Police who promptly responded and also notified the Oneida Police Department which dispatched cars for some of the surrounding agencies including Canastota and Sherrill PD. An alert went over the radio to all police agencies in the region, giving a description of the robber and his car. “Armed robbery just occurred at Finn’s Station, Route 5, in Canastota. Suspect is a white male, about 6’ 2” last seen headed East on Route 5 in a green Ford convertible. Weapon is described as a pistol.”
Just over the Madison County line where Canastota is located, is Oneida County, which is where Officer Robert A. Mumford, Sr. was on patrol in the city of Sherrill. It was not Mumford’s regular tour of duty. That night he was covering for another officer who needed the night off. At about 9:48 PM, having heard the radio call about the Canastota robbery, Officer Mumford radioed in that he was stopping a suspect vehicle on Route 5 in Sherrill which was about 9 miles from the gas station that had just been robbed. Chief Thomas Reilly heard the radio call and joined Mumford on the stop. Both officers talked with Fitzpatrick who was cooperative, and was providing a convincing account of why he was mistaken for someone else. Chief Reilly seemed somewhat convinced of the story and radioed to the dispatcher that he thought they had the wrong guy, but he recorded Fitzpatrick’s name and license plate number in his notebook anyway. Nonetheless, a Canastota PD car was already enroute to Sherrill with Mr. DiGeorge, the gas station victim, for a show-up. While lineups are sometimes conducted using 6 similarly-looking subjects, show-ups are a permissible practice in the field when it is conducted soon after the commission of an offense (close in time, close to the crime). Fitzpatrick likely knew that he was about to face his robbery victim soon, whether being informed by the officers or hearing the police radio transmissions. At about 9:58 PM, while Chief Reilly, Officer Mumford and Martin Fitzpatrick were all awaiting the Canastota police car, Fitzpatrick suddenly drew his gun and shot Officer Mumford. Mumford turned away from the gunfire, and Fitzpatrick shot at him again. Fitzpatrick then shot a stunned Chief Reilly who drew his own gun, but never had the chance to fire. The Chief was reeling after the first shot, when Fitzpatrick mercilessly shot him again while he was on the ground. Fitzpatrick got in his car and tore away from the bloody scene. Lying in the street were two badly wounded police officers, along with the car registration and vehicle warranty cards from Fitzpatrick’s car.
Chief Reilly staggered to his car radio and broadcast, “We’re shot”, and repeated, “I’m shot, I’m, shot, God help me, I’m shot”. The dispatcher, Sgt. Wayne Coston from the City of Oneida, scrambled other police cars from the region along with State Police. The closest Oneida County Sheriff’s car was just a few miles away in Vernon, assigned that night to Deputy Fran Broski, himself a resident of Sherrill.
When Officer Mumford had first stopped Fitzpatrick’s car, a couple of teenage boys were watching the activity from across the street. One was Dennis Fogg, then 18 years old and working the late shift at one of the two gas stations at the intersection. The other was Bruce Rochester who was working at his stepfather’s, John Orr’s, gas station. When the shots rang out, they all reacted. Bruce Rochester saw the car peel away and he ran over to the officers. Rochester saw that Officer Mumford was ashen, leaning against the police car. Then he went to Chief Reilly and saw that he was bloodied. Rochester was with Chief Reilly when he saw him grab the microphone of the police radio. Reilly knew that his friend and colleague, neighboring police Chief George Murphy from Oneida would be listening on the other end of that radio. He pled with George, “Hurry, we’re both shot!”
After Fitzpatrick sped off, and just before Bruce Rochester went to check on the officers, Rochester’s stepfather, John Orr, hopped into his Chevrolet Blazer and tore off after the shooter. Bruce described his father as a “hard charger”, a former military man, race car driver, and justice of the peace. But as Rochester said, “you can’t chase too well in a Blazer.” Unfortunately, Orr lost sight of the shooter. When asked whether his stepfather might have actually felt relief that he did not catch up with the desperate, armed man, Rochester said, “No, he was actually disappointed”. Orr was unarmed, but his stepson was certain that Orr wanted to get “in the mix”. After all, “he was an adrenaline junkie”, said Rochester.
Deputy Fran Broski arrived on the scene of the shooting having responded from Vernon where, ironically, he had been speaking with Officer Mumford’s son, Richard Mumford. The Canastota police car had also arrived on the scene with the robbery victim, Paul DiGeorge. Larry Baker, a 17-year-old high school student who was at the Shell gas station across the street when the shooting occurred, took off his belt which was used as a tourniquet on Chief Reilly’s left arm. Broski said that additional police cars and an ambulance began to arrive, and he took off to go look for the shooter. When another Sherrill police officer arrived on the scene, Reilly made sure to pass him his notebook containing the suspect’s name and license plate number. Reilly and Mumford were then rushed to Oneida Hospital, both in critical condition.
Radio alerts and police teletype messages were being sent to police agencies throughout central New York and beyond – APB for Martin Fitzpatrick – armed and dangerous – wanted for shooting two police officers in Sherrill - last seen operating a green Ford convertible with New York plates OD9604. As hard as they were searching, there was no sign of Fitzpatrick. Deputy Broski said the search efforts were focused toward the east, Fitzpatrick’s last known direction of travel. To the east is Utica, a larger city in upstate New York about 20 miles from Sherrill. But as it turned out, Fitzpatrick travelled just 7 miles south– to the remote darkened trailer home of a young mother, Marie Dilapi, 26, and her two daughters ages 4 and 6. Marie was on the telephone talking with her sister who lived just down the road in the countryside farm community. Her sister told her that she and her husband had been listening to the police scanner and that ‘something big was happening’ in Sherrill. Marie’s brother-in-law hopped in his truck and headed into Sherrill to see what the commotion was. That was when there was a knock at Marie’s door, and she told her sister she had to go.
Unfortunately, it was Martin Fitzpatrick who was knocking at Marie’s door; she spoke to him through the locked door. He asked for a glass of water and directions to Syracuse, the place from which he started earlier that evening. Fitzpatrick asked if her husband was home. Marie’s husband was not living at the home at the time of this incident, but she told him he was at work. Marie offered the lost stranger directions for the most direct route to Syracuse, but Fitzpatrick pressed for an alternative. Unknown to Marie, he wanted to avoid the more direct Route 5 path which encompassed his trail of terror, and more likely roadblocks and swarms of police. Fitzpatrick asked to come inside. Marie resisted, but then he forced his way in, showing her his gun. He told Marie that she was going to drive him in her car to Syracuse. Marie pleaded that she absolutely could not leave her daughters. The girls had been brokenhearted when their father had left the family and Marie worried that they would be traumatized if they woke up only to find that she, too, was gone from the home. So the girls were woken and put into the car, and the four of them began a terrifying car ride toward Syracuse. Marie drove, taking back roads to avoid detection. Fitzpatrick wanted to place one of the girls on his lap to present an image that they were a family, if spotted. But Marie, the protective mom, refused his suggestion, and Fitzpatrick didn’t push it. He knew that he needed her cooperation. During the first minutes of the trip from Munnsville to Syracuse, Fitzpatrick took a wallet out of his coat, pulled out the cash, and threw the wallet out the window. As Marie continued to drive on Route 20, taking back roads toward Syracuse, she passed through Morrisville, a small community with a state agricultural college and a substation for the New York State Police. As she drove near the police building, she gave thought to pulling in, but realized that Fitzpatrick could do something very bad before she could get the attention of the police. There was a chance that the substation may not have even been staffed at that hour as it was not unusual for rural stations to be locked at night while troopers patrolled. At this type of barracks there was usually a public call box outside where a caller could pick up a phone and be connected to headquarters – miles, and sometimes counties, away. As they neared Syracuse, Marie remembered driving through Jamesville, a small hamlet just a few miles outside of Syracuse. It was dark and desolate, home to a quarry and a large county jail. She feared that this was a spot where Fitzpatrick could kill them. But they continued on, into the urban streets of Syracuse. When Fitzpatrick got close to where he wanted to be, he ordered her to pull over and he got out, but not before threatening Marie much like he did Mr. DiGeorge from the gas station. Fitzpatrick told Marie not to go to police, that he would have people watching her, and demanded that she go home and bring his car back to Syracuse. Fitzpatrick told her to count to 100 before leaving. Then, Fitzpatrick left, and Marie escaped the area with her girls still tucked in the back seat. Breathing a huge sigh of relief, she was now frantically looking for a police car, but couldn’t find any at first. When she did spot a marked car, it was heading in the opposite direction and she was unable to get the officer’s attention. She finally saw a man in uniform who turned out to be a night watchman. She pulled over and told the man what had happened. He summoned police who quickly responded in force. Marie and her girls were taken to safety at Syracuse police headquarters.
It was at 2:20 AM that morning (September 9), about four hours after Sherrill Police stopped Fitzpatrick’s car when Officer Robert Mumford tragically passed away; Chief Reilly, unaware that Mumford had died, was still fighting for his life.
Investigators descended upon Syracuse police headquarters and questioned Marie DiLapi into the early morning hours about the details of her experience, the route travelled, the appearance of the kidnapper, his weapon, and any other details that would help them capture the dangerous and desperate fugitive. Marie said that police were at first doubtful of her story, at least to some extent. But she had told them about the wallet being thrown out of the car by Fitzpatrick in the first few miles of the trip. During the hours Marie spent at the station answering questions, a trooper was dispatched along the route Marie had described and located the wallet – it was Paul DiGeorge’s from the gas station robbery in Canastota. Any doubts about the authenticity of her story were erased.
Police officers were now scouring Syracuse for Fitzpatrick – wanted for armed robbery, the murder of a police officer, aggravated assault on another police officer, and kidnapping. Police staked out Fitzpatrick’s address in Syracuse and while there, discovered a property tax bill showing that he owned another property nearby. Police went to an apartment on Midland Avenue at about 8:30 AM on September 9, 1969. They knocked at the door, but no one answered. Police observed that a small pane of glass on the front door was broken as if to allow someone to reach in and open the door. The door was unlocked, and police announced their presence. There was no response. The searched the first floor of the two-story home finding no one inside. Then, they went to the second floor. When officers checked a closed door near the bathroom on the second floor, a voice yelled out, “Don’t shoot, I’ve had it! I give up!” Inside the closet was Martin Fitzpatrick, cowering on the floor under a pile of clothes in an apparent attempt to hide from officers. Inside of the closet with Fitzpatrick was some of the cash from the gas station robbery, and the gun.[2]
The shooting of two local police officers dominated the headlines throughout Central New York. For the tight knit community of Sherrill, the impact was hard, and it was personal. The small city where people kept their doors unlocked at night, where kids played in the street and walked alone, where neighbors watched out for each other – their peace had been shattered. The news travelled fast – word of mouth reached most of the residents of this small town. But when day broke on September 9, the rest of Sherrill was waking to the gut-wrenching news of a shooting of two of its revered hometown cops. And while a gas station attendant was still reeling from having a gun pressed to his head during a stick-up robbery, and while a young mother with two young girls was feeling shocked and lucky to be alive, the world went on around them. Sharing the headlines on the national scene was a story about a meeting between President Richard Nixon and Mexican President Diaz Ordaz dedicating a dam project along the Rio Grande in Texas; a story praising the cooperation and rapport of the New York State Police during the Woodstock Music Festival the month before; and a report of the Apollo 12 astronauts preparing for an upcoming launch.
For the next few days, Chief Tom Reilly remained hospitalized in critical condition, and during that time he learned that his friend and colleague, Bob Mumford, had died. His daughter remembered tears in her father’s eyes after she broke the sad news that “Bob died.” Grievously wounded, Chief Reilly knew that he would be the only one to identify the shooter and give details of the incident. He felt that he owed that to his comrade and friend, Bob. He also owed it to his community – for justice. He refused any pain medication knowing that his state of mind could be questioned if he didn’t survive. Cops are trained to record dying declarations – statements by people who reasonably believe they are about to die, about the facts and circumstances of an incident which are connected with a mortal injury. Dying declarations are exceptions to the hearsay evidence rule, and they are cautiously reviewed by the courts because there can be no cross examination. When someone is facing death, the rules of evidence generally infer that the information provided is truthful. No one could blame the Chief if he was unable to think rationally during this tragic time – being shot twice, and losing a fellow officer and dear friend. But for Reilly, he was still on the job – still wearing the badge. He kept his composure and did his duty.
During the same time when the Chief was being visited by his daughter in the hospital, she asked him, “How are you feeling Dad?” to which the Chief quipped, “Well, I won’t hold water”. A couple days later, probably knowing that his condition was not improving and having been intubated to assist with his breathing, asked his daughter in a raspy voice, “take care of your mother.” The Chief’s wife had recently suffered a disabling stroke, and it was the Chief who was her caretaker. Five days after the shooting, on Saturday, September 13, 1969, Chief Tom Reilly died. It was the next morning when I was on the way to church with my family that I heard the news on the car radio that two officers had been killed just a few miles away. My grandfather had served as a State Trooper, and the news struck me to the point where I remember it vividly today.
For the people of Sherrill, New York, their world changed dramatically the night when two of their own were senselessly shot down. The death of a police officer in the line of duty garners special attention. But in this small community wherever everybody knows each other, everyone suffered the loss. Headlines and sentiments over the years included the words, “Stunned”, “Shattered the calm”, and “The Shootout That Broke a City’s Heart”. Officer Mumford’s granddaughter, Debbie Mumford Kemp, was only 12 years old at the time, but she remembers, “There was this safe place called Sherrill, New York, and that had been destroyed.”
Fitzpatrick was indicted for the murders of two police officers which, at the time, carried a possible death sentence. His trial began on November 9, 1970 and lasted for about 5 weeks. He was convicted of the murders on December 17, 1970 and was sentenced to death by the electric chair. His execution date was set as February 22, 1971. But during the appeals that followed, in 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court and the New York State Court of Appeals ruled that the death penalty was unconstitutional. In 1974, Fitzpatrick’s sentence was commuted to two sentences of 25 years to life, to run concurrently. The man who once faced the death penalty would be parole-eligible in 1994. However, a fierce letter-writing campaign to the New York State Parole Board was undertaken, with letters written by Sherrill City officials and residents, local and state legislators, the district attorney, police organizations, and concerned citizens. Fitzpatrick was never paroled and spent the rest of his life in a state prison. He died in 2007.
In 1987 a park on Sherrill Road in the city of Sherrill was dedicated in memory of Officer Mumford and Chief Reilly. It is a symbol that remembers two hometown heroes. But there is so much more that lives on – people touched by the life and service of Officer Bob Mumford and Chief Tom Reilly. Joanne Mumford remembered her father-in-law, saying, “I never had a father image in my life since my parents divorced when I was three years old. Bob treated me like a daughter. It was an amazing relationship. If I close my eyes right now I can still see him standing there.” Joanne remembered her father-in-law as a family man, who was extremely proud when the first grandchild came along. Joanne said, “He so loved my daughter, Debbie. He adored her.” And Debbie Mumford Kemp has very fond memories of her grandfather, too. “Grandpa would put me in the patrol car and we would make a quick stop at the store, probably to buy me candy. And then he’d take me home. I felt so proud – here I am in my grandfather’s patrol car!”, she remembered. Debbie was just 12 years old in 1969. “That night (September 8, 1969), Mom said ‘we need to go to the hospital, Grandpa’s been shot.’ I remember trembling. You couldn’t comprehend it. Nothing like that had ever happened in our community. And then Mom came out and said, ‘Grandpa has died.’ I could not understand it.”
In 1969 Doug Bailey was a 22-year-old manager trainee at National Auto Store in downtown Oneida, New York. His ambitions at the time were to get his own store and become manager. He fondly remembers Monday nights at the store which is when Tom Reilly would routinely come in. Bailey knew that Reilly was the police chief in nearby Sherrill, and remembers how genuine and gentlemanly he was, always saying hi and smiling. “He didn’t know me that well, I think, but he liked me, as I liked him. It was just a friendly encounter every time he came in. I made it a point, to when he came in, I’d approach him. It was just ‘hey how ya doing’…it was all small talk.” When Bailey learned that Chief Reilly and Officer Mumford had been shot, it shook him. Bailey said, “I took it personal… I considered him a friend even though our relationship was strictly customer-business. When he got shot I got angry, I got very angry. The sadness was there but it turned to anger.” Bailey focused his rage on doing something positive. In 1970 he took his first police officer entrance exam, and about one year later, he was a police officer in Oneida, New York. Bailey said he will always remember Chief Reilly and how he influenced his life. “It was such a loss from that gentlemen who I knew was Tom Reilly and how someone could do that, to this day, I can’t explain fully, how I ended up taking a police exam.” The young Bailey who never had a thought of becoming a police officer, made a life career of it. He proudly served in the Oneida Police Department spending many of his years investigating felony crimes. After completing 20 years of service, he was asked to become the Undersheriff for Madison County, spending another 20 years in that position. Bailey added, “He molded my career, he got me aimed in that direction and I have absolutely no regrets 40 years later. I would like to think, that he would be proud of me, even though he didn’t know me that well. He was a huge influence.”
Reilly’s daughter, MaryAnne Gardner, said, “Two very good men died that day, many other innocent lives were affected by their deaths. My older children still remember their grandfather and that deep respect for him has manifested itself in their beliefs today.”
Bob and Tom led by example. They were role models - men of impeccable character, loyal to their colleagues, their community, and especially their family. That is the legacy of Officer Robert Mumford, and Chief Thomas Reilly.
________________________________
Special thanks to the families of Robert Mumford and Thomas Reilly, the DiLapi-Nordberg family, the DiGeorge family, the citizens of Sherrill, New York, Bruce Rochester and Dennis Fogg, Oneida Police, Canastota Police, Sherrill Police, Fran Broski, Wayne Coston, and Doug Bailey. Chief Paul Thompson, Chief Jim Zophy, Chief Rob Drake, Peter Finnochiarro, the family of Leo Rafte, and to our Field Production Assistant Laura Jaquays.
Source materials include: New York State Police archives; investigative reports, 1969, et al.
© 2024 The Spawn Group, LLC
[1]Robbery Here on Monday Ends in Death of Policeman, Canastota Bee Journal, Sept. 11, 1969
[2] Two Officers Down; Daily News, The Justice Story; Joseph McNamara; p. C31 (undated)
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Although separated by 2000 miles, the murders of two hitchhikers are ultimately connected through ballistics. On August 19, 1981, Wayne Rifendifer’s naked body was discovered near Ravensburg State Park in the area of Rauchtown, Pennsylvania, just north of Interstate-80. He had been shot in the head and his genitals removed. Less than one year later, on June 14, 1982, the naked body of Marty Shook was found in Utah. He had also been shot in the head and castrated. Perhaps it’s not just ballistics connecting these two murders. Could they also be linked by an Interstate?
The lifestyle of a hitchhiker can be high-risk, never knowing who you’re accepting a ride from, the routes you will traverse, or the arrangements for sleep, food and stops along the way.
Wayne Rifendifer was 30 years old in 1981, a frequent hitchhiker. In the days leading up to his death, Rifendifer was seen in and around Lock Haven, Pennsylvania and was also seen at a party about 3 days before his body was discovered.
Marty J. Shook was 22 years old in 1982. He routinely hitchhiked but some of his last days were spent in the company of his uncle Calvin and Calvin’s girlfriend, Betty fishing and camping. That was, until there was an argument between Calvin and Betty, so Marty decided to leave and was last seen hitchhiking out of Sparks, Nevada near I-80. It was just 2 days later when his body would be found in Daniel’s Canyon, Utah in the area of US-40, just south of Interstate 80.
If not for the ballistics, the two investigations may not have been connected as quickly as they were. There have been other castration murders documented in the United States, and it is certainly possible that more murders could be attributed to the killer of Rifendifer and Shook. Some of the unsolved cases include murders in Wyoming, Georgia, California, and Connecticut, but no direct connections have been made to the Rifendifer and Shook cases.
The locations of the Rifendifer-Shook murders have intrigued detectives who have theorized that a possible connection is Interstate 80 which passes through both Pennsylvania and Utah. Could the suspect be a truck driver? Former detective Todd Park from Utah thinks that the killer actually called state police on August 27, 1981. It was that date when Wayne Rifendifer’s body was identified through fingerprints. Up until then he had been classified as a John Doe. Det./Ret. Todd Park told APB Cold Case that the investigations involving Rifendifer and Shook are ‘all about the timeline’. In fact, it’s one particular point on that timeline that causes investigators to laser-focus on August 27. As Pennsylvania State Police were preparing to locate and notify Rifendifer’s next of kin, they received a curious phone call. Det. Park said, “He says he’s calling from the Jersey Turnpike, that he’s a truck driver, that he picked up Wayne.” He gave troopers the name – “Wayne Rifendifer” and claimed that he had picked up Wayne near I-80. The caller also had Rifendifer’s social security number and the name of a family member. Corporal Chad Kramer of the Pennsylvania State Police said, “…it proves he definitely had contact with him (Wayne) at some point. Suspicious in the sense that he wouldn’t give his name, hasn’t called back, had his (Wayne’s) belongings but kept them or disposed of them in some manner – but never made any effort to return them to us.” Park added, “There’s no doubt in my mind that this truck driver knew Wayne somehow.”
Park said that during the phone call the man described a scenario where he claimed that he and Rifendifer had “fooled around in the sleeper…”. Police have considered whether the victims may have been homosexual given the genital mutilation component of the cases. But Park says he’s not buying it. “I’m under the opinion that neither one of them was homosexual, and that could be the precipitant of why they were killed,” said Park.
At the time of the anonymous call police attempted to trace its origin. The caller claimed to have been calling from the Jersey Turnpike, and Park said that the call was pinpointed to a junction about 31 miles from Lock Haven, PA. Based on the information known to the caller, the context and chronology of all of the circumstances, Park said, “My thoughts are that this is the killer.” But why would the caller risk identifying himself to police? Park said that the case of the unidentified body (Wayne Rifendifer) had been in the news, and this may have presented an opportunity for the killer to taunt law enforcement. “He’s been seeing the news that we’re trying to identify this John Doe, and he knows he can mess with the police.” Park added, “And I think he lives in Williamsport, or he did.”
During the investigation of the Rifendifer and Shook murders, the name of Harry Christ Manos came into the picture. According to the Los Angeles Times[1], Manos, of Alhambra, California, had been found with human genitals in a jar, and in 1990 was arrested for murder. But those charges were soon dropped. Manos also faced charges of sexual molestation of a 17-year-old boy who, according to the Santa Ana and Orange County Register[2] it was reported that the charges against Manos concerning the 17-year-old were dismissed in court[3].
Park said that it’s possible the killer kept mementos or souvenirs from his victims, whether it is genitalia, a handgun, or a couple ratty back packs. Det./Ret. Park and Corporal Kramer urge anyone with any information about the murders of Wayne Rifendifer or Marty Shook to call investigators.
CALL PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE: 570-726-6000
CALL WASATCH COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE, UTAH: 435-654-3545
[1]Manos Tries to Return to Normal Life: Accusations: Molestation charges were dismissed after a mistrial, but not everyone believes the Montebello teacher is innocent; Los Angeles Times; Nov. 10, 1991
[2]Teacher held on sex charges had lived with teen runaway; Santa Ana and Orange County Register; Jan. 5, 1991, p. 40
[3]Manos Tries to Return to Normal Life: Accusations: Molestation charges were dismissed after a mistrial, but not everyone believes the Montebello teacher is innocent; Los Angeles Times; Nov. 10, 1991
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During production of this episode of the unsolved homicide of Megan McDonald, New York State Police made an arrest in the case. But the circumstances of the investigation were so intriguing, APB Cold Case producers still felt compelled to share the story. At the time of the release of this podcast, the case against the suspect was still pending in court, so we remind our readers and listeners that he is presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law.
BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: FEB. 4, 2023 - Various news outlets report that the District Attorney may have interfered in the investigation. Check regional news for updates!
It was on Thursday, March 13, 2003 when 20-year-old Megan McDonald started her day in her new apartment on Karen Road[1] in Wallkill, New York. She went to her job at the American Café at the nearby Galleria Mall where she worked as a waitress. She was scheduled to work the following day as well, but never showed up, something very uncharacteristic for Megan. There were a flurry of calls from her friends and her mom, but… no answer.[2]
On March 14, 2003, Megan’s bludgeoned body was found in a remote field less than 5 miles from her home.[3] [4] The autopsy reveals that Megan suffered multiple skull fractures and brain injuries due to blunt force trauma.[5] This was devastating news to Megan’s friends, and to her family who were still reeling from the sudden loss of Megan’s father from a heart attack the year before.
The New York State Police immediately begin an investigation, starting at the scene where her body was discovered. As police retrace her last known movements, they found that she worked until 3:30 PM on March 13. After she left work Megan went to the HSBC Bank in Wallkill where she made a deposit, something that State Police said was very significant to the timeline. Police were not sure where she went after 3:30 PM, but they say that Megan was next seen pulling up to a party on Greenway Terrace around 7:00 PM, but she did not get out of her car. Police said that Megan knew her ex-boyfriend was inside at the party, and she did not want to see him.[6]Megan headed off to another party in nearby Middletown until around midnight when she left and drove back toward the party at Greenway Terrace. Court papers say that Megan had been looking for marijuana during the evening, and noted that she stopped at a gas station to pick up a “Dutch”, a cigar that can be used to smoke marijuana.[7] Among a series of calls police found on Megan’s phone were several calls from a subject identified by police as “Suspect #2.” At about 12:25 AM Megan pulled up to Suspect #2’s residence on Cindy Lane (Wallkill) and Suspect #2 gets into the front seat of her car. He tells Megan he does not have marijuana but that they will drive to Edward Holley to get it.[8] It turns out that Holley was the ex-boyfriend, and Suspect #1, who Megan was avoiding at the Greenway Terrace party earlier.[9] Megan and Edward Holley had been involved in a romantic relationship according to police reports, and they say that Megan tried to end the relationship several days before her murder.[10] According to the paperwork filed in court, police infer that it was a last resort that Megan got, or intended to get, marijuana from Holley. Around the same time when Megan is meeting with Suspect #2, a witness identified seeing what is believed to be Megan’s car being followed by a dark Honda Civic hatchback with a loud stereo. Witnesses later told police that Holley drove that type of car with a very loud sound system.[11]Earlier last year and prior to the arrest of Holley, state police told APB Cold Case, “there is a major significance to the hatchback… this is our suspect.” Court papers also reveal that Megan, Edward Holley and Suspect #2 were together at “key locations” on the night of Megan’s murder.[12]
Although Megan’s body had been recovered on March 14, police did not know the location of her car at the time. They put out a description to the public, and a few days later, a resident of Kensington Manor Apartments in Wallkill called police with the location of Megan’s white Mercury Sable. According to court documents, police said that there appeared to be a “vicious assault” that occurred in the car, with Megan being repeatedly struck in the head while sitting in the driver’s seat.[13] Court documents also say that Suspect #2 was in the car when Megan was murdered. APB Cold Case was unable to confirm the identity of Suspect #2, but police have said that he died the same year that he gave information to police. One published report infers a possible suicide in that Suspect #2 was “wracked by guilt” over Megan’s murder.[14]
Police told APB Cold Case that the suspect, Edward Holley, had a strong grip on his close circle of friends in the early years of the investigation. State Police Lt. Brad Natalizio said, “That is no longer the case.”
On April 20, 2023, State Police arrested Edward Holley for murder of Megan McDonald. What do police allege to have been Edward Holley’s motive for killing Megan? Court documents say that Holley was infatuated with Megan, and that he was possessive and jealous. Lt. Natalizio previously mentioned to APB Cold Case that there was “major significance” to Megan making a deposit at HSBC Bank the day before she was murdered. Just a few days before her murder, her account was overdrawn by more than $800. This was also uncharacteristic of Megan – it was the first time she had overdrawn her account. Holley reportedly owed Megan money – Holley said $300, another source said it was $3000.[15] Could this have been another stressor in their relationship? Police also said in court filings that they found both Megan’s and Edward Holley’s DNA on her cell phone and perhaps Holley saw Megan’s outgoing calls to her new boyfriend, causing Holley to go into a rage. Police also detected Holley’s DNA in the back seat of Megan’s car.[16] And the location where Megan’s car was recovered, was within 500 feet of Holley’s residence.[17]
During the course of the police investigation they interviewed Edward Holley on different occasions. State Police said that Holley’s stories and alibis were contradictory at times, or disproven by other witnesses; and police said that Holley tried to guide three witnesses to not cooperate with police.[18]
Immediately following the arrest of Holley, District Attorney David M. Hoovler released an announcement saying the arrest was made without consultation with the District Attorney’s office. Hoovler said, “The District Attorney’s Office has been tirelessly working with the New York State Police, and other law enforcement officials on the investigation of Megan McDonald’s homicide since March of 2003. That cooperation has included devoting investigative resources, making applications for court orders to obtain evidence, funding scientific testing and paying for other investigative avenues designed to facilitate a viable prosecution of the individual who killed Megan McDonald. In the past few months, a Senior Assistant District Attorney has been working extremely closely with New York State Police Investigators on this matter. On April 20, 2023, at approximately 10:45 AM, the New York State Police informed the District Attorney’s Office an arrest had been made in the case and they were holding a press conference at 2:00 PM. It is a better practice, and has long been customary in Orange County, for police agencies working on complex matters with our Office to consult with the District Attorney’s Office prior to formally filing charges. Indeed, in this case, the District Attorney’s Office had previously been informed by the New York State Police that no arrest would be made without prior consultation with our Office.”[19]
District Attorney Hoovler also said, “An arrest, as a matter of law, automatically vests defendants with more rights than they enjoy as subjects of an investigation. This includes the right to review investigative materials and items of evidence.”[20]
New York State law requires that a defendant who is held in custody be indicted within 6 days; otherwise, the defendant must be released from custody.[21] The District Attorney expressed concern that a grand jury presentation of a cold case as this could not be completed within 6 days without prior coordination. Hoovler said, “The preferred practice is for police agencies to coordinate with prosecutors on serious cases.”[22]
The following week, the District Attorney said he would not be going forward with a preliminary hearing on the murder, and the judge ordered that Holley would be released on his own recognizance once he finished a sentence on an unrelated drug charge.[23] Hoovler also recused himself from the case, citing a conflict of interest.. According to the Middletown Times-Herald Record, prior to being elected District Attorney, Hoovler had represented a client who claimed to possibly having information about Megan McDonald’s death.[24] Special counsel was assigned to the prosecution of Holley, and his case remains pending in court.
Come back to check our show notes for updates as we keep an eye on this case.
© 2024 APB Cold Case; The Spawn Group, LLC
[1]New York State felony complaint; page 3, item 17; 4/19/2023
[2] Ibid; p. 6, item 26; 4/19/2023
[3] Ibid; p. 2, item 41; 4/19/2023
[4]Ibid; p. 12, item 41
[5] Ibid; p. 7
[6]Ibid; p. 3, item 9
[7]Ibid; pp. 4-5, items 15-16
[8]Ibid; p. 5, item 20
[9] Ibid; pp. 3, 4, 5; 4/19/2023
[10] Ibid; p. 9, item 36; 4/19/2023
[11]Ibid; p. 6, items 21-25
[12]Ibid; item 39
[13]Ibid; p. 14. Item 43; and p. 8, item33
[14]Megan McDonald: State Police never closer to an arrest than now; Peter D. Kramer, Gannett News; Mar. 10, 2022
[15] New York State Police felony complaint; p. 8, item #35
[16]Ibid; p. 14, item 43
[17]Ibid; p. 15, item 44
[18]Ibid; p. 16, item 26
[19]Orange County District Attorney’s Office; press release; April 20, 2023
[20]Ibid
[21]New York State Criminal Procedure Law, Section 180.80
[22] Orange County District Attorney’s Office; press release; April 20, 2023
[23]Ed Holley back in court in Megan McDonald murder case. Middletown Times-Herald Record; Peter D. Kramer, Aug. 23, 2023
[24]Ibid
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On Long Island Sound, about a 40-minute train ride from Manhattan, is the Village of Mamaroneck, a quaint residential community. In 2007 it was home to a well-known and much beloved 36-year-old named, Stephen Spina who lived in a multi-unit apartment building on a quiet, tree-lined street called, Richbell Road. Stephen was a handsome, athletic guy who loved sports. He was employed as a postal worker in the nearby village of Larchmont and he was a devoted single father who was on very good terms with his ex – he would check in with her at the end of each day to make sure that she and their 11-year-old daughter Skyler were okay. Stephen spent as much time as he could with his daughter and she routinely stayed with him on his days off from work. She had her own bedroom in his apartment.
Skyler has fond memories of her time with her father. “We used to go to Yankee games all the time, he had season tickets...”, remembered Sklyer. “He taught me how to drive stick when I was little. He helped me with homework… He was a great dad.”
Stephen Spina stood about 5’ 10”, he weighed around 130 pounds and by all accounts he was a charming and charismatic man who had a wide circle of friends and acquaintances and who never seemed to lack for female companionship. He had dated many women in the past – perhaps… simultaneously. But Stephen adhered to one strict rule, no girlfriends were allowed in his apartment when his daughter, Skyler was there.
In 2007 Stephen was dating a woman named, Tamara. On Monday, September 17, 2007, Stephen and Tamara began the morning together at his apartment where she had stayed the night. Tamara left for work at 8:00 AM. Stephen was not feeling well when he woke up, but they made loose arrangements anyway to meet for lunch. Later that morning, Tamara called Stephen’s apartment to firm up their lunch plans, but there was no answer. She called again and again – still no answer. It was around noon when Tamara decided to drive over to Stephen’s apartment. She entered the common door of the building and went up to the second floor to Stephen’s door. She knocked, but there was no answer. Now concerned, Tamara summoned the building superintendent who arrived with a key. When he opened the door, they both stared in shock. Lying in a pool of blood was the lifeless body of Stephen. Tamara jumped forward and started CPR, but the superintendent recognized that her efforts were futile, and he pulled her back and escorted her away from the apartment where he called police. Once police arrived, they cleared the apartment to make sure that no one else was inside, and then confirmed that they had a homicide on their hands. The county’s forensic investigative unit began an investigation along with Mamaroneck Police. As part of that investigation, they spoke with Stephen’s neighbors. One of them recalled seeing Stephen leave his apartment around 9:30 AM, walking toward the lot where he parked his car. That witness did not see Stephen return, but he obviously returned at some point before 12:15 PM when Tamara and the superintendent went to check on him.
One of the detectives that responded from the Mamaroneck Police Department that day was shocked when he arrived on the scene. He had seen gruesome crime scenes before – that was not the problem. As it turned out, Detective Dave Castarella and Stephen Spina were friends. Spina was active in local baseball and softball where he served as an umpire, and he regularly played ball with several of the police officers from Mamaroneck, including Castarella.
Spina’s cause of death was found to be multiple stab wounds to his chest and back – police are not disclosing the number of wounds. Police also told APB Cold Case that there were some defensive wounds on Spina’s arm and thigh, leading them to believe that he was ambushed as soon as he opened his door.
Who could have killed Stephen Spina? That was the question facing police, and there were a number of theories surrounding a possible answer to that question.
· There had been a confrontation with a man who believed that Stephen was having a relationship with his girlfriend.
· Stephen also allegedly had an intimate relationship at one time with a woman who we will call Trudy who came to his apartment one day claiming that she was pregnant with Stephen’s child. It was reported that Stephen’s other girlfriend walked in on that conversation.
· Prior to Stephen’s murder, his car had been vandalized at his apartment complex. He mentioned that fact to his friend, Detective Castarella, who suggested that Spina make a police report. But as Castarella and other detectives would learn during the murder investigation, Tamara’s car had also been vandalized and notes had been left on her car. But apparently wanting to keep his private life to himself, Stephen did not disclose that fact to Castarella.
Police deduced that there could be motive from any one of these prior incidents – an angered boyfriend; a former girlfriend who may have been pregnant; and vandalism to Stephen’s and Tamara’s cars; and of course, was the vandalism tied to either of the other theories? Or could it have been some other disgruntled relationship? But one of the nagging questions that ate at Detective Castarella back in 2007 was, ‘why did Stephen Spina leave his apartment earlier that morning?’ He thought that the answer to that question would reveal a suspect. Was it to meet someone? Did he have a conversation or argument with someone? Did someone follow him back to his apartment?
At the time of Spina’s murder there were not any surveillance cameras covering the buildings or parking lots where he lived. It appeared that Spina had a cell phone and a landline, but the retrieval of information and the data details at the time were not what investigators can obtain today.
APB Cold Case asked retired Detective Castarella if he believed the notes that were left on the vandalized cars were from a female; or from a male on behalf of a female. Castarella told us, “…my theory on the homicide, there was somebody else involved. I can’t prove that. There’s no evidence that says that. I truly have a feeling from the evidence that there was a second person, a female party was involved, and a male party was there to assist in this, to take over.”
In the early weeks of the investigation detectives interviewed Stephen’s girlfriend, Tamara, and the man with whom he had a previous confrontation over an alleged affair; as well as the woman we’re calling Trudy who alleged she was pregnant with Stephen’s child. But none of them would agree to take a polygraph examination, even though they had initially been cooperative with police, at least to some extent.
Police are not reading a lot into the fact that the common entry door to Stephen’s apartment was bypassed. It appears to have been designed as a locked entry for the tenants in that wing, but over time, the locking mechanism did not work reliably. In fact, Tamara was reportedly able to bypass it when she went to check on Stephen that day. So logically, anyone could have entered the first door without a key or code.
It’s been 16 years since Stephen Spina was murdered, and while police have some theories on who may have killed him, they have been unable to make an arrest.
Lt. P. J. Trujillo of Mamaroneck PD is now in charge of the case. He told APB Cold Case that police believe the attacker was a male because of the violence at the scene and the number of stab wounds, and the fact that Stephen was overpowered. “It’s safe to say that the door was opened by the victim to someone that he knew”, said Lt. Trujillo. “As he opens the door, we assume that the assailant now comes in, and ambushes Stephen. Stephen has some injuries to the left side of his body, so you’re assuming the attacker is right-handed. It looks like Stephen, in a way, protects himself and kind of puts his arm and leg up and then falls to the ground and the left side of his body is exposed and that’s where some of the wounds were.”
Dave Castarella told APB Cold Case that even though he has been retired from policing for several years, he will always have a connection to this case. Castarella told us that he wants justice for his friend, and for Stephen’s family. He stays in touch with Skyler from time to time, even meeting with him and Lt. Trujillo at Mamaroneck PD this past year to check in on the status of the investigation.
Police said that there is a $30,000 reward for information that will help them to solve the murder of Stephen Spina.
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Today’s story begins about 40 years ago in the City of Olean, New York, a family-oriented community located in Cattaraugus County. The City is about 2 square miles with a population of 14,000 with Cutco Cutlery and Siemens among the industry bases located there.
On February 7, 1984, 26-year-old Josephine Cottone Despard left her family home in Olean, New York and never returned. She was called “Josie” by family and friends, and had been separated from her husband, Ken Despard, at the time she disappeared. At about 5:00 PM that evening, Josie was picked up by 26-year-old Dale Vereecken who resided in the Town of Franklinville, about 20 miles from Olean. They were reportedly running a quick errand to exchange some stereo components. But Dale Vereecken would later tell police that they instead went to the Olean Mall where they had coffee, and that left Josie left there with some “unidentified” friends. Josie’s family said that when she didn’t return home, they knew something was wrong. Josie’s sister, Doris, told APB Cold Case that she had plans to go to a bingo game that same evening.
One of the natural starting points for a missing person and possible homicide case is to look at those closest to the victim. Police did investigate Josie’s estranged husband who was living in California at the time, and they confirmed through west coast police that he was employed and working out of state at the time of Josie’s disappearance.
As police began their investigation they would come to learn that Dale Vereecken, the man who Josie was last seen with, had tried to cross the border into Canada less than 6 hours after he was seen with Josie. What happened in the hours between the time Vereecken picked up Josie at her family’s home in Olean, New York and his attempt to cross into Canada at 10:30 PM? That was the question that police had, too. But it just so happened that Vereecken was not able to cross the border. Perhaps it was because he was on parole which meant he was not allowed to leave the country; or maybe it was because he was in possession of marijuana. At any rate, he was denied entry and arrested. Reports indicate that he was charged with at least a parole violation and while being held in custody, he was interviewed by Olean police about Josie.
So why was Dale Vereecken on parole in the first place? According to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle[1] archives, Vereecken stole a bottle of whiskey from a liquor store in Canandaigua, New York on October 13, 1979. That same night, he watched a 14-year-old girl hitchhiking as she got into a car, and he jumped in the vehicle right behind her. When the car stopped at a local pizzeria, Vereecken and the girl got out and he began beating her and dragging her to a vacant lot where he raped her. After the assault, the girl ran to the pizzeria and got help. But when police arrived Vereecken was gone. There was no information available on the driver and it is unclear whether he had any connection to Vereecken.
The next night, according to published reports[2], Vereecken forced a 21-year-old female to drive to an abandoned farmhouse in Canandaigua where she was sexually assaulted.[3] Newspaper reports at the time indicate that the police chief in Canandaigua, located in Ontario County, New York, warned the public about a rash of sex crimes in the area, advising women to be cautious and alert.[4] Philip Povero was an investigator with the Ontario County Sheriff’s Office and was working alongside Canandaigua police in the investigative bureau at the time. Investigator Povero (who would later become the Sheriff of Ontario County) noted, “Although many people think that sex crimes are perpetrated by people that jump out of the bushes and attack, that’s not the case, generally. But in this case, it was.” Povero continued, “It was a situation where people were being assaulted in public places in the evening hours by an unknown assailant… it was something we took very seriously.” He said that Canandaigua police had developed information about a suspect – that suspect was Dale Vereecken. Police in nearby Allegany County (near Ontario County, but not contiguous) had located Vereecken and were holding him at the request of the Ontario County authorities. This led to a physical lineup being conducted which included Vereecken. The two females from the October 1979 sexual assaults were brought in, and the 14-year-old positively identified Vereecken as her attacker. He was charged with sex crimes against both the 14-year-old girl and the 21-year-old victims. But while awaiting trial, Vereecken attempted suicide in jail and was declared incompetent to stand trial. He was remanded to a New York State psychiatric detention center.[5] But after 6 months under psychiatric care, he was determined to be fit to stand trial and a trial date was set for November 1980. On the second day of trial, it was reported that Vereecken pled guilty to all counts in the indictment.[6] He was later sentenced to 2-6 years in Attica State Prison.[7]
It appears that Vereecken served the minimum of his sentence because, according to the timeline, Vereecken is out of jail and picking up Josie Despard at her Olean home in February 1984. Because of the maximum term of imprisonment, it is logical to assume that he was still on parole for those Ontario County sex crimes.
When Olean police first question Vereecken about Josie Despard’s disappearance, he is in jail for the parole violation. Police impounded his truck but they found no evidence of foul play in regard to Josie. During their investigation, they are unable to identify any of the ‘unidentified friends’ who Vereecken claimed that Josie was with when he said he left her at the Olean Mall. In fact, police said that they were unable to identify anyone who saw Vereecken or Josie at the mall that night.
During the course of their investigation police went to the Vereecken home. It’s described as a rural property of about 20 acres at the time (since then the lot has been subdivided; the Vereecken property is believed to be about 1 acre today), which borders other rural property. One of the neighboring properties that police visited in the early days of the investigation is a location where Dale Vereecken occasionally stayed, and it’s there they find a receipt from Agway – an agricultural and farm supply store – for calcium chloride. The receipt is dated 5 weeks after Josie disappeared. Calcium chloride can be used to fill tractor tires, and police did say that there was a tractor on the Vereecken property, but it can also have other purposes. When APB Cold Case reached out to a representative at the Southeast Texas Applied Forensic Science Facility (STAFSF)[8], they first told us that calcium chloride is not quicklime. Quicklime is sometimes encountered with certain burials to speed up decomposition. STAFSF also told us that while there is not a lot of industry articles about the use of calcium chloride in clandestine graves it is a good desiccant, and, in theory, could potentially limit smells or speed up decomposition.3
The police investigation continued, including some excavation by a backhoe and the draining of a small pond on the Vereecken property, which yielded no signs of a body. Sometime between the spring and fall of 1984, less than 8 months after Josie disappears, 27-year-old Dale Vereecken commits suicide. And if that was not an attention-grabber of itself, Josie’s sister Doris told us about another eerie encounter. She told us that Dale Vereecken’s mother, Edith, came to their home in Olean. “It was like 8 o’clock at night”, she said. “She had a bag of bones and handed it to my mom and said that it could be Josie.” Police were called and the bones were examined by an anthropologist who determined that they were bear bones.
The investigation continued, but with no new leads and no sign of Josie’s body, the case went cold. And then, 6 years after Josie’s disappearance, Dale Vereecken’s mother also commits suicide. She was 57 years old.
Olean Police Captain Robert Blovsky has been in charge of the Josie Despard investigation for several years and said that there are a number of questions lingering in the case.
The people who may have held the answers are now dead. But, said Captain Blovsky, Dale had a brother, Dave, who Blovsky thought that might have valuable information. The detective said he does not suspect that Dave had a direct role in her “going missing”, but he thought that Dave may have had involvement after Josie disappeared. So Blovsky interviewed Dave and felt that he was getting close to getting some information. But Dave’s health was failing, and Blovsky knew there was a limited window of opportunity to get that information. So he went to the District Attorney and got a letter of immunity to reassure Dave that he would not be charged with any crime relating to Josie’s disappearance. Blovsky felt that this was his last chance, but unfortunately, Blovsky said that Dave did not offer anything of value. Police reported that Dave Vereecken “…died a couple years ago.”
Again, the case went cold. But in February 2018, Olean Police received an anonymous letter from someone offering information about Josie’s disappearance. Police have not identified who they think the letter writer is, but Captain Blovsky believes that he knows and says that he has spoken with the person previously. But Blovsky believes the writer is trying to re-direct the investigation. “It wants me to look in a different direction”, said Blovsky. “It talks about there being a lot of drugs being done back then.” Police would not elaborate on the exact content of the letter, but Blovsky said he would love to have the opportunity to speak with the writer of the letter and will travel to wherever he is. Added Blovsky, “It’s time to get all this out.”
For now, the case remains open at the Olean Police Department. In February (2024), it will have been 40 years since Josie vanished. Her parents have since died, but her brothers and sisters will never forget her, nor will her daughter. Josie’s sister Doris Herrmann told us, “Josie was the oldest, I was the youngest. She and I always had a good relationship, she was protective over me. She gave me clothes; she played Scrabble with me.” And Josie’s brother Robert Herrmann said that his family is still close, and he has warm memories of old times when Josie and their parents were alive and how they all came together on Sundays for dinner no matter how far away they were as they grew up. “I think about her all the time. She had a heart of gold”, adding, “you know, being so kind-hearted, doing anything for anyone, and then for someone to do such evil…”. Josie’s sister Eileen Payne adopted Josie’s daughter, Lois. And today, Lois is a mother herself. Lois told us that she wishes that her mom could have been around to see her reach the milestones in her own life – graduating, buying a home, and the birth of her daughter. Josie’s mother passed away in 2007, and Eileen promised her mom that the family would never give up looking for Josie. Eileen said, “…if it ever came to a point where we did find her and discovered what happened, our family could be at peace and have a service of some sort; and I just don’t feel like we can do that yet, because I totally believe in my heart that somewhere in Olean, someone knows what happened to my sister.”
Olean Police want to hear from anyone who might have information that can help to move this case forward. Captain Robert Blovsky can be reached at 716-376-5673.
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[1]Rochester Democrat and Chronicle newspaper; December 5, 1980, p. 5
[2] Rochester Democrat and Chronicle newspaper; August 15, 1980, p. 8
[3]Syracuse Post Standard, January 3, 1980, p. 141
[4]Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, November 17, 1980, p. 16
[5]Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, October 28, 1980, p. 4
[6] Rochester Democrat and Chronicle newspaper; November 15, 1980, p. 2
[7] Rochester Democrat and Chronicle newspaper; January 9, 1981, p. 3
[8]Southeast Texas Applied Forensic Science Facility, Institute of Forensic Research, Training and Innovation; Sam Houston University; Huntsville, Texas; August 1, 2023
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