The Murder Book 2008

July 24th -- 1 dead in Brooklyn...

Damien Sharp, a 28-year-old black male, was found early Thursday lying on the street at Midwood Street and Kingston Avenue, Brooklyn, with several gunshot wounds to his body. He was taken to Kings County Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Police report the suspects were seen leaving the scene in a white Ford van. No arrests.

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Police yesterday made an arrest in last week's shooting death of Lamont Mackie, a 25-year-old black male, killed on East 37th Street in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn, according to police reports. Also wounded in the gunplay was Marilyn Simmons, 45.

Arrested and charged with murder is teenager Charles Springer, 17, of 286 East 39th Street, Brooklyn, according to police.

 

 

 

July 22nd -- 3 dead, including retired NYPD sergeant in Staten Island...

Jason Aiello, a white male and a retired NYPD sergeant, was shot to death Tuesday morning in Staten Island after Aiello allegedly fired at NYPD officers who were responding to a "man with a gun" call to 911, according to a story in the Daily News.

Aiello reportedly was under investigation in connection with the murder of his boss Louis Antonelli, a jeweler and former friend. Two other men were indicted for murdering Antonelli but, according to what sources told The News, Aiello was being investigated as well.

Officers reportedly knew Aiello and one of them called him by name, ordering him to drop his gun. Instead, he fired, according to the News, and was shot in the head in front of his wife and three young children who earlier had escaped from the house.

At least one investigator told the News that Aiello's murder was "suicide by cop" and that he knew precisely what would happen when he fired upon responding officers.

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Odell Turner, a 31-year-old black male, was found dead, shot once in the chest early Monday at the corner of Nostrand Avenue and Midwood Street in Brooklyn, according to a police report. He was pronounced dead at the scene. No arrests.

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Kenny Smith, a 17-year-old black youth, was shot to death Monday in the Louis Pink Houses in the East New York section of Brooklyn, after he reportedly dared his shooter to pull the trigger, according to a brief in the Daily News.

Smith, according to the News, told the shooter to "do it" after he pulled a gun on the teen. The shooter unloaded on Smith, hitting him multiple times before running off. No arrests.

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Read the full story behind the murder of dancer Catherine Woods, subject of my book "Death of a Dream," co-authored by CBS News correspondent Erin Moriarty. This is the behind the scenes story of Catherine's controversial lifestyle, the two men in her life, and the trial of Paul Cortez. Reviewers called the book: "compelling" and "a chilling good read." Available at bookstores under 'true crime' and online. First chapter available free.

 

 

July 21st -- 2 dead & arrest in Staten Island stabbing...

Henry Showard, a 45-year-old black male, was stabbed to death last Thursday with a screwdriver inside his Staten Island apartment, and yesterday police announced that they'd arrested Ruth "Grandma" Wade, a 64-year-old acquaintance who has a history of violence and drug arrests, according to a story in the Daily News.

Wade, who had been living Showard and his wife in their Stapleton partment, allegedly stabbed Showard in the neck after having an argument with him and his wife.

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An unidentified 44-year-old black male was found shot once in the head last Thursday in front of 1533 Sterling Place in Brooklyn, according to police reports. He was pronounced dead at the scene. No arrests. 

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July 20th -- 2 dead, boy killed by hit & run driver in Brooklyn...

Rondell Grant Jr., an 11-year-old black youth, was killed early Saturday by a hit and run driver in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn, according to stories in the Daily News, the NY Post and NY Times.

Rondell was at the home at 505 East 43rd Street for a summer grill-out with family and friends. Rondell was near a van used by his mother when three cars sped by. After the second one zoomed by, Rondell stepped out to take a look and was struck by the third car. It kept going but the alleged driver of the third car -- 19-year-old Naquan Mandry -- was later arrested and charged with leaving the scene of an accident that resulted in death, according to the Times story. The car was parked in Mandry's driveway, and had suffered obvious damage to its front bumper and windshield.

An aunt told The Times: “We were all outside having a good time. I heard a skid like tires, then I heard a bang. It sounded like two cars colliding. Then I heard crying, so much crying. His brother stood over him and kept yelling, ‘Rondell, get up!’”

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Interesting story in the Daily News about the mothers of Patrick Hernandez and Karon Lenihan, one of whose sons was murdered by the other. Lenihan is charged with killed Hernandez with a shotgun blast in broad daylight in Far Rockaway. Hernandez was flanked by his brother and both had just finished cleaning a local beach. Hernandez had graduated high school weeks earlier and was headed for an upstate college this fall.

As the News story notes, there is anguish on both side with both mothers describing their sons in nearly identical terms. Lenihan's mother said her son was working two jobs and was not a street kid despite an earlier arrest for drug possession. Odd and sad.

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Spencer Parris, a 39-year-old male who was shot to death by an NYPD police officer in an upper East Side building last week, had a history of mental illness and may have been committing "suicide by cop," according to what sources told The Daily News.

Parris would not drop his knife despite pleas by officers who confronted him in a narrow hallway of the building where he lived on East 83th Street in Manhattan Thursday night.

After coming toward the officers, Police Officer Micah Adler, a 10-year-veteran, shot Parris once. Parris reportedly had spent the hours before the encounter drinking at a local bar, Ship of Fools. His girlfriend reportedly told officers that Parris was taking medication for a bi-polar disorder.

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July 17, 18 & 19th -- 3 dead, including teenager in Brooklyn & investigation goes on in murder of Marine Park couple...

Police continue to investigate the murders of Christina Petrowski-Schwartz and her husband Mark Schwartz, both found shot to death earlier this week in their home in the Marine Park section of Brooklyn. At the top of the list of people being investigated, according to stories in the Daily News and NY Post, are a former buisness partner, and Christina's son from a previous marriage.

The News reported that detectives have visited with Robert Delvicario, a former U.S. Customs official and former business partner of the dead couple, but he has retained a lawyer and refused to talk to police, according to the News story. There reportedly was bad blood between the couple and Delvicario because the Schwartz's believed Delvicario was embezzling money from a joint real estate project. The Post reported that Delvicario and his wife are nearly $1 million in debt and it was Mark Schwartz task to try to recover some of that money.

The stories also reported that police are looking closely at Christina's son from a previous marriage, Nick Petrowski. He was once arrested on a minor drug charge but neighbors mentioned to cops that several weeks ago the dead couple posted an odd sign in the window of their home which read: "Don't Come Home."

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Bertrand Jocelyn, a 17-year-old black youth, was shot once in the head Friday evening as he sat on a bench outside the Sumner Houses in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, according to a story in the Daily News.

Jocelyn is yet another in a stream of teens who've been shot to death since May in or around public housing projects. He had recently received his GED and hoped to attend college, according to his father Louis, a Haitian immigrant.

Louis told The News: "Please don't use the word 'dead.' My heart is broken. There is no answer to this. He was just hanging with a friend. We don't know why this happened."

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Wily Singletary, a 43-year-old black male, was found shot to death Thursday evening at Sterling Place and Rochester Avenue in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, according to briefs in the Daily News and NY Post. He had been shot once in the head and died at the scene. No arrests.

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Lamont Mackie, a 25-year-old black male, was shot and killed early Thursday morning on East 37th Street in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn, according to police reports. Also wounded in the gunplay was Marilyn Simmons, 45. Police have no motive as to why someone fired at the couple. No arrests.

July 16th -- 4 dead, including couple shot to death in their Marine Park home...

Mark Schwartz, a 50-year-old white male, and his wife Christine Petrowski-Schwartz, a 48-year-old white female, were found shot to death in their bedroom in Marine Park, Brooklyn early Wednesday, according to a story in the Daily News. (photo Daily News)

The bodies of the well-liked couple -- both of whom were lawyers -- were found by their cleaning lady on the second floor of their home on East 33rd Street in Brooklyn after the woman had already cleaned the ground floor. She reportedly ran out of the house and called 911. According to the News story, the cleaning woman yelled: "They're dead - they're both dead."

A neighbor told the News: "Why would anyone want to do this to them? They're such good people, very loving people."

The investigation is at an early stage and there was no motive for why the couple was shot.

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An unidentified 19-year-old Russian immigrant was beaten to death with a cue stick early in a Brooklyn pool hall Tuesday morning after he reportedly got into an argument with a group of men, according to a story in the Daily News.  

The murder occurred at Boardwalk Billiards in the Brighton Beach section of the borough. The victim was taken to Lutheran Medical Center in critical condition, and died shortly after. No arrests.

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Mustafa Oumaria, a 23-year-old Nigerian immigrant, was shot to death Tuesday night outside his home on Albany Avenue in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, according to a brief in the Daily News.

Oumaria was shot four times by a lone gunman who has not been captured.  The News reported that Oumaria worked in a clothing store, and was single and quiet.

July 11th -- 4 dead...arrest made in Patrick Hernandez murder case...

Patrick Hernandez, an 18-year-old black youth, was shot and killed early Thursday in the crime-ridden Far Rockaway section of Queens, according to the Daily News.

On Friday afternoon, police arrested Karon Lenihan, 17, and charged him with Hernandez' murder.

Hernandez, an honor roll student who was to go to college at SUNY Cortland this fall, was shot to death by a thug who jumped out of a passing car, shouted "What now?" and pumped a shotgun blast into Hernandez' chest as his stunned 16-year-old brother looked on, the News story reported. The shooting took place in front of 249 Beach 15th Street at 10:30 a.m. after the brothers had just finished cleaning a neighborhood beach.

Ralphael Jones, Hernandez' brother, told the News: "He stumbled, ran a little bit and then fell down. I said, 'Pat, hold on, hold on.' I held his hand and said, 'Pat, I love you,' but he couldn't say anything. He was trying hard to breathe, and then he just passed."

Hernandez became at least the third teenager killed in Far Rockaway since May. Reportedly, the shooter was an area thug who'd been feuding with Hernandez.

Hernandez played on his high school football team and made a strong impression on coach Walter Wilkerson who told the News: "He was a good leader on the team and a good role model on the field. The other kids looked up to him. I thought he'd be someone who I'd see three or four years from now and say, 'Hey, this kid made it.'"

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Carlos Rios, a 17-year-old Latino youth, was stabbed to death Thursday evening after arguing with Jose Fuentes, 22, at 89th Street and Northern Blvd. in the Jackson Heights section of Queens, according to a brief in the Daily News.

Police say Fuentes stabbed Rios several times in the chest; the teen was taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center but died a short time later. Fuentes was arrested and charged with his murder.

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An unidentified female in her 50s was found bludgeoned to death Thursday in a building on Boynton and Watson Avenues in the West Farms neighborhood of the Bronx, according to a brief in the NY Post. Police arrested the woman who lived in the apartment, 49-year-old Ana Jurado. Reportedly, Jurado hit the unidentified woman several times in the head with a blunt object, and left her on the living room floor. She was discovered after neighbors complained of a foul odor.

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An unidentified 20-year-old Latino male was stabbed to death early Friday morning in front of 2301 Jerome Avenue in the Bronx, according to a police report. He was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. No arrests.

 

July 10th -- 1 dead and wife of cop charged with murder....

Alex McFarlane, a 19-year-old black youth, died Monday from injuries he suffered after being thrown from a speeding car on the streets of St. Albans, Queens on July 3rd, allegedly by Javier Morales, according to a report in the Daily News. McFarlane lapsed into a coma after the incident and was declared brain dead but his family kept him on life support long enough for his organs to be donated.

Morales, 22, was arrested and charged with McFarlane's murder after initially being charged with four counts of assault, according to the News report.

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Veronica Nickey, the wife of an NYPD officer, was arrested Wednesday and charged with murder for shooting Ellison Butler, a 22 year old male, because she felt Butler allegedly had groped her 13-year-old daughter, according to an exclusive report in the NY Post.

Nickey, 40, allegedly walked up to Butller as he watched a basketball game on June 27 in Lincoln Terrace Park in Crown Heights and pulled a .380-caliber handgun, according to the Post report.

The Post reported that she said: "That's what you get for messing with my children! That's what you get for messing with my daughter!"

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July 8th & 9th -- 2 dead...

Grant Fleming, a 21-year-old black male, was shot to death with his own gun Tuesday evening while he apparently was attempting to rob someone, according to a story in the Daily News.

Fleming was shot on the fifth floor of a building in the Richmond Terrace Houses on Staten Island. He collapsed and was taken to Richmond University Medical Center where he later died. The News story reported that Fleming was from a "criminal family" and that two of his brothers are in prison.

Rudy Fleming, 23, was convicted of killing Nicole duFresne on the lower East Side in 2005. Another brother, Royal Fleming, 29, beat a man with a baseball bat during a robbery last year, according to the story.

A police source told The News: "It looks like he was shot with his own gun. This family is very well known to us on Staten Island for their long and glorious history of criminal behavior."

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An unidentified Latino male, believed to be between 17 and 20 years old, was found stabbed to death at West 162nd Street and Broadway in upper Manhattan, according to a police report. He was taken to Columbia Presbysterian Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. No arrests.

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July 7th -- 1 dead in Brooklyn...

Yemina Smith, a 30-year-old black female, was stabbed multiple times early Sunday inside a building at East 22nd Street and Clarendon Road in the Kensington section of Brooklyn, according to a brief in the NY Post. She was taken to Kings County Hospital where she died sometime later.

Police arrested Habika Hickman, 30, a neighbor of the victim and charged her with second-degree murder; a brief in the Daily News reported that the two had had a long-running feud. She'd allegedly stabbed the unidentified woman repeatedly with a sharp object.

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Read the full story behind the murder of dancer Catherine Woods, subject of my book "Death of a Dream," co-authored by CBS News correspondent Erin Moriarty. This is the behind the scenes story of Catherine's controversial lifestyle, the two men in her life, and the trial of Paul Cortez. Reviewers called the book: "compelling" and "a chilling good read." Available at bookstores under 'true crime' and online.

First chapter available free.