Teen Murderer of Radio Newsman Has Haunting Web Trail

2009_03_webersword.jpg Police have now revealed that the 16-year-old suspect who has confessed to the murder of WABC news reporter George Weber is John Katehis of East Elmhurst. Katehis was picked up last night at a bus depot in Middletown up in Orange County.

Katehis told police that the two met after he responded to Weber's craigslist ad looking for to be smothered and then allegedly went back to Weber's apartment where they drank vodka and did cocaine. The teenager said that he couldn't remember how many times he ended up stabbing Weber once the situation turned violent because he "blanked out" during the assault.

Katehis has also left extensive material behind on both MySpace and YouTube:

In his MySpace profile (now taken down), Katehis said, "I'm a big risk taker and like to live life on the edge. I am an Extremist, an Anarchist,and a Sadomasochist. As long as you show respect for me i will show respect for you, if you disrespect me, then i will f***ing break your neck." He also had photo sets with his collection of knives and swords, posted a fair share of satanic material, had Marilyn Manson as his Number One friend and listed his desire to have children "someday."

On his YouTube Channel, Katehis uses the alias "JSKcranks" to post a series of videos where he mostly calls businesses and uses stereotypically ethnic accents to make pranks such as asking WoHop if they serve chihuahua and claiming to Benny's Burritos that he is "the American police."

One video however has little context except that the sixteen-year-old is showing off a sound board with various voice files on it. From the sound of it however, Katehis is making a call as a response to an ad left on craigslist or elsewhere of a man seeking out a minor. The clip of Katehis calling the man and claiming to be 18, only to have the unknown voice ask for someone younger, is below.


Email This Entry


Comments (38) [rss]

His name has been spelled at least 3 different ways in this post.

This would have made a good episode of Dateline NBC's "To Catch a Predator". Chris Hansens got nothing on this kid

Am I flashing back to the early 90s where Marilyn Manson is being blamed again? Really? No knew material? Sad. Sad enough to use a sad face :(

He has a crappy knife collection.

"In his MySpace profile (blaring with heavy metal music), he says"

The music this horrible fuck listens to has nothing to do with the actions he takes and that statement does not belong in this article.

Agreed. If he had listened to rap, do you think that same association would be applied without fear of being branded racist?

Now, now ladies. I think Parker meant that there was actually loud music not that it's offensive music. Please un-bunch those panties.

Hasn't Tipper Gore taught you anything? Those musicians are the ones who should be on trial here.

He wants to have children someday? With warning signs like that, how did authorities not realize the danger this guy posed?

You get a queasy feeling that this guy is going to flourish in a prison environment.

My (non-snarky for once) question is if he listened to classical music, collected books of poetry and volunteered at a nursing home, would he still be leaving a haunting web trail?

What one likes doesn't necessarily cause them to be a killer.

The haunting trail is that he posted photos holding knives similar to the murder weapon, a video in which he responds to what sounds like another sex ad and violently threatens anyone who crosses him.

The heavy metal was simply a warning following the MySpace link when it was still up.

Since there was a Marilyn Manson hysteria over ten years ago, it's worth noting that it's still a valid reference in many teenagers' lives.

the kid was also sporting a Cannibal Corpse shirt. They are a fairly brutal death metal act. Albums include:
Eaten Back to Life (1990)
Butchered at Birth (1991)
Tomb of the Mutilated (1992)
The Bleeding (1994)
Vile (1996)
Gallery of Suicide (1998)
Bloodthirst (1999)
Gore Obsessed (2002)
The Wretched Spawn (2004)
Kill (2006)
Evisceration Plague (2009)
People's tastes in music vary-but it's hard to ignore a huge knife collection with inspirational music like this fueling his nascent sociopath leanings

I agree. Makes no sense to dismiss links between state of mind and favorite music/lyrics.

are there any nobel peace prize winners who were "into" death metal? the only ones I'd had contact with was in college and they were the pale immature satan worshipers who messed up a pot of mine melting wax.

The only Nobel Prize winners you know?

So.. far as i can tell, the members of Cannibal Corpse have never killed anyone, nor been killed, nor committed suicide (what with embarking on a 2009 tour and all)

So I've tried to rank Cannibal Corpse (and by extension, death metal)-involved individuals in order of their "risk" to society. Have I got it right?

high risk: Cannibal Corpse fans (or other death metal fans)
moderate or unknown risk: other death metal band members
low risk: Cannibal Corpse band members

does this suggest that he'd be ok if he had been IN a death metal band rather than following one?

You guys can't be seriously entertaining these "thought police" assumptions? If every teenage male who was angry, aggressive, interested in weapons, and listened to music with violent lyrics was put in juvenile hall, there wouldn't been a single male teen walking the streets.

Really? I guess guys like on The Big Bang Theory are scarier than I thought. Who would have thought nerds would be into all the stuff you listed?

Of course they are. Why do you think Dungeons and Dragons was invented?

Actually I wasn't. I have seen many death metal bands in concert and haven't murdered anyone.

Oh, Tipper.

Why are the good people stabbed to death?

This is just like Edward Norton's Character from Primal Fear. "You told me you don't remember. You black out. So how do you know about her neck?" "Well, good for you, Marty!"

The people into smothering should have been his parents.

I just KNEW this was another case of homo Dick-Sucking gone awry.

I just KNEW this was another case of homo Dick-Sucking gone awry.

Are you speaking from personal experience?

His namesake pretty much proves it.

If YOU'RE 'the edge' then I wonder what the dull side looks like....

Of course. Ever since I personally saw YOU in that public restroom giving head to the big fat hairy guy.

Of course. Ever since I personally saw YOU in that public restroom giving head to the big fat hairy guy.

Come on now, hand over all your knives BlowBoy.

You forgot to add the part when you asked if you could join in.

Suckboy.

He will be very popular in prison. In retrospect, I guess the money was kind of wasted on the braces now that he will be in prison for the next several decades. I don't think Bubba cares if your teeth are crooked.

The kid'll rebel in prison and get that nose broken again and all those teeth knocked out to "improve the mouthfeel". Either way, at least no one will ever be tortured by his lame prank phone calls on YouTube again.

Really, I luv heavy metal & do not go around killing. Stop blaming any type of "music" and focus on what the person did ... regardless of what he listened to ... who cares

He seems like a nice boy.

Post a comment (Comment Policy)

Tips

Get your daily dose of New York first thing in the morning from our weekday newsletter, now in beta.

About Gothamist

Gothamist is a website about New York. More

Editor: Jen Chung
Publisher: Jake Dobkin

Newsmap

newsmap.jpg

Contribute

Latest Tip:

The New York State Senate on Tuesday evening voted to expel Senator Hiram Monserrate!
[more]

Latest Photo:

Subscribe

Use an RSS reader to stay up to date with the latest news and posts from Gothamist.

All Our RSS

Follow us