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Teen Wore Murdered Newsman's Clothes When Arrested

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Photo Courtesy AP/Robert Mecea
Sixteen-year-old John Katehis pleaded not guilty in a Brooklyn court last night to charges of second-degree murder and weapons possession after police say he confessed to the stabbing of WABC radio newsman George Weber earlier in the day. His lawyer said that details of the relationship between the two will emerge later and that he thinks Katehis "was used by an older gentleman." The teen apparently responded to Weber's Craiglist ad looking for rough sex.

After news broke yesterday of the teenager's confession as well as details from his MySpace profile and YouTube channel, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly shared an account of the crime with the press. He said that Katehis had bloodied his clothing so badly in the attack that he put on some of Weber's clothes—and was still wearing them when he was arrested in Middletown Tuesday night.

Katehis told police that Weber, whose feet and hands were bound with duct tape, took out a knife to free himself. According to the Post, "Katehis, high on cocaine and vodka, said he panicked, grabbed the knife from Weber, stabbed him twice and fled." However, police don't necessarily agree with his story, since Kelly said, "Weber was stabbed approximately 50 times to the neck, the front and the back of his upper torso and both arms. He also had defensive knife wounds to his hands."

Katehis had also cut himself and was brought to Elmhurst Hospital Center by a G train conductor who spotted him bleeding Friday night. Katehis claimed he cut himself on a bottle and was released. His parents aided police in the sting: Katehis was on his way to hide out with a friend and went to the bus depot, believing that his father would be waiting to pick him up, but the police were waiting and arrested him.

Both Gay Wired and Queerty look at the role of Craigslist in the tragic incident. Queerty asks, "Is Craigslist Responsible for the Grisly Death of George Weber?" and refers to the site as "a 21st century equivalent of the Rambles."

Last night, friends of Weber's held a private memorial service for him inside his Cobble Hill apartment and then headed to his favorite bar, Angry Wade's on Smith Street. There they drank shots of Wild Turkey in his honor. A friend told the News, "I really wish people knew George the way we knew George."

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Comments [rss]

  • jimdaniels

    What I don't like is that they keep referring to him as a 16yo boy or kid, as if he was some prepubecent choir boy. Come on, he could easily be mistaken for 18, 19 or older. Not that this excempts Weber from poor judgment and perhaps just bad luck, but some are trying to portray him as a pedophile and that he had some kind of influence over this 16yo young MAN. After watching the youtube videos, does it really look like anyone had any kind of control or influence on this 16yo (i.e., his parents).

    I think we need to wait until more facts come out about this case before judging the victim or the perp. It's clear he did kill him and I'm sure his lawyer will say it was in self defense and will do all he can to say he was in an altered state of mind after being fed alcohol and drugs by the victim, and so on, but in the end he will probably end up serving time, perhaps on reduced charges.

  • JacqueMehoff

    why did he shave his head? he looked so tan and guidoish in his pictures with the knives.

    that's what threw me off course.

    Now he looks like a killer. have fun in prison, it's buttplayland.

  • mellow_fellow

    Who says Weber knew that Katehis was underage (though he should've suspected), much less that his Craigslist ad specifically requested an underage guy? I think if it had, it would've been flagged and removed pretty quickly.

  • JRod5417

    Exactly! There is nothing written thus far indicating that Weber was looking for an underage guy. It is very possible that there was no discussion as to age. Given what we know about this boy, it looks more likely that he was planning on killing someone. Unfortunately, since we are only going to get one side of this story, the victim will get tainted as a predator and the perp will use his age to get a reprieve of some sort.

  • rdsizzle

    Soliciting rough sex online + 16 yr old male respondant + cocaine + vodka + duct tape = BAD IDEA!

  • blkiznewprez

    the defense should be able to mitigate this little shit's sentence -- IF he is convicted. weber was the victim of this tragedy, BUT he still went on cragislist looking for a minor to engage in sex with. Then he invited this stranger into his home, and provided him with booze and coke. This is a really strong "assumption of risk" defense for katehis. if you roam the internet and invite strangers into your home, you're really putting yourself out there to get hurt. sadly, weber is going to be cast as a sexual predator in this case.

  • Splicer

    The predator in this case was the 16 year old who answered Weber's ad probably planning the murder from the beginning.

  • hotstepper

    "probably" being the operative word there

  • hotstepper

    "sadly, weber is going to be cast as a sexual predator in this case."

    why sadly? when the facts come out maybe that's precisely what he was. normal people (as in those who like to get busy with other adults) don't say, "hmmm...it's been a long day. i think this evening i'll treat myself to a minor." we're probably looking at a repeat offender here.

  • Awolfie

    Weber did not deserve to be murdered for exploring his sexual fantasies. BUT, he did solicit and engage in sexual interaction with an UNDERAGED boy. Despite him looking and acting like a man, he is still legally not an adult and therefore Weber knowingly committed a crime. Sad case all around.

  • fishfryin

    am i the only one who thinks it's weird that one 16 year old might be 5 years away from drinking age and can't consent to sex and is just a harmless child, but some other 16 year old can easily be a monstrous psychopath who killed this man in cold blood? to me there's no doubt this kid is a psychpath and murdered george weber, i just think it's weird how messed up our society is with regard to perceptions of age/social status and the law.

  • jaycjay

    "Queerty asks, "Is Craigslist Responsible for the Grisly Death of George Weber?" and refers to the site as "a 21st century equivalent of the Rambles.""

    And the Rambles, of course, was responsible for everything bad that happened there.

  • snessnyc

    No, it was obviously Frederick Law Olmstead, the designer of Central Park, who is responsible for everything bad that happens in The Ramble.

    Law enforcement's (and most people's) first reaction is to find someone or something to blame. If you want to assign blame, maybe we should look at Katehis' homelife & upbringing to find what produced a kid like this. Or maybe look at Weber's psychological makeup to find what would compel him to seek out this type of sex with someone like Katehis. Or maybe we just all need to take responsibility for our own actions. You solicit for violent sex? There might be violent consequences. While this is a tragedy, it does seem that Weber bears just a teeny tiny bit of responsibility, no?

  • laisla

    Oh, of course, it's the victim's fault! He was asking for it.



    Are you serious? Rough sex does not mean he was risking getting stabbed 50 times by his lover. If that's the truth, God help us all.

  • fishfryin

    just another example of people not being able to accept the freedom of individuals. this kid is a bad apple who made an evil decision to kill someone. george weber made a bad decision engaging a 16 year old for covert s&m sex. tragic all around. but instead some people react by trying to imagine possibilities of restricting craigslist in order to "protect people from themselves"

  • r1b2

    Is Macy's (or whichever store) Responsible for the Grisly Death of George Weber for having sold a knife once? If stores stop selling knives, and if Lowe's and Home Depot would be more responsible about the manner in which they freely and wantonly distribute duct tape, the world would be a much safer place.

    Queerty: Fail.

    Bottom line: Bad people do bad things.

  • It was obvious the two terrorists who went on a rampage at Columbine were innocent. Both trenchcoats pleaded guilty and are now serving a life sentence in a salvation army.

    To blame Craigslist for this crime is like me blaming Ebay for a boring used book.

  • Gothamist_Cynic

    People still listen the radio?

  • thefacts

    Yes, and some even pay money for it.

  • JacqueMehoff

    thnx for his youtube channel.

    I'm posting comments daily. I luv to mess with the immature white boyz. thank god we don't have to listen to another one of his prank calls.

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