Results tagged “coverup”

Yesterday a grand jury voted to indict NYPD Officer Andrew Kelly on charges of second-degree vehicular manslaughter and driving while intoxicated in an accident last month that killed a woman who was trying to hail a cab. If convicted, Kelly faces up to seven years in prison. Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes says that Kelly, 30, will also face trial on other charges, including speeding.

Yesterday, Thomas Paolino admitted to killing his ex-girlfriend—concocting a plan to cover it up in the process—and dumping her body in NJ's Pine Barrens. Paolino, a 20-year-old who lived in Staten Island's Tottenville section, has been in custody since being arrested in April 2008 for the murder of Jessica Tush. Though Tush and Paolino had broken up, police suspected that Paolino lured her into his car by offering to drive her to the site where a friend recently died in a car crash. After killing Tush, Paolino used her phone to text one of her friends with "A black man is following me." However, the friend was suspicious, because the text message addressed her by her full name, not a nickname. The Staten Island Advance says Paolino apparently agreed to a plea deal—23.5 years in prison— because of the weight of the evidence. Tush's mother said, "I'm not happy with the 23 and one-half years. He'll only be 39 years old when he can get out," but appreciated the work of NJ prosecutors. She added, "The outcome doesn't change for us. My daughter is dead, so it didn't matter whether we went to trial or not. I just didn't want to see him walking."

A year after a 49-year-old woman died in the psychiatric waiting room at Kings County Hospital, the Department of Investigations has issued a report that says, "Discrepancies were uncovered that called into question the accuracy of the medical records created by certain Kings County Hospital doctors." In other words, hospital staffers—doctors and nurses—falsified records and lied to investigators about the care that Esmin Green received.

Yesterday, the father of Leah Walsh, the woman killed and dumped off a Long Island highway, was too upset to speak at her funeral; the Daily News reports that Howard Hirschel asked Rabbi Abraham Eckstein to read his words, "This is the ultimate pain a family can endure. We've all heard the expression, 'Live one day at a time.' I'm trying to live one minute at a time... Although I know my children knew that I loved them dearly, I should have hugged them more. I say to all of you, if you have children, give them a big hug for Leah - and another for me."

There's something eerily similar about the cases of David Steeves and William Walsh, the two big murder stories that came out of Long Island this week. It should be a strange enough coincidence just in there being two high profile instances of men killing their wives in such close proximity. But add to that the fact that both men admitted their crimes to police only to then claim that the confessions were coerced and now reports today that both have been put into solitary as part of their incarceration. Authorities would not say why Walsh has been separated from the rest of the prison population, an action usually taken for medical, psychiatric or safety reasons. Newsday also reports that "at the Rockville Centre home of Leah Walsh's parents Friday, friends stopped by to express their condolences as the family gave candy to trick-or-treating children."

The Nassau County police revealed details in how William Walsh's story fell apart during questioning. Walsh, who had emotionally pleaded for his missing wife's return on Monday, was arrested for her murder on Wednesday.