Yesterday, before a judge sentenced a 26-year-old man for killing his girlfriend, emotional words from the victim's parents, both NYU professors, brought the courtroom to tears—even the courtroom clerk wiped her eyes and the defense lawyer broke down during her statement. A prosecutor read a statement from Boitumelo McCallum's mother, Teboho Moia: "My beloved Tumi was silenced forever at a young age because she made a wrong choice about who to share her love with... You barehandedly killed my child, your hands are stained forever with her blood." more ›

Last night at 10:30 word came in over the newswire of a jumper down at 1 Washington Square Village, across from Bobst Library. This morning the NY Post reports that the man who jumped from a 16th-floor balcony in the apartment building was 37-year-old NYU computer science professor, Sam Roweis. He just started at the university last year, and was described by others as "a very happy, happy guy." more ›

About 6,000 gallons of heating fuel leaked out of a tank in the basement of a New York University-owned housing complex yesterday. It's unclear exactly what caused the oil to spill out of the tank — which is a backup system for heating and hot water in NYU's Washington Square Village development at Bleecker and Mercer streets, according to the Daily News. "We are determined to figure out what caused the spill and resolve it," said university spokesman John Beckman. Residents were not evacuated from the buildings, but some complained of fumes from the fuel in hallways and stairways. "You breathe this stuff in for five minutes, you'll get headaches," said Irish studies professor John Waters, 45, who lives on the sixth floor with his wife and daughter. "This is a disaster." more ›

Reports are coming across the police scanner of a "large oil fuel spill" in New York University's Washington Square Village. According to dispatches, about 6,000 gallons of heating oil have spilled in the basement of the graduate student housing complex at the corner of Bleecker and Mercer streets. NYU personnel are apparently attempting to pump the oil out of the basement. The spill takes place about a block away from the site of NYU's new underground cogeneration facility, which is intended to improve energy efficiency while reducing "fuel consumption and associated emissions of pollutants to the environment." more ›

Prosecutors painted a disturbing story of how 20-year-old Boitumelo McCallum was killed by a boyfriend. Last month, McCallum's body was found in her mother's Washington Square Village apartment, and quickly police zeroed in on her boyfriend, Michael Cordero. Police found Cordero after he slit his wrists on a rooftop and he had apparently confessed to killing McCallum. more ›

Last night, the police found the boyfriend of the 20-year-old woman whose dead body was discovered wrapped in bedding in a Greenwich Village apartment. Police say Michael Cordero, 23, tried to slit his wrists on the roof of a building at West 62nd and Amsterdam; the Daily News reports that a family member tried to stop him, but Cordero "fled down the block, trailing blood, to a Western Beef supermarket on West End Ave." where he went to wash up. Police took him to Roosevelt Hospital and allegedly told the hospital staff, "I killed my girlfriend. I couldn't take it, so I tried to kill myself." more ›

Police are handling the death of a young woman, found in her mother's apartment at NYU-owned 4 Washington Square Village, as a possible homicide. The woman, Boitumelo McCallum, last seen either on Wednesday night or Thursday morning, was found on Sunday, after subletters smelled a foul odor coming from the locked room and called the super. more ›

The police discovered the decomposed body of a 20-year-old woman at 4 Washington Square Village yesterday evening. WABC 7 says that the victim was last seen alive on Wednesday and was found "inside a locked bedroom." Neighbors had called the police to complain about a foul odor; the police are handling the situation as a homicide until they hear from the ME's office. more ›