Is there a Serial Killer in Bergen County?

On Tuesday night, police and firefighters responded to a call from neighbors that the house at 976 Alpine Drive, Teaneck, NJ, was on fire. When they arrived they found a woman charred beyond recognition in the bedroom of the house. Police believed that it was the home owner, Fairleigh Dickinson professor, Joan Davis, 72. Suddenly things changed on Wednesday, when police tape surrounded the scene and a forensic crime truck was seen pulling into the driveway. Suddenly, Bergen County Prosecutor, John L. Molinelli, announced (late afternoon) that an autopsy coupled with analysis of the scene indicated the death was the result of a homicide.

Then NBC (New York) announced that the cause of death was blunt force trauma. Other sources have stated that the victim was stabbed multiple times before the perpetrator burned the scene; likely to cover-up evidence. Investigators believe that the body—which has not been identified yet and dental records are being sought—is in fact the owner, Joan Davis. Neighbors were aghast, labeling the crime a “complete shock.” No other facts have been released publically at this time.

In an eerily similar incident back in April 2010, Palisades Park resident, Dolores Alliotts, 69, faced an analogous fate. Another beloved longtime resident had been pulled from her fire-damaged home on 12th Street. Prosecutor Molinelli said that a preliminary autopsy on the badly burned body revealed that she had been stabbed several times in the torso and possibly elsewhere, before the blaze was set.

Both murders involved older women who lived alone, and were longtime, well-known residents. They were also both stabbed and their bodies were set on fire in their homes, and both crimes appear to have occurred around the same time of night/early morning. Both murders have also been classified as arson/homicides. Surely police and the prosecutor are aware of the uncanny similarities of both murders and are investigating the possibility that they may have been committed by the same person(s), although nothing public has been stated even linking the murders yet.


Police should be looking into if there are any connections between the two victims, such as whether they may have gotten their prescriptions from the same place, or whether they had the same doctor, etc. There is also the prospect that at least one of the crime scenes has some type of DNA or fingerprint evidence that may identify and link the killer(s) to either scene, although the fire may have damaged key evidence. Police have set-up a large perimeter around the home and many of the surrounding homes on Alpine Drive. The perimeter is so large that it is impossible to even get a glimpse at the house. Hopefully police will find some type of pertinent evidence. I will continue to follow this developing story and provide updates.

In the meantime, if you have any information contact police immediately…

PART 2

Suspected Serial Stabber in Custody

Elias Abuelazam [33], an Israeli citizen who is in the U.S. legally, was arrested today in connection with upwards of 20 stabbings across three states (5 fatalities). Abuelazam was arrested at about 10 p.m., last night by U.S. Customs Boarder Protection Agents at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport while trying to board Delta Air Lines flight to Tel Aviv, Israel. His arrest is in connection with a July 27th stabbing, and police say that there are still many issues that need to be addressed before identifying this individual as the person responsible for this horrific crime spree.

Police had focused their hunt on Flint—where 17 stabbings took place—until Leesburg police reported three attacks. Authorities in Toledo, Ohio, say a stabbing in that city Saturday appears to be linked to the violent spree. The suspect has been linked to a dark green Chevy S-10 Blazer with tan trim, with a model year ranging from 1995 to about 2000. The FBI is assisting Leesburg police, the lead agency investigating.

Based on over 500 tips police received—the most useful tip came in just after midnight Wednesday—police learned the suspect worked at the Kingwater party store in Beecher, located north of Flint. Officers checked surveillance video from the store to confirm the suspect previously worked at that store.

The serial stabber approaches black men late at night on lonely urban roads and asks for directions or help with a broken-down car. Then, without warning, he pulls out a knife and strikes. Then, he speeds away in his vehicle, leaving his victims for dead. Obviously this M.O. leaves police to believe that the crimes are racially motivated. The youngest victim was 15; the oldest was 67. They ranged in size from 5-foot-4 inches and 120 pounds to 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds.

Amityville 'Horror' House Into Contract

Spending only 70 days on the market, the Amityville Horror House went into contract this week.

Joanne Mills of Exit Realty Premier found the buyer. She would not disclose who they are, but Jerry O'Neill of Coldwell Banker Harbor Light in Amityville, whose brother, Peter O'Neill, was a previous owner of the home, said the buyers live in the community and "wanted to get on the water in a big, old classic house.

Sources identify the buyers as David and Caroline D’Antonio (currently living at 21 Hamilton St., in Amityville), retirees who are active in community affairs. When reached by phone Thursday, a man who answered at the D’Antonio residence refused to comment.

Mentally Ill in Amityville (2nd Edition) ON SALE NOW!!

Serial Killer "The Grim Sleeper" Suspect in Custody

A suspected serial killer was arrested today in connection with the killings of at least 10 female’s over two decades in the southern Los Angeles area. Known as The Grim Sleeper, suspect, Lonnie David Franklin Jr., is a retired LAPD mechanic who allegedly targeted 10 black women and one black male for murder from 1985 until 2007. From 1985 to 1988, The Grim Sleeper killed eight people. The most elusive serial killer to ever haunt the western United States, he did not kill again until December of 2001, which earned him the nickname the grim sleeper.

During several of his crimes the Sleeper had left his DNA behind, but working as a police mechanic at the Los Angeles Police Department's 77th Division station, he knew how to keep his nose clean; and he had never been arrested before. With no fingerprints and no DNA in the databases, police had no one to match the DNA found at each crime scene to anyone with any prior arrests. That was until his very own son was arrested and a DNA sample taken from him that led police right to Lonnie.

The Grim Sleeper’s sole survivor, Margette Enietra, recalls her nearly fatal encounter with The Grim Sleeper. She was shot in the chest by him and lost consciousness for a moment. When she came to, the Sleeper was snapping Polaroid photos of her and had sexual assaulted her. He threw her in the car and sped away in his orange Ford Pinto. Margette struggled with him and pleaded for him to take her to the hospital, but he refused.

The Sleeper finally pulled over, beat her senseless with his gun, opened her door and pushed her onto the darkened street. Somehow, battered and bloodied, Margette got to her feet and walked the many blocks to her best friend’s house, leaving a bloody meandering trail along the street and smeared on parked cars.

Los Angeles police confiscated hundreds of items from the suspected Grim Sleeper’s house and vehicles after his arrest, including firearms and ammunition, car seats possibly stained with bodily fluids, and pornographic photos and videos. With more than 650 items booked into evidence, police believe that they have the right man. They have charged Franklin with 10 counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, and they are continuing to build a case against him.

Sleeper’s M.O.

.25 caliber hand gun - Bludgeon. The Killer does not seem to be attempting to conceal his activities. The gun is a .25 caliber hand gun and it has been used in 10 out of 12 confirmed attacks and murders. He picks up victims either forcibly or willingly (in the case of prostitutes). He rapes/sexually assaults his victims (male victim excluded) and usually shoots to the chest (male victim was shot in head). Two victims were strangled with no gun involved. Survivor claims her attacker took Polaroid photographs as he sexually assaulted her. Victims are then dumped on the South side of Los Angeles in close proximity to each other.

Knox’s Parents Facing Jail Time

Amanda Knox turns 23 on July 9, 2010. It will be her third birthday in Capanne prison just outside Perugia, Italy. Today, however, Amanda Knox’s parents were not pleading for Amanda’s innocence, but they were pleading for their own. Edda Mellas and Curt Knox (Amanda’s biological parents) appeared in court today for their preliminary hearing. Twelve Perugia police officers had filed defamation-charges against the pair well over a year ago after they told the London Times in June 2008, that their daughter was struck by police during her November 5, 2007 interrogation. Surprisingly enough, the officers were represented in court today by Francesco Maresca--the lawyer who represented the Kercher family during Amanda and Raffaele’s murder trial.

The purpose of this hearing was to determine whether their was enough evidence against Amanda’s parents to proceed with a full trial. The hearing today did not bring good news, as it was determined that there is enough evidence to proceed. The trail is scheduled to begin in mid-October. Knox’s parents have been very outspoken critics of the Italian justice system. Italian law enforcement pushed back heavily today, and no doubt want the pair silenced. Regardless, Curt Kox is not backing down, saying that “With respect to Edda’s and my slander charges, I believe those will get thrown out and this is nothing more than a harassment.”

If convicted, Knox’s parents face heavy fines and up to 3 years in jail. It is unlikely that her parents will go to jail, although if up to the twelve police officers, they would. However, it is more likely that they will be slapped with heavy fines, and considering their financial hardships (regarding their constant traveling back and forth to see their daughter as well as Amanda’s extensive lawyer fees) these fines may be just as debilitating.

Jailed Italian Mobster Says ‘Knox is Innocent.’

Another shocking and bizarre twist occurs in the Amanda Knox case. On 10 June, jailed Italian mobster, Luciano Aviello, claims that his brother killed Kercher during a botched burglary attempt. Last week, Knox’s defense team, Carlo Dalla Vedova and Luciano Ghirga, went to the Ivrea prison outside Turin where Aviello is serving 17 years for mob-related crimes. In a videotaped statement, Aviello told the lawyers that his brother, Antonio, went to his house the night Kercher was killed and asked him to hide a bloodstained knife and set of keys. The significance of that statement is that Kercher’s set of keys to the cottage have never been recovered, and the Mariette-knife that the prosecution claimed was the murder weapon was called ‘seriously flawed’ and ‘contaminated’ by several expert defense witnesses.

“It was my brother who killed Meredith on the night of November 1, 2007. Amanda, Raffaele and Guede are innocent,” Luciano Aviello, 41, told Knox's lawyers. "When he [Antonio] came to my house he had a bloodstained jacket," Aviello says in the statement. “He said he had broken into a house and killed a girl and then he had run away.” According to Aviello, his brother and a friend named Florio (an Albanian man) went into the cottage to steel paintings and found Kercher alone. Kercher began screaming loudly and Antonio says that he stabbed her and they ran off into the night. “My brother confessed the murder to me and gave me the blood-stained knife and a set of keys (to hide)." Aviello said that he hid the knife and keys under a wall behind the house in Perugia, Italy where he was living at the time. Antonio's whereabouts are unknown, but he is thought to be in Naples.

Aviello has come forward with this information several times in 2009, and it has been confirmed that Knox’s defense team has known about this information as early as March 2010. The lead Prosecutor in the case, Giuliano Mignini, said he was aware that Aviello wrote to the judge in the Knox case several times but the judge dismissed it. “There is nothing else to say,” Mignini told UK’s the Daily Mail. So now we will have to wait and see if Aviello can produce these two key pieces of evidence. Personally, I think that if this evidence existed they would have already been provided. Here we have another case of a convict trying to get in the news, much like the rantings on the case by another convict, Mario Alessi.

Questions:

Why would experienced/mob-related criminals rob a known college dorm house looking for expensive paintings? This just doesn’t hold water in my opinion. Where is the physical evidence in the house belonging to these new suspects? Then there is also the fact that Rudy Guede was there, by his own admittance, fingerprints and footprints (as well as his DNA found inside of Kercher’s vagina). Guede also said that he heard a woman’s voice by the door and saw her silhouette as she and the alleged perpetrated (who threatened him with a knife) fled into the night. Not sure how this will be explained. Did they then find Guede in the bathroom of the house and intimidated him into silence? Is Aviello’s statement fantastic or fantastical?

Knox’s appeal is supposed to begin sometime this fall, where Knox’s lawyers are expected to bring up these new claims. Now we must play the waiting game again to see what developments occur and if these key pieces of evidence will be produced.

Amanda Knox Back in Court for Slander

Amanda Knox was back in court today facing slander charges. Knox originally testified that she was smacked in the head twice by a female police officer during her November 5, 2007, interrogation. If found guilty, Knox could face an additional six-years on top of her 26-year sentence for the murder of Meredith Kercher.

One of Knox’s lawyers, Luciano Ghirga, argued in court today that it is improper for the slander charge to be heard by Judge Claudia Matteini, because she had presided over one of the preliminary hearings for the murder charges. This objection by Ghirga prompted an adjournment until June 17th, at which time it is likely that a new judge will be assigned to hear the case.

The trail for the slander charge is scheduled to take place on October 1, 2010. Knox and her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito’s, appeals are due to start around the same time. This means that Knox herself might well be involved in two trials at the same time. Worse case scenario for Knox, if she loses the slander case and the prosecution wins the appeal, she could actually be facing upwards of 40 years total.

As for Knox and Sollecito’s appeal, Prosecutor General, Giancarlo Costagliola, has been chosen to prosecute. Unfortunately for Knox and Sollecito, Costagliola was recommended by prosecutors of the last trial, Manuela Comodi and Giuliano Mignini. There is currently a problem deciding who the judge will be, as every judge has in some way contributed to prior hearings on the case in some way. Only the President of the Court of Appeal remains as a viable candidate, but he’s about to retire. So, currently there is no judge left for the appeal. What ever will they do? Most likely a judge from Rome will be assigned to preside over the appeal, at which time Knox and her team will probably ask for change of venue.