JOGGER MURDERS: KARINA VETRANO & VANESSA MARCOTTE

[HairOfTheDog]

Vanessa Marcotte, Investigation Update - Possible Lead



Police investigating the murder of Google executive Vanessa Marcotte have seized surveillance footage after learning of a mysterious bruised and cut man who appeared at a resort near the murder scene.

The mountain resort's base lodge is less than a ten-minute drive from Brooks Station Road and the woodland in which Marcotte's body was found on Sunday evening.

Police have narrowed the time of murder to between 1pm and 3pm on Sunday, and said that Vanessa fought back against her attacker - meaning he was likely to have been bruised and cut.

Princeton's Wachusett Mountain Resort general manager David Crowley, 60, said that a man and woman appeared at the resort around 2 o'clock on Sunday afternoon and that they claimed to have been in a motorcycle crash, or had somehow come off the motorcycle.

Crowley said the couple claimed that the ambulance driver had told them to go up to the resort to clean up, which seemed odd to his employee who recounted the incident.

She (the resort employee) said she didn't see any sign of an ambulance and it seemed strange to her that anyone would have given that advice if that's really what happened. According to the employee, the man's arms were, 'all cut and scraped up'.

At a press conference on Thursday, the DA appealed for anyone seeing a man with fresh injuries of that nature earlier this week to call the State Police tip line.

Police have also appealed for anybody who may have seen a vehicle traveling along, or parked on, Brooks Station Road during that time to come forward.

Ref: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...gging.html

[tlynne]

These stories are so sad. Between the sierra joughin case (I live in Ohio- that murder happened damn near my parents house) and the Katrina and Vanessa cases I just feel so friggin sad. These women were around my age, beautiful girls just starting their lives. It's so unfair. I'm a pretty independent woman and live in the city and as a photographer, am often out and about on my own exploring. Makes me think twice about being by myself honestly. I try to be alert and aware of my surroundings but it's terrifying knowing that someone could literally pop out of nowhere and attack. I carry pepper spray and a knife on me but I think typically when women get attacked in this manner it's very sudden and quit - no time to react. Just sucks. Life shouldn't be this way :'(

[Duchess]

Makes me think twice about being by myself honestly.

Good! I don't say that rudely. I want you to think twice. No one ever thinks it will happen to them, it always happens to other people but they probably thought it wouldn't happen to them. When you're taken by surprise you lose everything, there's no time to react, spray or a weapon will (probably) be worthless.It sucks that independent women have to feel like this.

[HairOfTheDog]

Karina Vetrano Update



I hope Karina's outspoken parents ^ aren't inadvertently hurting the investigation.

On Thursday, they held another press conference and her dad said that the police have lots of solid leads and a few suspects and that he expected resolution in a matter of days.

Mr. Vetrano then implored a female member of the murderer's family to come forward, tell what she knows, and collect the money before someone else did. There's a $25,000 reward offered by the NYPD and an additional $225,000 offered by the Vetranos (via GoFundMe donations).

Immediately after the Vetranos' press conference, NYPD Chief Bill Bratton refuted the Vetranos claims. He said that while he feels deeply for the parents, there are no suspects on the radar at this time, the police are not close to making an arrest, and the NYPD still needs the public's help in identifying potential suspects.

Story: https://tribwpix.files.wordpress.com/201...204&crop=1

[HairOfTheDog]

Vanessa Marcotte Update

On Friday, a source told WBZ that State Police investigators have reached out to the FBI for assistance as they search for the man who had a physical struggle with Vanessa Marcotte before he murdered her, and left her in the woods nearly two weeks ago.

WBZ security analyst Ed Davis says in a case like this, the FBI has a lot to offer. “The ability to develop a profile based upon the method of operation of the suspect and what the crime scene looked like. It is a significant assistance to the investigators that are here, and the FBI is very good at that,” said Davis.

Investigators are also working off the Princeton Police blotter, which shows in the week after the murder, the tiny department took more than four times as many calls as usual.

This is very interesting: The blotter shows 91 calls in seven days, including 31 suspicious vehicle reports and 18 suspicious person reports. Calls included “Male walking on railroad tracks near Brooks Station Road,” and “Suspicious male in Pick-up truck…”

The 27-year-old Marcotte was living in New York City, where she worked at Google. She was visiting her mother in Princeton when she went out for a run on August 7^th, and never returned. Police found her body a half mile from her mother’s home. A source said she was naked and burned.

Full story: http://boston.cbslocal.com/2016/08/19/st...-marcotte/

[HairOfTheDog]

No arrests have been made in either case as of yet.

Today, NYPD released surveillance video of Karina Vetrano jogging just before her attack/murder. They're hoping the image will lead to tips.

Here's the video along with an interesting overview/update on the case, including the evidence and interviews with Karina's parents.

[HairOfTheDog]

Can Familial DNA help find Karina Vetrano's killer?

Investigators developed a DNA profile of the killer from material found under Vetrano's fingernails, on her neck and on her phone, but it did not match anyone in law enforcement DNA databases.

The hunt for Karina Vetrano's killer has been big news in New York ever since her body was discovered in August.

NYPD detectives want to use a new technique - looking for his relatives, using DNA, but are in danger of stirring up a hornet's nest of civil liberties concerns.

The technique, known as familial DNA searching, has made inroads in several states and in Britain and other European countries in the last decade.

New York state officials will meet today to discuss whether to introduce it, after a request from prosecutors as hopes of catching the killer with traditional methods start to fade.

Detectives chased 85 tips, interviewed runners, looked for clues in Vetrano's personal life and examined surveillance video and even panhandling reports.

Vetrano's family, desperate for justice, are pressing for the technique to be used.
______________________________________________

I understand the civil liberties and privacy concerns, but I'm all for the use of familial DNA to help solve crimes.

Cases where DNA was found on the victim or at the scene that doesn't match to any DNA in the criminal database have already been solved in states and countries that allow investigators to search data-banks for DNA of suspects' relatives.

[HairOfTheDog]

Cases solved with Familial DNA

Ten states, including California, Texas and Florida, conduct familial DNA testing.

Ohio announced this week that its first effort had yielded an arrest in the kidnapping and rape of a six-year-old girl and the attempted abduction of a 10-year-old girl.

British police have also been using it successfully for some time.

In May this year Christopher Hampton, 64, was jailed for life for the previously unsolved murder in 1984 of Melanie Road, 17, in Bath, England. Hampton was identified after his daughter's DNA appeared on the database when she was involved in a 'minor incident'.

Familial DNA's greatest success was in identifying Lonnie Franklin Jr as the 'Grim Sleeper', a serial killer whose crimes spanned from 1985 to 2007.

Franklin was convicted and sentenced to death in Los Angeles earlier this year after a search came up with his son, Christopher.

Full story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...scope.html

[HairOfTheDog]

SUSPECT ARRESTED IN KARINA VETRANO CASE



6 months after Karina was raped and murdered while jogging through Howard Park, and just days after her devoted parents held a press conference pushing for the NY court to allow a familial DNA search, NYPD announced last night that a suspect was arrested. Great news.

The suspect has not been named publicly yet. He is reportedly 20 years old and lives in a housing project near the park. According to police, he was questioned a while back for acting suspiciously. However, police had no cause to pursue him further. They questioned him again recently and he reportedly agreed to a DNA swab, after which his DNA was matched to genetic material found on Karina's body and her phone.

Story: http://nypost.com/2017/02/04/suspect-arr...of-jogger/
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NYPD will be holding a press conference with more details of the arrest in Karina's case sometime today.

[Duchess]

Wonderful to read! I hope this helps, even a little bit, all those that cared about her.

[HairOfTheDog]

Wonderful to read! I hope this helps, even a little bit, all those that cared about her.

I hope Karina's parents feel a lot of relief and some peace now too. They were so very dogged and public in their efforts to get justice for Karina.

The suspect was just named by police. He is a 20-year-old black man named Chanel Lewis.

Lewis lives very near the crime scene, has no violent criminal record, and no social media presence that I've found. I'll post a mugshot or photo when one becomes available.

I'm hoping for a break and arrest in the similar case of jogger Vanessa Marcotti soon. Fingers crossed.

[SIXFOOTERsez]

Wow, good news.

housing project huh?

[HairOfTheDog]

That's ^ the suspect in the rape and murder of Karina Vetrano. He is 20-year-old Chanel Lewis from Brooklyn, New York.

He has no previous convictions and his father says that Chanel does well in school and has never been in any trouble. Mr. Lewis does not believe his son did what he's accused of.

This afternoon it was revealed that.....in the 3 years previous to Karina's Aug. 2016 murder, police fielded three 911 calls reporting that Chanel was acting strangely or suspiciously on the bike path and at the area where Karina was attacked.

That type of data and connection should have been uncovered early in the investigation, in my opinion. NYPD says they just discovered that info while doing a 'deep dive' of the case. I know NYPD interviewed all sex offenders in the area, but they apparently did not look at all the complaint call logs. Shit happens.

Anyway, I'm glad Lewis is off the streets. He has reportedly confessed to details of the attack.

Story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...urder.html

[HairOfTheDog]

Suspect Arraigned



--'Now YOUR nightmare begins': Cathy Vetrano ^, mother of murdered Queens jogger, screams at 20-year-old Chanel Lewis who 'admitted' raping and strangling her daughter as they come face to face at his arraignment today, six months after her Karina's grisly death

--Mrs Vetrano was joined by her fire fighter husband Phil and other relatives

--Lewis was arrested on Saturday night for Karina Vetrano's August 2 murder; NYPD detectives matched his DNA to traces found under the jogger's fingernails, her back, and her phone

--Lewis lives at home with his mother, does not work and has no criminal record

--His father Richard says he is a 'humble kid' who could not have been so violent

--Lewis was staying with his father at time of murder and had gone to Spring Creek Park angry that there were so many people at the house, police sources said

--Lewis is facing one count of second degree murder and will return to court on February 21

Full story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...iller.html

[HairOfTheDog]

New Lead in Vanessa Marcotte Murder Case



Police say they've put together a DNA profile of the suspect. They are not revealing how they've done so, but have announced that they're looking for a Hispanic man around 30 years old, driving a dark SUV, and likely bearing scratches after the attack in August of last year.

The suspect raped and killed Vanessa while she was jogging, sometime between 1 and 4 pm on August 7^th.

Her naked body was found at around 8.20pm in woodlands near her mother's home. Her hands, feet and part of her head were burned. Anyone with information is asked to call 508-453-7589.

I hope this leads to a solid arrest, like what happened in Karina's case.

Story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...urder.html

[HairOfTheDog]

Updates

Karina Vetrano -- Yesterday, the attorney for the man accused of raping and killing Karina, 20-year-old Chanel Lewis (pictured in post 33), has withdrew his insanity plea after psychiatric evaluation. This was unexpected by prosecutors.

The defense attorney says the evaluation showed that Lewis has problems but they didn't meet the level of legal insanity -- so now the defense will focus on challenging the DNA evidence against Lewis.

Story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...fense.html

=====================================================

Vanessa Marcotte -- In July, 31-year-old Angelo Colon-Ortiz, pictured below, was arraigned for the murder of Vanessa Marcotte. He was arrested based on DNA recovered from Vanessa's hands (she reportedly fought hard for her life).



He had already been charged with aggravated assault and battery and assault with attempt to rape in Leominster District Court, but those charges were dismissed when he was indicted on the more serious murder charge. Colon-Ortiz was denied bail.

Story: http://boston.cbslocal.com/2017/07/26/ac...er-charge/

[Midwest Spy]

The news story ^ says Ortiz is quite nervous and frightened.

Are we supposed to feel sorry for him?

It’s unbelievable his attorney would even mention that, knowing what his client is accused of doing to that unfortunate young woman.

[BigMark]

Postal worker says Colon-Ortiz made her feel uneasy
A former Princeton post office worker says she remembers Colon-Ortiz, who made morning deliveries to the post office for at least several months. Glizelia Ribot recalls Colon-Ortiz making sexual comments about her to a friend in Spanish, surmising that he may not have known Spanish was her first language. She understood him clearly and said she found him "creepy."

[Duchess]

The news story ^ says Ortiz is quite nervous and frightened.

No fucks to give. I'm glad he is.

I'd like it a lot if all people who did things like that felt fear & vulnerability.

[HairOfTheDog]

Yeah, that jumped out at me too, MS. But, that's what Defense Attorneys do when there's no confession or guilty plea -- position their clients under a presumption of innocence.

If Colon-Ortiz is the guy, I don't think he deserves a bit of sympathy either. What he did to Vanessa was horrific.

Hoping the DNA evidence in both cases was properly collected, processed and tested so that if they go to trial there will be little to no doubt in the jurors' minds that LE has the right guys.