JOGGER MURDERS: KARINA VETRANO & VANESSA MARCOTTE

[HairOfTheDog]

Trial Underway -- Karina Vetrano Murder


Yesterday the court was shown the tape of defendant Lewis's confession to police.

He told investigators that he was seeing red because some guy moved into his neighborhood.

He was in the marsh-swamp area near his home and grabbed Karina as she was jogging past him.

He said she clawed at his face as he beat her five times, knocking her unconscious.

'She didn't yell,' the accused killer said in the video, with not even a flicker of emotion on his cold face.

'She was finished. I finished her off, I strangled her. She fell into the puddle and drowned. I got up and wiped off the blood. And she was calm, she was in the pool of water.'

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[HairOfTheDog]

Shockingly, as he finished telling cops how he ended her life, he asked if there was a 'restitution program.' He seemed to think he could pay his way out of murder charges.

'I can straighten out my stuff?' he asked the prosecutor. 'Well you're the DA right? Where do we go from here? Is there a restitution program or something?'

In the tape he also insisted he didn't molest her - as was suggested by cops, who found her with her jogging shorts around her ankles. 'I didn't do any of the stuff they said, sexual assault and stuff like that,' he said in the tape.

Karina's parents were very emotional and angry and lashed out about Lewis' parents leaving the courtroom when the confession was being played. They called them cowards like their son (Lewis' parents had previously told reporters there's no way he did it).

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

[HairOfTheDog]

Karina Vetrano Murder Trial -- Hung Jury



It surprised me that after a day and a half of deliberation the jury proclaimed that they could not agree on a verdict.  The judge declared a mistrial.

The prosecutors had recovered defendant Chanel Lewis's DNA from under Karina's fingernails and had a taped confession from the man they said was an angry loner without a job or a girlfriend.

The defense attorney challenged DNA technology/evidence and claimed his client was only repeating information he'd heard on the news.

Understandably, Karina's parents are shocked and saddened.  No doubt, prosecutors will re-try Lewis.

Story:  https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2018/11/20/...883614.jpg

[Duchess]

Nooooooo! How can that be!

I feel badly for her parents, particularly her father who found her body. They've been through so much  :(

[HairOfTheDog]

Nooooooo! How can that be!

I feel badly for her parents, particularly her father who found her body. They've been through so much  :(

It's very strange that the judge declared a mistrial so quickly.  Normally, the judge would order the jury to keep deliberating after only 13 hours.

One of the jurors was interviewed and said several jurors wanted to keep deliberating and didn't understand why the jury foreperson sent the judge a note saying they were deadlocked so quickly and why the judge halted deliberations so easily.

Attorneys have also expressed surprise by the judge's actions.

There's speculation that Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Aloise was in a hurry to start his Thanksgiving weekend, so he rushed to a mistrial.  I hope that's not true; that's not justice nor is it remotely professional.

https://nypost.com/2018/11/21/jurors-on-...eliberate/
https://nypost.com/2018/11/22/why-did-ju...ano-trial/

[HairOfTheDog]

Karina Vetrano Murder Defendant Found Guilty at Retrial

Yesterday, a  jury convicted Chanel Lewis, 22, for the murder and sexual assault of the 30-year-old jogger.  
 
Vetrano's body was found dumped near her family's home in Howard Beach soon after she vanished while out jogging. 

The jury delivered the verdict just hours after they began deliberating on Monday following the closing arguments.



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[HairOfTheDog]

The Defense claims that Lewis was set up by police who had originally been searching for a pair of jacked-up white guys and presented an anonymous letter detailing that claim.  The Defense also claimed that police used a 'racially biased' dragnet to obtain DNA in the case.  They will appeal the jury's verdict.

The New York Police Department said in a statement that the anonymous letter was 'riddled with falsehoods and inaccuracies,' the investigation was painstaking and 'the evidence clearly shows that Chanel Lewis is responsible for her death.'

The closely watched murder case initially baffled investigators, who for months were unable to find anyone who matched DNA that was found under the victim's fingernails from when she fought back.

Lewis was arrested six months into the murder investigation after police said he provided a DNA swab that linked him to the scene and victim.

Despite that DNA evidence and a taped confession, the first trial ended in a hung jury in November.


Full story:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...trano.html