Complete coverage of Tankleff case

For Tankleff, celebration tempered by sad realities

Thanks to a Starbucks employee with unusually large frosting penmanship, Martin Tankleff celebrated his imminent freedom from prosecution Monday with a chocolate cake that proclaimed, "Congra Marty."

AG won't retry Tankleff -- or any other suspects

Marty Tankleff's court saga appears to have come to an end.

Legal experts: Cuomo correct on Tankleff decision

State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo correctly recommended that Martin Tankleff not be retried for his parents' murder, legal experts said Monday.

Tankleff supporters celebrate decision - mostly

Hushed gasps of elation resounded through Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Robert W. Doyle's Riverhead courtroom Monday as supporters of Martin Tankleff -- who have held their breath for nearly two decades waiting for his exoneration -- barely restrained their joy as a prosecutor moved to drop murder charges.

Tankleff tells '48 Hours' retrial scares him

Martin Tankleff said in his first national television interview that the prospect of being retried on murder charges is "scary" but promised to prove his innocence with the same zeal employed in his struggle to get out of prison.

Tankleff case gets appeals expert

The team of special prosecutors assembled by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to investigate the 1988 killings of Seymour and Arlene Tankleff includes one of the nation's top appellate attorneys.

Sources: Chief attorney to lead Tankleff probe

A top-tier attorney with experience both as a prosecutor and as a defense lawyer will lead a team of highly experienced attorneys and investigators for Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's probe into the Tankleff murders, sources familiar with the investigation said.

Tankleff not off the hook, yet

A former Belle Terre man who spent half his life in prison for slaying his parents before his release last month is pleased that a special prosecutor will launch a new probe of the 1988 killings, a relative said Sunday.

Experts: Cuomo on case, but charges to be dropped

When Gov. Eliot Spitzer Saturday tapped state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to take over Martin Tankleff's case, he not only elevated its profile but also responded to a call from both sides -- but for different reasons.

Cuomo taking Tankleff case has plenty of precedents

It happened upstate in the racially charged Tawana Brawley case, when civil rights advocates questioned the objectivity of the local district attorney to investigate rape charges.

Tankleff case renews debate on interrogation rules

By now, the story is well-known: 17-year-old Martin Tankleff, being questioned without being informed of his Miranda rights about the brutal deaths of his parents, was duped into confessing by a Suffolk homicide detective who falsely said that Tankleff's father had awakened and accused him.

'Sopranos' star one of Tankleff's supporters

Martin Tankleff racked up countless supporters in the 17-year fight to clear his name, but one of his most famous allies was "Sopranos" star James Gandolfini.

State probes DA's role in Tankleff case

The State Commission of Investigation is ratcheting up a probe into whether Suffolk County authorities, including District Attorney Thomas Spota, mishandled the Martin Tankleff case, the commission's chairman said Saturday.

Tankleff investigator: Case "biggest" he's done

The walls of Jay Salpeter's second-floor office in Great Neck hold images of his beloved Jets and Mets, as well as what he could regard the hard-earned trophies of his trade as a sleuth-for-hire.

Supporters cheer Tankleff's release on bail

Dozens of supporters of Martin Tankleff broke with court etiquette and erupted into applause when a Suffolk County Court judge ordered Tankleff released on $1-million bail.

Family welcomes Tankleff back to Long Island

Out of prison for the first time in 17 years, Martin Tankleff tasted freedom -- literally -- at a post-release soiree where loved ones caught up on old times and speculated about his future.

Chronology of Martin Tankleff case

SEPTEMBER 1988 Martin Tankleff, 17, is charged with murder after telling police he found his mother, Arlene, dead and his father, Seymour, bleeding profusely from a neck wound in their Belle Terre home. After being interrogated by police for hours, Tankleff confesses.

Neighbors agree with Tankleff ruling

Echoing a unanimous appellate court ruling, a half-dozen people approached Friday in Belle Terre and Port Jefferson said they too were convinced that Martin Tankleff, at the very least, deserved a new trial.

Martin Tankleff may be free on bail soon

Martin Tankleff's attorney said his client could go free as soon as three days after a bail hearing set for Suffolk County Court on Thursday -- a proceeding scheduled to take place before the same judge who last year refused to grant Tankleff a new trial.

Overturned conviction leaves a murder mystery

The attack on Seymour and Arlene Tankleff in the early morning hours of Sept. 7, 1988, was puzzling from the start.

Case retry will challenge prosecutors

Retrying Martin Tankleff nearly two decades after his parents were killed will mean new hurdles on both sides of the case -- but the toughest work lies ahead for the prosecution, legal experts said Friday.

After nearly 2 decades, Tankleff family awaits conclusion

For Ron Falbee of Westbury, a state appellate panel's decision to overturn cousin Martin Tankleff's conviction Friday came nearly two decades late, but he said he never lost faith that the system would correct what he saw as an injustice.

ISLANDWIDE

Tankleff's lawyers move ahead

Far more optimistic about their chances of success now outside of Suffolk courts, Martin Tankleff's lawyers have taken their first steps in appealing a judge's decision rejecting the former Belle Terre man's bid for a new trial on charges that he murdered his parents.

Belle Terre

Tankleff hearing ends

Nearly eight months after it began, the hearing to determine whether Martin Tankleff should get a new trial in the 1988 murder of his parents ended Friday with testimony from a prosecution investigator who gathered evidence to block Tankleff's bid.

Belle Terre

Experts debate move for special prosecutor in Tankleff case

If lawyers for Martin Tankleff succeed in their new effort to force the Suffolk district attorney off the case, the court would appoint a special prosecutor with power to grant witnesses immunity, agree to a new trial, or even decline to pursue a case against Tankleff if the judge rules such a trial is warranted.

Belle Terre

Surprise testimony in Tankleff hearing

Prodded both by his pastor and his conscience, a surprise witness yesterday testified that the reason he didn't think Martin Tankleff killed his own parents in 1988 was because he went along himself on an unsuccessful attempt to kill Tankleff's father a few months before the slayings.

Witness: Tankleff is innocent, but so am I

Joseph Creedon was half-watching the news several months ago when he saw a promotion for a broadcast that promised to reveal the killers of Arlene and Seymour Tankleff, the Belle Terre couple murdered in their home on Sept. 7, 1988.

TANKLEFF TRIAL

Witness won't talk

The star witness for the defense team seeking a new trial for Martin Tankleff declined to testify yesterday about the 1988 murders of Arlene and Seymour Tankleff, a major blow to Tankleff's latest attempt at freedom.

Star Tankleff case witness misses hearing

The star witness in a hearing to determine whether Martin Tankleff's double-murder conviction should be overturned did not testify as scheduled Friday, fueling courthouse speculation that the witness got cold feet or is ready to recant his claims.

TANKLEFF HEARING

Priest backs Harris' story

Glenn Harris told a Roman Catholic priest at an upstate prison the same story he has told in an affidavit, letters to an investigator and in interviews about the 1988 slayings in Belle Terre - that he unwittingly served as a driver for Arlene and Seymour Tankleff's killers.

TANKLEFF HEARING

Witness keeps quiet

The star witness for the defense team seeking a new trial for Martin Tankleff declined to testify yesterday about the 1988 murders of Arlene and Seymour Tankleff, a major blow to Tankleff's latest attempt at freedom.

EYES ON TANKLEFF CASE

Experts fascinated

The hearing to determine whether the conviction of Martin Tankleff for murdering his parents should stand or be overturned has riveted legal experts and newshounds.

Debate over witness' motivation

There are plenty of reasons to doubt Glenn Harris.

RIVERHEAD

Key phone call detailed at Tankleff hearing

As attorney Robert Gottlieb of Commack got ready to defend Martin Tankleff in 1990 on charges of murdering his parents, he got a phone call from a man who is now suspected in the murders, Gottlieb testified yesterday.

RIVERHEAD

Witness: Ex-con admitted role in Tankleff deaths

As Joseph Creedon smoked marijuana with friends one Easter in the early 1990s, he mentioned in passing that he had hidden in Arlene and Seymour Tankleff's bushes a few years before and bludgeoned the couple later that night, according to testimony by a woman who said she heard the statement.

RIVERHEAD

Ex-con denies role in Tankleff slayings

Joseph Creedon conceded yesterday that he's done a lot of bad things in his life.

RIVERHEAD

Tankleff's lawyers show possible new evidence

Martin Tankleff's quest to reverse his conviction for murdering his parents relies largely on the word of a man who said he was there.

RIVERHEAD

Hearing could free man convicted of killing parents

Transferred from an upstate prison to a Suffolk County jail cell recently, a man convicted of killing his parents nearly 16 years ago in one of Long Island's most notorious murders is awaiting the start of a hearing that could set him free.

Tankleff Appeal Allowed

Two months after an unusually divided appellate court decision that upheld the double-murder conviction of Martin Tankleff, one of the two dissenting justices has given the Belle Terre man permission to appeal to the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals.

Tankleff Conviction Upheld, 3-2

An appellate court upheld Martin Tankleff's convictions for the 1988 murders of his parents Monday, but in an unusual twist, two dissenting justices said they would have suppressed his confession, dismissed the indictment, and at the least, sent the case back for a new trial.

Tankleff Appeal: Murder Trial Unfair

Attorneys for Martin Tankleff, convicted of bludgeoning and slashing his parents to death in their Belle Terre home in 1988, have filed an appeal claiming that Tankleff did not receive a fair trial because of the judge's bias, an improper summation by the prosecutor and juror misconduct.

Maximum for Tankleff

Martin Tankleff, the Belle Terre teenager convicted of bludgeoning and slashing his parents to death, yesterday was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison after a judge rejected a motion to set aside the verdict based on allegations of juror misconduct.

Debating a Defense That Won't Rest

Nearly 700 miles from the Suffolk County courthouse, in his office at Notre Dame Law School, G. Robert Blakey has followed the Martin Tankleff murder case. Mostly, he doesn't like what's he heard.

Tankleff Is Convicted of Murder

A moment of joyful relief for Martin Tankleff and his family was shattered by the crushing blow of the word guilty yesterday as a Suffolk County Court jury delivered its verdict that the Belle Terre teenager brutally killed his parents.

Clashing Portraits In Tankleff Trial

The jurors in the Martin Tankleff murder trial yesterday were given the choice of finding that he killed his parents as a result of a teenage tantrum or that he was the victim of a botched investigation in which detectives overlooked a more likely suspect.

Paul Vitello: Defining Double Murder

Double murders are sometimes less emotionally complicated than murders committed one at a time.

Sister: Cops `Made' Tankleff Confess

Martin Tankleff's sister, Shari Rother, testified during a pretrial hearing yesterday that Tankleff told her police "made" him confess to the fatal assaults on his parents.

Detective: How I Tricked Tankleff

A Suffolk homicide detective testified yesterday that he tricked Martin Tankleff into confessing to the murder of his parents, causing the teenager to wonder aloud whether he was "possessed" or whether "another Martin Tankleff did this."

A Child of Suburban Wealth

He was given up at birth by a woman going through a divorce who already had one son and decided she couldn't keep a second.

Tankleff Stands to Inherit Millions

Martin Tankleff, the Belle Terre youth charged with murdering his parents in September, is to receive the major share of their estate, according to the terms of their wills filed in Suffolk Surrogate Court.

School Bars Tankleff; Knife Threat Alleged

Martin Tankleff, the Belle Terre youth charged with killing his parents last month, will not be rejoining his classmates at Port Jefferson High School [CORRECTION: Due to an editing error, the name of Earl L. Vandermeulen High School in Port Jefferson was incorrectly stated in yesterday's editions in a story about Martin Tankleff. (Pg. 2 NS 10/14/88)] because of allegations that he threatened a student last spring with a knife, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office said yesterday.

Seymour Tankleff Dies of Injuries

After lying in a coma for a month, Seymour Tankleff died at Stony Brook's University Hospital Thursday night, succumbing to injuries from a brutal attack in his Belle Terre home in which his son has been charged.

Cops: `Bagel King' Fled

The mysterious two-week disappearance of Suffolk County, L.I., "bagel king" Jerry Steuerman was described by law enforcement authorities yesterday as an anguished odyssey that took him to a succession of exclusive hotels, from Atlantic City to San Francisco to Big Sur.

Twist in Tankleff Case?

In what may be a bizarre twist in the case surrounding the bloody murder of a Belle Terre woman and the attempted murder of her husband, a bagel-shop business partner of the wounded man disappeared last week after receiving death threats, police said yesterday.

Deadly Temper Tantrum?

A Belle Terre youth cut his parents' throats and bludgeoned them with a barbell because they had spoiled his summer and would not let him stay home alone when they took a planned cruise and vacation in Florida, prosecutors said yesterday.