Human remains belonging to two victims were discovered near a Babylon park&nbsp;in late February. Four people were charged with concealing a human corpse and tampering with evidence shortly after the discovery. Keep up with the latest on this case.

Long Island

Crime

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Grant Parpan

An Amityville couple admitted Tuesday to killing and dismembering two housemates in a case that shocked the community after teenagers discovered a body part near&nbsp;a Babylon park&nbsp;and&nbsp;officials found more&nbsp;remains&nbsp;scattered across Long Island last year. 
Jeffrey Mackey, 40, will be sentenced to 22 years in state prison for second-degree murder under a plea agreement that considered his eligibility for a sentence reduction as a victim of domestic violence at the hands of the victims, officials said. 
Mackey’s girlfriend, Alexis Nieves, 35, will serve 11 years behind bars for manslaughter under a separate agreement detailed before Suffolk Supreme Court Justice John Collins in Riverhead. 
Mackey admitted stabbing Malcom Craig Brown, 53, in the neck inside the&nbsp;Railroad Avenue home they shared shortly after noon on Feb. 27, 2024. He then turned to Brown's wife, Donna Conneely, 59, and stabbed her, he admitted. Nieves then smashed Conneely in the head with a meat tenderizer as Mackey choked her, causing her death, the couple&nbsp;admitted. 
The couple had been facing the possibility of serving life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder at trial. 
"The history and background of this case is far more detailed and complicated than what was initially reported at the time of Mr. Mackey's arrest," defense attorney Anthony La Pinta, of Hauppauge, said in a statement following the plea hearing. "Unfortunately, Mr. Brown and Ms. Conneely engaged in extensive and profound&nbsp;abuse of Mr. Mackey that had a direct bearing on the facts leading to their deaths. He was a classic victim of household abuse." 
The Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act is a 2019 sentencing mitigation statute that gives judges the discretion to issue lower sentences to survivors of domestic violence who can establish that their abuse was a significant contributing factor to their offense, according to the New York State Office of Indigent Legal Services. 
La Pinta and co-counsel Mark Cohen&nbsp;submitted a forensic psychiatric exam that outlined abuse Mackey had suffered, prosecutors and the judge said at Tuesday’s proceeding. That 28-page report has been sealed, said Collins, who along with La Pinta made a brief statement for the record regarding the findings. 
"My understanding of that report and these negotiations is that it is corroborated that [Mackey was] a victim of Mr. Brown’s domestic violence and abuse while living under the same roof ... and Ms. Conneely contributed to that," Collins stated. 
Mackey will serve a reduced sentence of 11 years in prison for each killing as a result of those circumstances, Assistant District Attorney Timothy Gough said in court. 
Nieves waived her right to make a DVSJA claim while entering her guilty plea. Her attorney, Christopher Gioe, of Hauppauge, said they are "satisfied with the resolution of the case." 
"The events surrounding this case are unfortunate and indeed tragic," Gioe said in a statement. "Ms. Nieves has admitted her complicity and accepted responsibility for her actions. After a thorough and comprehensive investigation by all parties involved, the plea agreement we negotiated accurately reflects the facts and possible defenses that my client had raised." 
La Pinta credited the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office with "investigating and considering" the defense arguments. 
"The plea today was reasonable and fair in light of the compelling facts and circumstances," the attorney said. He added that Mackey, who could be released from prison in 17 years, has been given a "chance at redemption." 
The remains of Brown and Conneely were discovered over the course of a week in late February and early March scattered in Southards Pond Park in Babylon, wooded areas in West Babylon and at Bethpage State Park, police have said. The first discovery was made by a group of high school students walking to class when they happened upon what turned out to be the severed arms of Brown. 
A third couple who lived in the Amityville home, Steven Brown, 46, and Amanda Wallace, 42, both pleaded guilty last September to felony charges related to the disposal of the remains and a robbery that occurred a week earlier. The Browns are cousins, family members previously told Newsday. <a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="Steven Brown.
" data-attr-credit=" " data-attr-f="3x2" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/77578921-5e68-402c-85e6-317b8c6529dc" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/77578921-5e68-402c-85e6-317b8c6529dc', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/77578921-5e68-402c-85e6-317b8c6529dc"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/77578921-5e68-402c-85e6-317b8c6529dc/liBODIES251119_1a.jpg?f=3x2&amp;w=400&amp;q=0.3">Steven Brown. </a> 
The four housemates admitted the dismemberment and scattering of body parts was an effort to prevent law enforcement from investigating the deaths, which occurred one week after Steven Brown and Wallace assisted Mackey in a knifepoint robbery of an attendant at a Valero gas station in Copiague. Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Dena Rizopoulos previously said the robbery was "very much intertwined" with the killings. 
As part of his own plea agreement last year, Brown said he was a "lookout" for Mackey at Valero and will serve an agreed-upon 5 years behind bars for first-degree robbery when he is sentenced. Wallace is expected to serve 2 years in jail, her attorney previously said. <a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="Amanda Wallace.
" data-attr-credit="" data-attr-f="3x2" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/6a38c2ed-00be-4ff1-b092-dbe1cbfede21" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/6a38c2ed-00be-4ff1-b092-dbe1cbfede21', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/6a38c2ed-00be-4ff1-b092-dbe1cbfede21"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/6a38c2ed-00be-4ff1-b092-dbe1cbfede21/liBODIES251119_2a.jpg?f=3x2&amp;w=400&amp;q=0.3">Amanda Wallace. </a> 
As the body parts were found, there was some fear in the community the deaths were tied to a reoccurrence of MS-13 gang violence. Instead, authorities said the victims and the four people charged in the case all knew each other and had been staying together in the Amityville home. 
Prosecutors previously alleged Mackey used the same knife in the killings that he allegedly used during the gas station robbery. Prosecutors have said investigators found evidence linking the four defendants to the crimes, including video surveillance, meat cleavers, butcher knives as well as large amounts of blood and the victims' body parts. 
All four defendants will be sentenced Jan. 13. 
Newsday's Nicole Fuller contributed to this story.

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Babylon body parts case: Alexis Nieves, Jeffrey Mackey, of Amityville, plead guilty in double homicide

LI couple pleads guilty to double homicide in Babylon body parts case

AIAudio - Babylon body parts case: Alexis Nieves, Jeffrey Mackey, of Amityville, plead guilty in double homicide 


AIAudio - Babylon body parts case: Alexis Nieves, Jeffrey Mackey, of Amityville, plead guilty in double homicide

Jeffrey Mackey, 40, will be sentenced to 22 years in state prison for second-degree murder.&nbsp;His girlfriend, Alexis Nieves, 35, will serve 11 years for manslaughter. NewsdayTV&#39;s Ken Buffa reports.

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LI couple pleads guilty to killing, dismembering two people

Babylon

Amityville

Bethpage

long island

Nassau

Suffolk

Newsday

22 years for Mackey, 11 years for Nieves

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Nicole Fuller

A year after high schoolers discovered a severed arm near a Babylon park, authorities charged four people in connection with the deaths and dismemberment of two victims, whose body parts were found scattered in wooded areas across Long Island. 
Malcolm Craig Brown, 53, and Donna R. Conneely, 59, both of Yonkers, were fatally stabbed on Feb. 27, 2024, inside an Amityville home where they were staying with their alleged killers. Their bodies were dismembered and then dumped at Southards Pond Park in Babylon, Bethpage State Park and a wooded area in West Babylon, authorities have said. 
Police and prosecutors have not publicly offered a motive for the slayings, other than to say a robbery of a Valero gas station in Copiague a week before their deaths was &quot;very much intertwined&quot; with the killings. 
In the year since, Suffolk prosecutors have charged housemates Jeffrey Mackey, 38, and Alexis Nieves, 33, with multiple charges, including second-degree murder and conspiracy in the killings. Their two co-defendants, Steven Brown, the cousin of Malcolm Brown, and Amanda Wallace, have pleaded guilty to charges including concealment of a corpse. 
<h2>Fears after body parts are found</h2> 
The body parts were found in late February and early March last year, leading to fear in the community the deaths were tied to a reoccurrence of MS-13 gang violence. Instead, authorities said the victims and the four people charged in the case all knew each other and had been staying together in a home in Amityville. 
&quot;Notwithstanding the grizzly details of the murders, we were not going to jump to conclusions,&quot; Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said in a recent interview. &quot;We're going to take our time and do our due diligence. That diligence has resulted in the charges in this case.&quot; 
Prosecutors have alleged that Mackey used the same knife in the killings that he allegedly used during the gas station robbery. 
A law enforcement official with deep knowledge of the case told Newsday that it appeared Malcolm Brown and Conneely were killed due to a financial dispute. 
&quot;It was an argument mostly over money, I'd say,&quot; said the law enforcement official who was not authorized to talk publicly about the details of case. 
Tierney declined to discuss the potential motive, but has noted that the victims and defendants were involved in alleged illegal activity together, including the robbery and potential drug crimes. Brown and Conneely allegedly participated in the robbery planning and the four defendants all played roles, Tierney has said. 
&quot;I think it's just part and parcel that the relationship that these people had, that they were going out and participating in this conduct, all of which created friction,&quot; Tierney said. 
<h2>Case evidence</h2> 
During court appearances and in documents, prosecutors have said that investigators found evidence linking the four defendants to the crimes consisting of video surveillance, meat cleavers, butcher knives as well as large amounts of blood and the victims' body parts. 
Prosecutors have said Mackey stabbed Brown multiple times in the neck and torso before turning to Brown's wife, Conneely, and stabbing her repeatedly in the neck and back. 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="The suspects in the case, from left: Amanda Wallace, Steven Brown, Alexis Nieves and Jeffrey Mackey." data-attr-credit="Newsday" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/c3833aaa-30b3-477c-9997-74c3bf1b3ec1" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/c3833aaa-30b3-477c-9997-74c3bf1b3ec1', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/c3833aaa-30b3-477c-9997-74c3bf1b3ec1"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/c3833aaa-30b3-477c-9997-74c3bf1b3ec1/6T5A551679553.jpg?w=400&amp;q=0.3" />The suspects in the case, from left: Amanda Wallace, Steven Brown, Alexis Nieves and Jeffrey Mackey.</a> 
Nieves then allegedly smashed Conneely's head multiple times with a meat tenderizer and stabbed her as Mackey strangled her, prosecutors have said. 
Mackey and Nieves, who were in a romantic relationship at the time of the killings, both pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and conspiracy. 
They could potentially go on trial sometime this year. 
Their defense attorneys did not respond to requests for comment. 
Malcolm Brown's sister, who had expressed shock at her cousin having allegedly been involved in her brother's demise, did not respond to messages seeking comment. 
Steven Brown, 45, admitted conspiring in the deaths of his cousin and cousin's wife before helping to cut up their bodies and scatter the remains. 
Brown, while under oath, admitted participating in a plan with Mackey and Nieves with the intent of killing the couple and hiding their deaths. 
Brown did not say who committed the killings. Prosecutors have said he helped plan the killings with Mackey and Nieves. 
Brown pleaded guilty in September to six felony charges, including conspiracy, two counts of concealment of a human corpse and hindering a prosecution in connection with the deaths of Malcolm Brown, his cousin and Conneely. 
Wallace, 41, also pleaded guilty in September as part of a plea deal to five felony charges, including two counts of concealment of a human corpse and hindering a prosecution. 
Wallace also pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery, for her role as the getaway driver during the knifepoint robbery at a Valero gas station in Copiague, which happened before the killings. 
<h2>Details of the killings during guilty pleas</h2> 
Wallace, speaking under oath during her guilty plea, said housemates Mackey and Nieves killed Conneely after Mackey fatally stabbed Malcolm Brown on the morning of Feb. 27, 2024, inside the Railroad Avenue house where they all had been staying. 
Wallace said she helped in the cleanup of the crime scene and disposal of the body parts over the next two days. 
The plea agreement will require Wallace to serve concurrent jail terms of between 1 and 3 years for the concealment of a human corpse charges, hindering prosecution and tampering with physical evidence. She will be sentenced to 2 years on the robbery charge. 
Her defense attorney said previously that Wallace will likely serve 2 years behind bars under the agreement. 
Steven Brown and Wallace are scheduled to be sentenced for their roles in the case in April.

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Babylon body parts: A year later, 4 charged, no clear motive emerges as case moves through the courts

4 charged, no clear motive a year after body parts found in LI communities

An Amityville woman admitted&nbsp;Tuesday&nbsp;she&nbsp;helped&nbsp;two housemates cover up a pair of killings by scattering the victims'&nbsp;remains, including in a&nbsp;popular Babylon park where&nbsp;a group of high school students found two human arms in February. 
Amanda Wallace, 41, pleaded guilty to five felony charges, including two counts of concealment of a human corpse and hindering a prosecution in connection with the deaths of Malcolm Craig Brown and Donna Conneely of Yonkers. 
While under oath before Suffolk Supreme Court Justice John Collins in Riverhead, Wallace said housemates Jeffrey Mackey, 38, and Alexis Nieves, 33, killed Conneely after Mackey fatally stabbed Brown on the morning of Feb. 27 inside the Railroad Avenue house where they all had been staying. Wallace told the court she assisted in cleaning up the&nbsp;scene and disposing of the body parts over the next two days. 
Defense attorney Keith O’Halloran, of Islandia, said Wallace entered the guilty plea in an effort to better herself following her actions&nbsp;after the alleged homicides. 
&quot;From the time of her arrest, Ms. Wallace maintained that she was not complicit in the murder,&quot; O’Halloran said. &quot;The DA’s investigation and indictment confirmed that. Today, she took responsibility for the actions she did take part in. She has expressed remorse and looks forward to utilizing whatever programs the jail may offer to better herself while she serves her sentence.&quot; 
Wallace admitted the cover-up was an effort to prevent law enforcement from investigating and bringing murder charges against her housemates. She also pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery, a reduced charge related to a Feb. 20 knifepoint robbery at a Valero gas station in Copiague, which preceded the killings. 
The plea agreement will require Wallace to serve concurrent jail terms of between 1 and 3 years for the concealment of a human corpse charges, hindering prosecution and tampering with physical evidence. She will be sentenced to 2 years on the robbery charge. O’Halloran said Wallace will likely serve 2 years behind bars under the agreement. 
Wallace said she was the getaway driver in the robbery, in which Mackey entered the gas station and &quot;forcibly stole property&quot; from an attendant. Prosecutors previously said Mackey and Nieves used the knife from the robbery in the killings a week later. 
Mackey is accused of stabbing Brown multiple times in the neck and torso before turning to Brown's wife, Conneely, and stabbing her repeatedly in the neck and back, Assistant&nbsp;District Attorney Frank Schroeder has previously said. Nieves then allegedly smashed Conneely multiple times in the head with a meat tenderizer and stabbed her as Mackey strangled her, according to Schroeder. 
Mackey and Nieves, who were in a relationship at the time of the&nbsp;killings, both pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and conspiracy at their arraignments in April. They are due back in court Wednesday. 
Prosecutors have said the couple, each of whom faces life in prison, planned the alleged homicides&nbsp;with Steven Brown, 44, a cousin of Malcolm Brown and the boyfriend of Wallace. Steven Brown has also pleaded not guilty in the case, in which he is charged with conspiracy,&nbsp;first-degree robbery, concealment of a human corpse, hindering a prosecution and tampering with physical evidence. He is scheduled to&nbsp;return to court Thursday. 
The remains of Brown and Conneely were discovered over the course of a week in late February and early March&nbsp;scattered in Southards Pond Park in Babylon, wooded areas in West Babylon and at Bethpage State Park, police have said.

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Amanda Wallace of Amityville pleads guilty to role in Babylon body parts case

Woman pleads guilty in Babylon body parts case

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An Amityville man conspired with two housemates accused of killing his cousin and wife to mutilate and scatter the victims' body parts across Long Island in February and&nbsp;early March, a Suffolk prosecutor said at the man's arraignment Tuesday. 
Steven Brown, 44, a cousin of Malcolm Brown, 53, who was killed on Feb. 27 along with Donna Conneely, 59, pleaded not guilty to upgraded charges that include second-degree conspiracy and first-degree robbery in&nbsp;State Supreme Court Justice John Collins' courtroom&nbsp;in Riverhead. 
Steven Brown's girlfriend,&nbsp;Amanda Wallace, 40, pleaded not guilty to first-degree robbery for assisting in a&nbsp;robbery prosecutors say is&nbsp;connected to the killings. 
Steven Brown and Wallace&nbsp;had been accused of helping the alleged killers, Jeffrey Mackey, 39, and Alexis Nieves, 33, scatter the victims'&nbsp;body parts in Suffolk and Nassau counties. 
Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Dena Rizopoulos said the killings were related to a conflict over an armed gas station robbery that Steven Brown and Wallace are alleged to have committed with Mackey on Feb. 20. Prosecutors said&nbsp;Malcolm Brown and Conneely helped plan the robbery before they were killed. 
“The robbery is intrinsically intertwined with the murders,” Rizopoulos told Collins on Tuesday. 
The prosecutor, who is trying the case against all four defendants with fellow Assistant District Attorney Frank Schroeder, did not elaborate in court on why the six individuals, who all lived together in the Amityville house where the slayings took place, had a falling out after&nbsp;the robbery. Schroeder said Monday that the alleged dispute may have provided a motive for the killings. 
Attorneys Ira Weissman, who represents Brown, and Keith O'Halloran, representing Wallace, said prosecutors have not yet presented evidence connecting their clients to the crimes they are accused of, which include&nbsp;hindering prosecution and concealment of a human corpse. 
“Steven Brown did not kill anybody,” said Weissman, of Central Islip. “And that's been borne out in the indictment, because he's not charged with murder. He's charged with some other crimes that I await to see discovery on.” 
Collins remanded Brown, who faces up to 25 years in prison on each of the top charges, to the county jail in Riverhead after&nbsp;his arraignment. Bail was set at $750,000 cash or $7.5 million bond for Wallace, who faces a maximum of 25 years behind bars for the robbery charge. Wallace has been in jail since being arrested on unrelated shoplifting charges days after they were released. 
Mackey and Nieves both pleaded not guilty to top charges of second-degree murder and conspiracy at their arraignments Monday, when prosecutors unveiled a grand jury indictment against them.&nbsp;Mackey was additionally charged in the robbery.&nbsp; 
Schroeder said that on the morning of Feb. 27, Mackey stabbed Malcolm Brown multiple times in the neck and torso, killing him inside the Amityville home&nbsp;before turning to Malcolm Brown's wife, Conneely, and stabbing her repeatedly in the neck and back. Nieves then smashed Conneely multiple times in the head with a meat tenderizer and stabbed her as Mackey strangled her, Schroeder said. 
Prosecutors said the knife Mackey used in the Railroad Avenue attack was the same one he used in a Feb. 20 robbery at a Valero gas station in Copiague. 
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, speaking at a news conference Monday, declined to say why investigators believe the four defendants chose to scatter the remains of the deceased before the body parts were first detected Feb. 29 by a group of high school students walking near&nbsp;a park in Babylon. 
“I don't think there was a whole lot of thought behind this dismembering … From a law enforcement standpoint, I don't think it was a very prudent plan or a smart plan,”&nbsp;Tierney said. “But it was a plan that they undertook. And, you know, fortunately, they did, because it certainly allowed us to figure out what was going on a lot quicker.”

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Babylon body parts case: Steven Brown, Amanda Wallace plead not guilty to new charges

2 defendants in LI body parts case plead not guilty to upgraded charges

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Prosecutors said a&nbsp;gas station robbery is intrinsically intertwined with the killings. NewsdayTV&#39;s&nbsp;Shari Einhorn reports.

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Prosecutors: Robbery connected to Babylon body case

new york

'I don't think there was a whole lot of thought behind this dismembering'

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An Amityville man repeatedly stabbed a Yonkers couple to death before his girlfriend beat one of them with a meat tenderizer and they chopped up their bodies and scattered the remains following a dispute over an armed robbery, a Suffolk prosecutor said at their arraignment on murder and conspiracy charges Monday. 
Jeffrey Mackey, 39, and Alexis Nieves, 33, both pleaded not guilty at their arraignments before State Supreme Court Justice John Collins in Riverhead. They face the possibility of life in prison if convicted of the top charges in the gruesome case that caused a media frenzy when the remains of their two&nbsp;victims were found scattered around parts of Babylon and Bethpage in February and March. 
“While the case involves the cutting up of bodies of two human beings, the barbarity of those acts were only exceeded by the brutality of the murders themselves,” Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Frank Schroeder said. 
The prosecutor said that on the morning of Feb. 27, Mackey stabbed Malcolm Brown, 53, multiple times in the neck and torso,&nbsp;killing him inside the&nbsp;Amityville home where they all had been living&nbsp;before turning to Brown's wife, Donna Conneely, 59, and stabbing her repeatedly in the neck and back. Nieves then smashed Conneely multiple times in the head with a meat tenderizer&nbsp;and stabbed&nbsp;her as Mackey&nbsp;strangled her, Schroeder said. 
Prosecutors said the knife Mackey used in the Railroad Avenue&nbsp;attack was the same knife he used in a Feb. 20 robbery at a Valero gas station in Copiague. Schroeder said the robbery serves as a possible motive for the killings. Mackey is also charged with first-degree robbery. 
“The robbery is very much intertwined with the murder,” Schroeder told Collins. 
Schroeder said statements from eyewitnesses aided investigators in securing the indictment on upgraded charges against the couple. Two other suspects, Steven Brown, 44, a cousin of Malcolm Brown, and Amanda Wallace, 40, have&nbsp;not been charged in the killings, though a district attorney's office news release indicated Steven Brown helped plan the killings&nbsp;and the indictment shows he will be arraigned on a conspiracy charge Tuesday that Nieves and Mackey were charged with Monday. 
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said Malcolm Brown and Conneely had participated&nbsp;in the planning of the Feb. 20 knifepoint robbery of the Valero gas station, which each&nbsp;of&nbsp;the four suspects in their killings&nbsp;and dismemberment&nbsp;played a role in. He declined to discuss how that robbery fit into the motive. 
“There was a lot of illegal conduct occurring between the victims and the defendants, which in part was the impetus for the murders, presumably,” Tierney said. “But we don't have to prove motive, so I'm not gonna talk about it.” 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="An Amityville man stabbed a Yonkers couple to death before his girlfriend beat one of them with a meat tenderizer at 25 Railroad Rd. in Amityville, Suffolk prosecutors said Monday." data-attr-credit="Newsday" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/1017ba52-ce1f-4129-ae13-d56905d328ee" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/1017ba52-ce1f-4129-ae13-d56905d328ee', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/1017ba52-ce1f-4129-ae13-d56905d328ee"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/1017ba52-ce1f-4129-ae13-d56905d328ee/Screenshot_2024-04-29_at_.jpg?w=400&amp;q=0.3" />An Amityville man stabbed a Yonkers couple to death before his girlfriend beat one of them with a meat tenderizer at 25 Railroad Rd. in Amityville, Suffolk prosecutors said Monday.</a> 
Malcolm Brown and Conneely's body parts were scattered almost immediately after their deaths, with the first of the remains discovered two days later, Tierney said. All of the remains have been recovered, the district attorney added. 
The judge set bail for Nieves at $1 million cash or $10 million bond. Mackey was remanded to the county jail without bail. Both suspects are due back in court June 3. 
John Halverson, Mackey's assigned defense counsel, said he believes investigators have charged the wrong couple in the killings. 
“The prosecution's witnesses … likely have unclean hands,” the Patchogue attorney said. “That's going to be our position.” 
Halverson said he had not heard his client was accused in a robbery before&nbsp;the unsealing of the indictment. 
Defense attorney Christopher Gioe, assigned to represent Nieves, said his client maintains her innocence. 
“Alexis has claimed she is not guilty. She has denied these charges and she remained in the jurisdiction,” the Hauppauge attorney said. 
Nieves, who is homeless but had been living in the Amityville home,&nbsp;is not expected to post bail, Gioe said. 
The defense attorneys and prosecutors mostly declined to speak to how all four&nbsp;suspects, who were first arrested March 4, are connected to each other, though it is known they had been living in the Amityville house together. Tierney said they also were&nbsp;involved in some illegal activity together, including the charged robbery and possible drug-related crimes. 
The conspiracy indictment charging all four suspects, which was handed down by a Suffolk County grand jury Friday, includes 10 counts in all. Mackey is charged in both slayings&nbsp;and Nieves is accused of killing Conneely. Wallace and Brown are also facing first-degree robbery charges for their involvement in the gas station robbery, court records show. 
All four defendants already had pleaded not guilty in March to felony counts of first-degree hindering prosecution, concealment of a human corpse and tampering with physical evidence by concealing or destroying. They were released without bail, since they were not charged with any bail eligible offenses at the time.&nbsp;They continue to face charges for hindering prosecution and concealment of a human corpse. 
Wallace has been in jail since being arrested for shoplifting days after they were released. 
Suffolk prosecutors have alleged that between Feb. 27 at 10:53 a.m. and March 4 at 4:08 a.m., the four defendants removed from their shared Railroad Avenue home “sharp instruments, multiple body parts and other related items and dispose[d] of them to conceal the crime of murder in the second degree,” according to court records. 
The documents said the defendants “did conceal, alter and destroy human body parts” and the “dismembered body parts were removed” from the home and were “concealed at multiple known locations.” 
Schroeder said at the defendants’ initial arraignments that authorities had significant evidence against the four defendants, including human remains, meat cleavers, butcher knives, significant amounts of blood and video surveillance. 
A group of high school students on their way to school in Babylon in February made the first gruesome discovery in the case, finding Malcolm Brown's heavily tattooed forearm in a tangle of branches on the edge of a popular park. 
One student called her father, who then called Suffolk County police, setting in motion a massive search, using police K-9 unit dogs, that ended&nbsp;with police finding the body parts of both victims.

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Babylon body parts suspects Jeffrey Mackey and Alexis Nieves fatally stabbed Malcolm Brown and wife Donna Conneely, prosecutors say

Suspects fatally stabbed couple before scattering dismembered remains, prosecutor says

Jeffrey Mackey and Alexis Nieves have been arrested on additional charges for their alleged roles in the murders, NewsdayTV&#39;s Shari Einhorn reports.

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New details in Babylon body parts case

New charges in body parts case

A group of high school students on their way to school in Babylon in February made a gruesome discovery: a man’s heavily tattooed forearm in a tangle of branches on the edge of a popular park. 
One student called her father, who then called Suffolk County police, setting in motion a massive search, using police K-9 unit dogs, that culminated with police finding the body parts of two victims, a man and woman in their 50s, in three locations. 
The reports that police had found human body parts,&nbsp;hacked with sharp objects&nbsp;and strewed about parks across Long Island, immediately raised speculation: Could it be MS-13, the notorious street gang&nbsp;authorities have said was responsible for a series of heinous hacking killings on Long Island? Was it an old-fashioned mob hit? A botched cover-up of a fatal drug overdose? Or something else&nbsp;altogether? 
Less than a week later, police arrested four people without any alleged gang or nexus — two couples who lived together in a ramshackle house on Railroad Avenue in Amityville — and charged them with concealing a dead body and destroying evidence. Prosecutors haven’t publicly offered any motive, and no one is facing charges in connection with the deaths. 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="From left to right, Amanda Wallace, Steven Brown, Alexis Nieves and Jeffrey Mackey appear at First District Court in Central Islip on March 6 for their arraignment.
" data-attr-credit="Newsday" data-attr-f="3x2" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/c4d57727-4cea-4bca-b3b1-1df7b3034d60" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/c4d57727-4cea-4bca-b3b1-1df7b3034d60', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/c4d57727-4cea-4bca-b3b1-1df7b3034d60"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/c4d57727-4cea-4bca-b3b1-1df7b3034d60/4comp41040.jpg?f=3x2&amp;w=400&amp;q=0.3" />From left to right, Amanda Wallace, Steven Brown, Alexis Nieves and Jeffrey Mackey appear at First District Court in Central Islip on March 6 for their arraignment. </a> 
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, when asked recently if his office was close to bringing any new charges in the case, would only say:&nbsp;“We’re still working through a lot of evidence and I’m thankful for the hard work of our prosecutors and the Suffolk County Homicide Bureau.” 
<h2>'An isolated incident'</h2> 
The Suffolk County Police Department has said the crimes were “an isolated incident” and there was no threat to the public. 
The four defendants — Steven Brown, 44, and his girlfriend, Amanda Wallace, 40;&nbsp;and Jeffrey Mackey, 38, and his girlfriend, Alexis Nieves, 33 — were charged with felony counts of first-degree hindering prosecution, concealment of a human corpse&nbsp;and tampering with physical evidence by concealing or destroying. 
They pleaded not guilty to the charges, and although a judge ordered them to wear electronic monitoring devices, they were released from police custody without bail. That set off a public outcry, and Tierney criticized the state’s 2019 bail reform law for preventing his prosecutors from seeking bail for the charged crimes. Gov. Kathy Hochul responded to Tierney’s comments by questioning why the defendants hadn’t been charged with any higher-level felony offenses that would have mandated bail, which experts said almost always occurs in similarly charged cases. 
Tierney scoffed at Hochul's attempt to question his prosecutorial acumen and said ethically he can only charge the crimes for which he has sufficient evidence. 
The case is complicated by the fact that there are four defendants, so investigators have to try to figure out if one or more — or any — of them are responsible for the deaths. Parsing through phone records, which requires investigators to get a court-ordered warrant, and other potential records&nbsp;takes time. 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="Police search for evidence at a home on Railroad Avenue in Amityville on March 5.
" data-attr-credit="" data-attr-f="3x2" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/fe2772ba-27af-41b6-8d3d-74d05d2fc6c2" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/fe2772ba-27af-41b6-8d3d-74d05d2fc6c2', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/fe2772ba-27af-41b6-8d3d-74d05d2fc6c2"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/fe2772ba-27af-41b6-8d3d-74d05d2fc6c2/1C0A433640137.jpg?f=3x2&amp;w=400&amp;q=0.3" />Police search for evidence at a home on Railroad Avenue in Amityville on March 5. </a> 
The defendants&nbsp;were ordered to wear GPS monitoring devices, report to probation weekly, surrender their passports and refrain from leaving Suffolk County. But their Railroad Avenue home has been deemed uninhabitable due to damage to the plumbing, toilet and sinks during the execution of a search warrant, prosecutors have said. 
<h2>Questions about defendants</h2> 
It’s unclear where the defendants are staying. While their defense attorneys have said they maintain their innocence, they’ve hesitated to answer Newsday’s questions, saying they haven’t received any discovery from the prosecution and therefore cannot speak to the facts of the case. The lawyers have either declined to detail their clients’ work life or said they didn’t know, but have confirmed that Wallace and Steven Brown and Nieves and Mackey are in relationships. 
The court-ordered ankle monitoring bracelet didn’t stop Wallace from getting into more legal trouble. She’s now being held without bail after she was arrested March 15, while wearing her electronic monitoring device, for allegedly stealing nail polish and fake eyelashes from a CVS in Lindenhurst. 
Police have identified the victims as 59-year-old Donna R. Conneely and Malcolm C. Brown, 53. They lived together in Yonkers. 
And in a twist that a law enforcement official confirmed to Newsday, the victim Malcolm Brown&nbsp;is a cousin of defendant Steven Brown. 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="Suffolk Police investigators search Southards Pond Park in Babylon on Mar. 1.
" data-attr-credit="" data-attr-f="3x2" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/15832212-33fd-4f64-8e88-852e2c1a199c" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/15832212-33fd-4f64-8e88-852e2c1a199c', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/15832212-33fd-4f64-8e88-852e2c1a199c"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/15832212-33fd-4f64-8e88-852e2c1a199c/LIBODY2403022338115.jpg?f=3x2&amp;w=400&amp;q=0.3" />Suffolk Police investigators search Southards Pond Park in Babylon on Mar. 1. </a> 
Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and adjunct professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, noted that dismembering bodies is not an easy task. He said whoever chopped up the bodies and dropped pieces off in various locations may have been trying to lead authorities to conclude it was an entity like MS-13 that was responsible. Or they might have just panicked, he said. 
“You spent all this time to chop up the bodies and to leave it out in plain view is definitely kind of amateurish,” Giacalone said. “I look at it as a staged event.” 
<h2>Family connections</h2> 
Malcolm Brown’s sister, Coreen Bullock, had shown up in court earlier this month as her cousin Steven Brown appeared before a judge, calling out, “Why did you do this?” 
She got no answer, she said, and in a recent interview said that she knows of no motive for her cousin to have harmed her brother. 
“No, absolutely not,” she said. “That’s why this is such a shock to my family. We were a close-knit family.” 
They had all grown up together, she said, and her brother and cousin were “running buddies,” though she lives out of state and had not seen her brother recently. 
Bullock, who lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, said her brother worked in a laundromat. She declined to say whether he has any children. Malcolm Brown and Conneely had been “together for a while,” she said. 
Bullock said her family hasn’t gotten any additional information from authorities. 
“They just told me everything is still under investigation,” she said. “I’m waiting patiently.” 
Both Browns, the victim and the defendant, have criminal records, according to New York State prison records. 
Steven Brown, then living on Rita Drive in Mount Sinai, pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and was sentenced to 560 hours of community service in connection with a 2001 incident. He then got 90 days in jail after pleading guilty to petty larceny in 2003. That same year, he was arrested by the NYPD and charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. He was sentenced to 21 hours of community service and a $500 fine. 
In 2007, while living in the Bronx, he was arrested by Suffolk police and charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four months in jail and a $500 fine. 
Victim Malcolm Brown was sentenced to 9 years in prison after his 1989 arrest on robbery charges in Westchester County. He pleaded guilty to attempted robbery in that case. More than a decade later, when he had a Pittsburgh address, he pleaded guilty to attempted murder in Westchester in connection with an incident in 2000. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison. 
<h2>A severed left arm</h2> 
Malcolm Brown’s arm was found first, on Feb. 29, at about 8:40 a.m., when a student who was walking to school discovered his severed left arm on the west side of Siegel Boulevard at the eastern end of Southards Pond Park, between Park Avenue and Mason Avenue, police said. She called her father, who came to the park and called 911, police said. 
A massive dayslong search, including of a nearby cemetery, ensued. A cadaver dog from the police department’s canine unit discovered a leg in a mound of leaves on the western side of the park near Graham Place, police said. The same dog continued searching the east side of the park and found a right arm about 20 feet away from where the left arm had been discovered. 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="Suffolk Police K-9 units search Southards Pond Park in Babylon on March 1.
" data-attr-credit="" data-attr-f="3x2" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/68d670d6-12b9-4df8-852e-e5af5833071a" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/68d670d6-12b9-4df8-852e-e5af5833071a', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/68d670d6-12b9-4df8-852e-e5af5833071a"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/68d670d6-12b9-4df8-852e-e5af5833071a/LIBODY2403023722238111.jpg?f=3x2&amp;w=400&amp;q=0.3" />Suffolk Police K-9 units search Southards Pond Park in Babylon on March 1. </a> 
More human remains were discovered March 5 in the woods across from a home on Lakeway Drive in West Babylon, about three miles from where the woman’s remains were found in Southards Pond Park. Some eight miles away, additional remains were found in Bethpage State Park and a wooded area in West Babylon, police said. 
Det. Lt. Kevin Beyrer, the commander of the homicide squad, said the remains of both victims did not appear to have been outside very long, perhaps just days or even hours, before they were discovered. 
Days later, neighbors saw police in heavy tactical gear enter an Amityville home with K-9 unit dogs. The four defendants were arrested. 
In charging documents filed in Suffolk County District Court earlier this month, prosecutors alleged that the defendants removed “sharp instruments, multiple body parts and other related items and dispose[d] of them to conceal the crime of murder in the second degree” between Feb. 27 at 10:53 a.m. and March 4 at 4:08 a.m. — the precise times indicating that authorities have surveillance video appearing to show the body parts being removed from their home. 
A law enforcement source told Newsday that authorities believe the victims' bodies were dismembered inside the home. 
<h2>An investigation nearing its end</h2> 
At their arraignments in a Central Islip courtroom, Assistant District Attorney Frank Schroeder of the Homicide Bureau&nbsp;detailed what he called the “significant evidence” that investigators have against the four defendants. In addition to the victims' body parts, Schroeder said authorities have video surveillance and weapons, including meat cleavers and butcher knives. Schroeder also said investigators found large amounts of blood. 
Nieves, who had been homeless but was staying with the other defendants at the Railroad Avenue home, went to “barbaric lengths” to cover up the crime, Schroeder said. Nieves, according to the prosecutors, has a pending criminal possession of controlled substance charge. 
But none of the four defendants currently charged in connection with the case is&nbsp;facing murder charges. One official said the conclusion of the investigation is in sight. 
“We're getting closer to the end,” the official said. 
With Michael O'Keeffe

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Babylon body parts case: A month into gruesome discovery, police look for answers

Discovery of body parts in LI parks last month has investigators looking for answers

As one of the Babylon body parts case defendants heads back to court on Monday, Newsday&#39;s Michael O&#39;Keeffe reports on where we&nbsp;are with this case.

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Police looking for answers in Babylon body parts case

Babylon body parts case: Where are we now?

Nicole Fuller and Michael O'Keeffe

Suffolk police on Friday&nbsp;identified the man whose body parts were found recently in parks and a wooded area on Long Island as Yonkers resident Malcolm Craig Brown, who according to family members, is the cousin of one of the four people charged in connection with the shocking crime. 
Brown, 53, whose last known address &nbsp;was in Yonkers, has been identified as the man whose body parts were located on Feb. 29 and March 5, the police said in a news release. 
Brown’s family said in a recent interview, after learning of his death and the discovery of his body parts, that Brown’s cousin&nbsp;Steven Brown is one of four people charged. 
Brown’s sister&nbsp;Coreen Bullock, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, said, “We just want justice for our brother … This is such a heinous crime, you know. Again, our mothers, our families, everybody is up in arms over this.” 
Malcolm Brown&nbsp;and Donna R. Conneely, 59, who lived together in Yonkers, were identified by authorities as the victims whose remains were found on Feb. 29 and March 5 in a park in Babylon, Bethpage State Park and a wooded area in West Babylon. 
No one has been charged in connection with the deaths. 
Charles Williams, Malcolm Brown's older brother, said he lives in California and had not seen his brother in about seven years. 
Bullock said her brother and their cousin were “running buddies.”&nbsp; 
Charged in connection with the crime is Steven Brown, 44, Jeffrey Mackey, 38, Amanda Wallace, 40, all of Amityville, and Alexis Nieves, 33, who police said is homeless but had been living with the trio. Mackey and Nieves are dating, said Mackey’s attorney, John Halverson. Wallace’s attorney, Keith O’Halloran, confirmed that his client and Steven Brown are in a relationship. 
All four defendants have pleaded not guilty to felony counts of first-degree hindering prosecution, concealment of a human corpse, and tampering with physical evidence by concealing or destroying. 
They were each released without bail, sparking an outcry from Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, who had blamed the state’s controversial bail reform for the four defendants’ release from police custody after they were arraigned. Gov. Kathy Hochul questioned why the district attorney’s office didn’t file higher-level felony charges &nbsp;that would have been bail-eligible. 
The defendants were ordered to wear electronic monitoring devices. Wallace was recently rearrested on a shoplifting case and was remanded to jail. 
Wallace was scheduled to appear Friday morning in Suffolk County District Court, but the hearing was adjourned until April 11. She was arrested on March 15 on a petit larceny charge, according to authorities. Police were called by an employee of a Lindenhurst CVS store at about 10:50 that night, and she was arrested a short time later, authorities said. 
Wallace admitted to a&nbsp;police officer that she stole items, according to&nbsp;misdemeanor information filed in Suffolk District Court. Wallace's attorney, O'Halloran, entered a not guilty plea on the petit larceny charge.&nbsp; 
Malcolm Brown’s &nbsp;relatives said they are upset that the defendants had been released without bail.&nbsp; 
Steven Brown has a criminal record dating back to 2001, according to New York State prison records. Then living on Rita Drive in Mount&nbsp;Sinai, he pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and was sentenced to 560 hours of community service. He then got 90 days in jail after pleading guilty to petty larceny in 2003. 
That same year, he was arrested by the NYPD and charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. He was sentenced to 21 hours of community service and a $500 fine. 
In 2007, while living in the Bronx, he was arrested by Suffolk police and charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four months in jail and a $500 fine. 
Malcolm Brown’s family members declined to provide details about his work or career, but public records show he had a criminal record, according to New York State prison records. He was sentenced to nine years in prison after his 1989 arrest on robbery charges in Westchester County. He pleaded guilty to attempted robbery in that case. More than a decade later, when he had a Pittsburgh address, he pleaded guilty to attempted murder in Westchester in connection with an incident in 2000. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison. 
Suffolk prosecutors allege that between Feb. 27 at 10:53 a.m. and March 4 at 4:08 a.m., the four defendants removed from their shared Railroad Avenue home in Amityville “sharp instruments, multiple body parts and other related items and dispose[d] of them to conceal the crime of murder in the second degree.” 
The documents said the defendants “did conceal, alter and destroy human body parts” and the “dismembered body parts were removed” from the home and were “concealed at multiple known locations.” 
Suffolk prosecutor Frank Schroeder said at the defendants’ arraignments that authorities have significant evidence against the four defendants, including human remains, meat cleavers, butcher knives, significant amounts of blood and video surveillance. 
“He was our baby brother,” Bullock said.

LIBODY240323

Babylon body parts case: Police ID male victim as Malcolm C. Brown 

2nd victim in Babylon body parts case ID'd

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Police have identified the man whose body parts were found recently in wooded areas on Long Island as Malcolm C.&nbsp;Brown, nearly two weeks after identifying the female victim.

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Babylon body parts case: Police ID 2nd victim

Babylon Town

Officially ID'd: 2nd victim in body parts case

Michael O'Keeffe

Two of four&nbsp;defendants charged with discarding body parts at various Long Island parks made brief appearances in Suffolk County District Court in Central Islip on Tuesday. 
Alexis Nieves, 33, appeared in court with her attorney, Christopher Gioe, of Hauppauge, before Judge James McDonaugh, who ordered Nieves to return to court April 9. Prosecutors have said Nieves is “not domiciled.” 
Jeffrey Mackey, 38, of Amityville, later appeared with his attorney, John Halverson, of Patchogue. McDonaugh ordered Mackey to return to court April 11. The couple held hands in the courtroom gallery while waiting for their appearances. 
Gioe declined to comment Tuesday, saying he did not wish to discuss the charges filed against Nieves while the case was under investigation by Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney’s office. 
Halverson said he has not received discovery from Tierney’s office yet, but added he has been discussing the case with prosecutors. Prosecutors have not raised the possibility of upgraded charges, Halverson said. 
Tierney’s office has charged Nieves, Mackey and their co-defendants — Amanda Wallace, 40, and Steven Brown, 44, both of Amityville — with concealing a human corpse, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution in the first degree, all felonies. The defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges. 
None of the charges are considered bail eligible, which means prosecutors cannot ask a judge to hold suspects on bail, under a state law that was overhauled in 2019 and amended twice. The suspects were arraigned and released, but required to wear GPS monitoring bracelets and barred from leaving Suffolk County. 
Tierney issued a statement blaming the state’s bail reform for the release of the suspects, saying it&nbsp;handcuffed prosecutors. But Halverson pushed back on that assertion Tuesday. 
“My client has shown up for every court date, he is on time, he is here,” Halverson said. “Bail is not to be a penalty. Bail is not just ‘put someone in jail.’ It’s to ensure their return to court. My client has complied, he’s on GPS, it is working.” 
Police have identified the female victim as 59-year-old Donna R. Conneely and the other victim as a 53-year-old man. 
Their body parts were found on Feb. 29 and March 5 in a park in Babylon, Bethpage State Park and a wooded area in West Babylon, police said. Conneely and the other victim, whose identity is pending confirmation by the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner, lived at the same address in Yonkers. 
Tuesday’s hearing follows a&nbsp;Monday appearance by Wallace, who was ordered held without bail by McDonaugh after she allegedly stole beauty products from a Lindenhurst CVS store while under court-ordered electronic monitoring. 
Wallace was arrested and charged with petit larceny&nbsp;after Suffolk police were called to the East Montauk Highway store at about 10:50 p.m. Friday, authorities said. 
Wallace admitted to a police officer that she stole items, according to a misdemeanor information filed in Suffolk District Court. Her attorney, Keith O’Halloran, of Westhampton Beach, entered a plea of not guilty on the petit larceny charge. 
McDonaugh ordered Wallace held without bail on the body parts case for not complying with the conditions of her release and set bail for the petit larceny charge at $5,000 cash, $10,000 surety bond or $50,000 partially secured bond. The judge ordered Wallace to return to court on the body parts charges Friday. 
Brown also appeared briefly Monday before McDonaugh, who ordered him to return to court April 1. 
No one has been charged in connection with the two deaths.

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Babylon body parts case: Two defendants make short appearance in court, ordered to return next month

Babylon body parts case: Defendants, facing felony charges, walk into court holding hands

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Alexis Nieves and Jeffrey Mackey, as well as&nbsp;co-defendants Amanda Wallace and Steven Brown, are all facing felony charges. NewsdayTV&#39;s&nbsp;Shari Einhorn reports.

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Babylon body parts case: Mackey, Nieves face felony charges

They walked into court holding hands

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Michael O'Keeffe and Nicole Fuller

One of four defendants released without bail on charges of discarding the body parts of two victims at various parks on Long Island has been arrested again — this time for allegedly stealing beauty products from a Lindenhurst CVS store while under court-ordered electronic monitoring, officials said. 
Amanda Wallace, 40, of Amityville, was arrested and charged with petit larceny on Friday, authorities said. Police were called by an employee of the store on East Montauk Highway at about 10:50 p.m. Friday and she was arrested a short time later, authorities said. 
Wallace admitted to a police officer that she stole items, according to a misdemeanor information filed in Suffolk District Court. 
“I did — eyelashes and nail polish,” Wallace told an officer, according to the court documents. “I forgot my money and really didn’t feel like walking back over.” 
Prosecutor Dena Rizopoulos, who asked that Wallace be held on a $10,000 cash bail on the petit larceny charge, told the judge Monday in Suffolk District Court in Central Islip: “She did it while wearing a GPS monitor, your honor.” 
Wallace’s attorney, Keith O’Halloran, entered a plea of not guilty on the petit larceny charge. 
Judge James McDonaugh ordered Wallace held without bail on the body parts case for not complying with the conditions of her earlier release and set bail for the petit larceny charge at&nbsp;$5,000 cash bail, $10,000 surety bond or $50,000 partially secured bond. 
The judge told Wallace: “At the bare minimum, you should be able to go nine days without being rearrested.” 
Wallace’s boyfriend and co-defendant in the body parts case, Steven Brown, 44, of Amityville, also appeared briefly in court on Monday. McDonaugh said Brown must continue to follow the release conditions set earlier this month, including GPS monitoring. He was ordered to return to court on April 1. 
Also charged are&nbsp;Jeffrey Mackey, 38, of Amityville, and Alexis Nieves, 33, who police say is homeless. Mackey and Nieves are also a couple, his attorney has said. They're due back in court Tuesday.&nbsp; 
All four defendants have pleaded not guilty to felony counts of first-degree hindering prosecution, concealment of a human corpse, and tampering with physical evidence by concealing or destroying. 
Police have identified the female victim as 59-year-old Donna R. Conneely and the other victim as a 53-year-old man. 
Their body parts were located on Feb. 29 and March 5 in a park in Babylon, Bethpage State Park and a wooded area in West Babylon, police said. Conneely and the other victim, whose identity is pending confirmation by the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner, lived at the same address in Yonkers. 
O’Halloran, speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, said of the charges against his client: “Again, we need to start a new investigation. We have no paperwork on the new cases, we have no discovery on the old case. We are still looking for the information that will tie her to either of these two cases. We are going to have to review whether or not the judge acted properly in remanding her without bail.” 
All four defendants had been released without bail after their arrests in the body parts case, which sparked a verbal sparring match between Gov. Kathy Hochul and Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney, who blamed the 2019 bail reform for preventing prosecutors for asking for bail on certain criminal charges, including the ones the defendants are facing. Hochul questioned why the district attorney hadn’t charged the defendants with a higher-level felony that would have mandated bail. 
Prosecutors have said the evidence against the defendants&nbsp;includes human remains, meat cleavers, butcher knives, significant amounts of blood and video surveillance. 
According to charging documents, between Feb. 27 at 10:53 a.m. and March 4 at 4:08 a.m., the defendants removed from their shared Railroad Avenue home in Amityville “sharp instruments, multiple body parts and other related items and dispose[d] of them to conceal the crime of murder in the second degree.”

LIBODY240319

Babylon body parts case: Defendant Amanda Wallace, of Amityville, arrested on larceny charge while free without bail

LI defendant in Babylon body parts case charged with stealing beauty products

liBODY240319_photos

Amanda Wallace is in custody again after&nbsp;allegedly&nbsp;stealing beauty supplies from a CVS store in Lindenhurst. NewsdayTV&#39;s&nbsp;Shari Einhorn reports.&nbsp;

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Babylon body parts case defendant charged with stealing beauty products

'I forgot my money, and really didn't feel like walking back over'

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Suffolk police on Monday identified one of the victims whose body&nbsp;parts were found at multiple Long Island parks as 59-year-old Donna R. Conneely, hours after two of the defendants charged in connection with the case appeared briefly in Suffolk District Court. 
Police identified Conneely&nbsp;as the woman whose body parts were located on Feb. 29 and March 5 in a park in Babylon, Bethpage State Park and a wooded area in West Babylon. 
Police said the identity of the male victim, who is 53&nbsp;and lived at the same address with Conneely in Yonkers, is still pending confirmation by the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner. Suffolk police did not indicate when the name would be released. 
Last week, police said while the two victims had shared an address in Yonkers,&nbsp;it was not clear when they had last lived there. Records indicate Conneely's last address was in Fishkill in&nbsp;Dutchess County. 
Other New York State addresses listed for her in&nbsp;recent years include locations in Orange County and&nbsp;Westchester County. &nbsp;Family members for Conneely either could not be reached or declined to comment. 
Steven Brown, 44, and Amanda Wallace, 40, both of Amityville, who were released without bail last week, appeared briefly Monday before District Court Judge F. Scott Carrigan. They’re due&nbsp;back in court on March 18. The judge imposed the same conditions on them as were imposed after their initial arrests,&nbsp;including electronic bracelet monitoring and&nbsp;restrictions on traveling outside Suffolk County. 
Family members of Brown were in court and said they were related to the other victim not yet identified. They indicated the male victim was related to Brown. 
One of the&nbsp;family members, Coreen Bullock, called out to Brown when he walked through the courtroom up to the judge, saying &quot;Why did you do this?&quot; 
Asked later why she called out, she said:&nbsp;“Because we were all raised together. We are a family. Or at least, I thought we were a family. And we are just looking for answers.” 
When asked if Brown responded, she said, “No, I just felt like he looked right through me.” 
The victim &quot;wasn't perfect but nobody deserves to be murdered like this,” Bullock said. 
Charles Williams, another family member, said:&nbsp;“Steven Brown is our cousin and our parents and his mother, our aunt, they are home, they are suffering, they are hurting and he has nothing to say. He’s gotta do something, he’s gotta tell it, good or bad or otherwise. He’s gotta tell his story so we can move on.&quot; 
The defendants have pleaded not guilty to felony counts of first-degree hindering prosecution, concealment of a human corpse, and tampering with physical evidence by concealing or destroying. Also charged and released are: Jeffrey Mackey, 38, of Amityville, and Alexis Nieves, 33, who police say is homeless. Mackey and Nieves are dating, according to Mackey's attorney, John Halverson. 
Ira Weissman, Brown’s attorney, said: “There is nothing I can further add at this time. The case was adjourned for a week and I’ll have further discussions with the DA’s office, hopefully get some evidence. That would be nice, to see exactly what they claim my client did, what part if any that he took. Then maybe we’ll have more to talk about.” 
Wallace’s attorney, Keith O’Halloran, who has offices in Westhampton Beach and Islandia, confirmed his client is in a relationship with co-defendant Brown. 
“She’s not charged with murder and she’s not charged with any violent crimes and we look forward to getting the discovery and defending her in court.” 
Suffolk prosecutor Frank Schroeder has said authorities have significant evidence against the four defendants, including human remains, meat cleavers, butcher knives, significant amounts of blood and video surveillance. 
According to charging documents, between Feb. 27 at 10:53 a.m. and March 4 at 4:08 a.m., the defendants removed from their shared Railroad Avenue home in Amityville “sharp instruments, multiple body parts and other related items and dispose[d] of them to conceal the crime of murder in the second degree.” 
The documents said the defendants “did conceal, alter and destroy human body parts” and the “dismembered body parts were removed” from the home and were “concealed at multiple known locations.”

LIBODY240312

Babylon body parts case: Donna R. Conneely identified by police as victim

Female victim in Babylon body parts case ID'd by police

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One of the victims whose body&nbsp;parts were found at multiple Long Island parks was identified Monday by Suffolk police as 59-year-old Donna R. Conneely of Yonkers. NewsdayTV&#39;s Ken Buffa reports.

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Police ID female victim in Babylon body parts case

Yonkers woman ID'd in body parts case

Two of the four defendants released without bail on charges connected to the discovery of two victims' body parts discarded in multiple Long Island parks appeared briefly before a Suffolk County judge Friday. 
Jeffrey Mackey, 38, of Amityville, and Alexis Nieves, 33, who police said is homeless, were ordered by Suffolk District Court Judge Edward Hennessey to continue wearing electronic monitoring devices and return to Suffolk District Court in Central Islip on March 19. 
Mackey, Nieves and their co-defendants Steven Brown, 44, and Amanda Wallace, 40, both of Amityville, are each charged with felony counts of first-degree hindering prosecution, concealment of a human corpse, and tampering with physical evidence by concealing or destroying. They all pleaded not guilty at their arraignments Wednesday and were ordered to wear electronic monitoring devices. 
Mackey’s attorney, John Halverson, of Patchogue, said Friday that his client is still subject to the same conditions the judge set earlier this week, including not leaving Suffolk County. Halverson said he waived his client's right to a speedy trial.&nbsp; 
“The DA planned on presenting the case to a grand jury, with the same charges, I believe, today,&quot; said Halverson. &quot;We waived that because the only thing it would have done is have another arraignment out in Riverhead, and nothing would change. So we waived their speedy trial rights and put it over for ...&nbsp;March 19.” 
Mackey is essentially homeless now after the police search left the Amityville home he shared with his co-defendants uninhabitable, Halverson said. 
Mackey and Nieves, who held hands in the courtroom, are in a relationship, Halverson confirmed. 
The&nbsp;pair, however,&nbsp;left the courthouse separately. Mackey, carrying several bags, walked to the bus stop outside the courthouse entrance. He did not answer questions from reporters. 
Nieves tried to cover her face with a hoodie and said “no comment” repeatedly when asked questions as she walked through the court parking lot. 
Friday’s court appearances followed a contentious back-and-forth between Gov. Kathy Hochul and Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, who had blamed the state’s controversial bail reform for the four defendants’ release from police custody after they were arraigned. The charges they face are not eligible for bail under the 2019 bail reform law that has been amended twice. 
Hochul countered by questioning the investigation and why the district attorney’s office didn’t file higher-level felony charges&nbsp;such as murder or murder conspiracy charges that would have been bail-eligible. 
At the defendants’ arraignment, Suffolk prosecutor Frank Schroeder said authorities have significant evidence against the four defendants, including human remains, meat cleavers, butcher knives, significant amounts of blood and video surveillance. The prosecutor did not specify where the weapons and blood were found. 
Tierney would only say that prosecutors are ethically bound to bring charges for which they can support with evidence. 
According to charging documents, between Feb. 27 at 10:53 a.m. and Monday at 4:08 a.m., the defendants removed from their shared Railroad Avenue home in Amityville “sharp instruments, multiple body parts and other related items and dispose[d] of them to conceal the crime of murder in the second degree.” 
The documents&nbsp;said the defendants “did conceal, alter and destroy human body parts” and the “dismembered body parts were removed” from the home and were “concealed at multiple known locations.” 
Authorities have not released the names of the victims and have only publicly identified them as a 53-year-old man and a 59-year-old woman, whose last known address was in Yonkers. Their body parts were found in a Babylon park beginning last Thursday, and days later, wooded areas in West Babylon and Bethpage State Park. 
The other two defendants, Brown and Wallace, are due to reappear in court Monday.

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Two defendants in Babylon body parts case ordered to keep wearing electronic monitoring bracelets 

Babylon body parts suspects ordered to wear ankle bracelets, judge says

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Alexis Nieves and Jeffrey Mackey&nbsp;are due back&nbsp;in court on March 19. NewsdayTV&#39;s Shari Einhorn reports.

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Babylon body parts case: 2 of 4 back in court

Judge orders Alexis Nieves and Jeffrey Mackey to continue to wear monitoring ankle bracelets

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Yancey Roy

The sparring between Gov. Kathy Hochul and Suffolk County law enforcement Thursday over the Babylon body parts case is calling attention not only to New York’s bail laws&nbsp;but also to how charging decisions can have courtroom and political impacts. 
Four people have been charged with concealing a human corpse, along with other charges, after&nbsp;the discovery of body parts found strewed around parks on Long Island. Authorities say the&nbsp;victims were a 53-year-old man and a 59-year-old woman but otherwise have yet to identify them. 
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney charged the suspects with three Class E felonies — concealing a human corpse, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution in the first degree. 
None of those charges are considered “bail eligible” — in which a prosecutor can ask a judge to hold a suspect on bail — under a state law that&nbsp;was overhauled in 2019 and twice amended. So the suspects were arraigned and released, though forced to wear GPS monitoring bracelets. 
Experts said under the law, it is police and prosecutors who make charging decisions, and that determines whether bail will even be an issue. 
Further, they said it is “extremely rare” for prosecutors to bring a case with “concealment of a human corpse” as arguably the top-level charge without an accompanying higher felony that&nbsp;could be bail eligible.&nbsp;Corpse concealment as the top charge happens&nbsp;less than four times a year statewide, according to Office of Court Administration data. 
Tierney, who ran on the Republican and Conservative party lines, issued a statement blaming the state’s bail law for the release of the suspects, saying it handcuffed his prosecutors. 
But that triggered backlash from Hochul and others, and then a backlash upon the backlash. 
Hochul, a Democrat, said instead of blaming the law, perhaps prosecutors should have investigated more thoroughly before leveling charges, giving them a chance to bring higher charges that could have triggered bail. After all, prosecutors did say at the arraignment they had significant evidence against the four, including human remains, meat cleavers and blood. 
“Maybe the DA should have done a more thorough investigation and brought murder charges, or conspiracy to commit murder, or even assault charges because all of [those] are bail eligible. Maybe they brought [the case] a little early,” Hochul said. 
Continuing, the governor said: “I encourage the DA’s office to go back and build your case. Because if you bring all of those charges, which I think would be appropriate, that’s absolutely bail eligible. These people would not be out on the street.” 
Tierney and Suffolk police have fired back. 
“Gov. Hochul is either completely clueless or being deceitful about how the criminal justice system works,” Tierney said Thursday morning. “Prosecutors have a duty to bring only charges that are supported by evidence. Anything else would be unethical. When law enforcement had enough evidence to arrest these defendants for serious felonies, they did the right thing and made those arrests.” 
In a later news conference, Tierney said: “In laymen’s terms, they are not charged with anything more because you don’t have the evidence yet to prove it.” 
Asked if police should have waited to make the arrests until&nbsp;higher charges could be leveled, Tierney didn’t directly respond but said: “Because of a number of circumstances that came into play, and again, I’m not going to talk about the facts of the case until we conclude the investigation.” 
He said the investigation was continuing. 
Suffolk police union president Louis Civitello said,&nbsp;“Instead of using this opportunity to fix New York's reckless bail reform law, the governor decided to attack law enforcement.” 
The bail law has sparked endless debates and political campaigning since enacted under then-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and a Democratic-led State Legislature. It made nonviolent felonies and most misdemeanors off limits to bail, with some exceptions. 
Subsequent amendments returned some crimes to bail eligible status. Hochul last year pushed fellow Democrats to amend the law again to give judges more discretion in some instances, including repeat offenders. 
A central claim of the law's opponents is that it allows the release of suspects who will go on to commit more crimes before having to return to court. A study in 2023 found the bail law actually reduced recidivism in the overwhelming bulk of cases, but it also found recidivism rates did increase for individuals with persistent criminal histories. 
Michael Rempel, a John Jay College expert who helped conduct the 2023 study, said it’s up to law enforcement to take the first step of deciding what charges to file, which determines whether bail will even be an issue. 
He said it’s accurate that “prosecutors can’t engineer a bail decision by overcharging a case.” But, he added,&nbsp; “concealment of a human corpse” charges without an additional higher felony&nbsp;is “extremely rare.” 
The head of the New York State Defenders’ Association agreed. 
“There’s not many circumstances where someone charged with this is not also charged with something that is bail eligible,” Susan Bryant said. She said there are still many unknowns about the case, including whether police may have brought charges to pressure defendants. 
Bryant pointed out police have called the crime an “isolated” incident that posed no threat to the public, which raised other questions. 
“If they didn’t feel like they needed to act in an emergency manner to protect the public, then why didn’t they build up the case more before bringing any charges?” Bryant said. “It’s convenient to have very odd circumstances turn into this [bail]&nbsp;conversation.” 
Among the political statements Thursday, Sen. Monica Martinez (D-Brentwood) and Assemb. Steve Stern (D-Huntington) said they will formally propose legislation to add “concealing a human corpse” to the list of bail-eligible crimes. 
Bryant, while not debating the concept, said such an addition would have low impact, given the few instances where the crime is the top charge in a case. 
With Michael O’Keeffe

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Babylon body parts case: Gov. Hochul, DA Tierney spar over charging decision, bail 

Politics of bail: Hochul, Tierney spar over charging decision in Babylon body parts case

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&nbsp;In Babylon and across the Island, this case has reignited calls for changes to bail reform. NewsdayTV&#39;s&nbsp;Shari Einhorn reports.&nbsp;

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Politics of bail and the Babylon body parts case

'It makes absolutely no sense'

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Newsday Staff

Four people&nbsp;charged&nbsp;with&nbsp;concealing a human corpse and tampering with evidence&nbsp;in connection with the discovery of body parts belonging to two victims found strewed around parks on Long Island were released without bail Wednesday.&nbsp; 
Steven Brown, 44, Amanda Wallace, 40, and Jeffrey Mackey, 38, all of Amityville, and Alexis Nieves, 33, who police said is homeless, were&nbsp;each charged with first-degree hindering prosecution, tampering with physical evidence by concealing or destroying, and concealment of a human corpse, all felonies. They each pleaded not guilty.&nbsp; 
Authorities have not&nbsp;identified the victims, except to say one is&nbsp;a 53-year-old&nbsp;man and the other is a 59-year-old woman whose body&nbsp;parts were found in a Babylon park, a wooded area in West Babylon and Bethpage State Park. 
Between Feb. 27 at 10:53 a.m. and Monday at 4:08 a.m., the defendants&nbsp;removed from their shared Railroad Avenue home in Amityville&nbsp;“sharp instruments, multiple body parts and other related items and dispose[d]&nbsp;of them to conceal the crime of murder in the second degree,” police said in charging documents. 
The documents, written by Suffolk&nbsp;homicide detectives, said the defendants “did conceal, alter and destroy human body parts” and the&nbsp;“dismembered body parts were removed” from the home and were “concealed at multiple known locations.”&nbsp; 
During separate arraignments in Suffolk County District Court,&nbsp;Assistant District Attorney Frank Schroeder of the Homicide Bureau said authorities have significant evidence against the four defendants, including human remains, meat cleavers, butcher knives, significant amounts of blood and video surveillance. The prosecutor did not specify where the weapons and blood were found.&nbsp; 
Prosecutors also did not explain the relationships between the defendants, how&nbsp;they knew the victims or identify a potential motive.&nbsp; 
The defendants were released without bail and were ordered to not leave Suffolk County, wear&nbsp;GPS monitoring devices, report to probation weekly and surrender their passports. 
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, in a statement, criticized the state's 2019 bail reform for making the crimes charged in the case not eligible for bail.&nbsp; 
“It is our understanding that the Suffolk County Police Department is still investigating these murders,” Tierney said. “Unfortunately, due to 'Bail Reform' passed by the New York State Legislature in 2019, charges relating to the mutilation and disposal of murdered corpses are no longer bail-eligible, meaning my prosecutors cannot ask for bail.” 
The defendants, carrying small see-through plastic bags with some of their personal effects, each left court Wednesday shortly after being arraigned. They did not speak to reporters. 
Nieves&nbsp;went to “barbaric lengths” to cover up the crime, Schroeder said. Nieves was recently “not domiciled” and was staying with her co-defendants at the&nbsp;Railroad Avenue home, Schroeder said. Nieves, according to the prosecutors, has a pending&nbsp;criminal possession of controlled substance charge.&nbsp; 
The Railroad Avenue home&nbsp;is now uninhabitable due to damage to the plumbing, toilet and&nbsp;sinks during the execution of a search warrant, Schroeder&nbsp;said.&nbsp; 
Mackey's defense attorney John Halverson said after the arraignment: “We have not received any discovery at this point. We maintain our innocence and look forward to receiving discovery and whatever evidence they have and we plan to fight this vigorously.”&nbsp; 
Brown's attorney Ira Weissman said of his client: “He’s shocked that he’s here and he is looking forward to his day in court.”&nbsp; 
Weissman said his client relayed “that he didn’t have anything to do with this and certainly didn’t kill anybody.” 
The remains discovered at Bethpage State Park and in West Babylon are believed to belong to the same man and woman whose body parts were found last week at Southards Pond Park in Babylon, Suffolk police said. 
Police said they are withholding release of the victims' identities&nbsp;pending notification of the woman's&nbsp;next of kin.&nbsp;Their last known address was in Yonkers, but it's&nbsp;not clear when they last resided there, police said.&nbsp; 
Police said in an earlier statement that the crimes were “an isolated incident” and&nbsp;there was no threat to the public.&nbsp; 
A group of high school students who were walking to school first discovered a man's arm last Thursday morning on the side of the road on Siegel Boulevard, between Mason and Park avenues, about 20 feet from the eastern edge of&nbsp;Southards Pond Park. 
That discovery prompted a massive police search of the surrounding area, including a nearby cemetery,&nbsp;using K-9 units. 
A man's severed arms were found on the east side of the park. And hours later, the&nbsp;remains of the woman — her head, left lower leg, right upper leg and arm — were found on the park's west side, near Babylon Elementary School, police said last week.&nbsp; 
A Suffolk police command post was set up for much of last Thursday and Friday near the intersection of Beverly Road and Ralph Avenue, with yellow crime scene tape obstructing public access to the park. Suffolk police were seen searching the park, as well as nearby North Babylon Cemetery, with the help of cadaver dogs. Investigators also were seen canvassing the area for home surveillance video. 
More human remains were discovered Tuesday in the woods across from a home on Lakeway Drive in West Babylon, about three miles from where the woman’s remains were found in Southards Pond Park. The Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad and the Suffolk County Medical Examiner processed the scene, officials said. 
Approximately eight miles away, additional remains were found in Bethpage State Park, police said. New York State Police and the Suffolk medical examiner processed that crime scene, police said. 
There was no answer Wednesday at the Railroad Avenue house in Amityville, which sits beneath Long Island Rail Road&nbsp;tracks. The home's lights were on and&nbsp;clothes could be seen strewed across the floor inside. 
Neighbors at surrounding homes&nbsp;either said they did not know the people that lived at the Railroad Avenue home or did not answer their doors Wednesday. 
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Suffolk police were seen conducting the search at the Amityville home early Tuesday morning. A Suffolk police command center vehicle was parked outside the home overnight, and two crime scene vehicles arrived at the home late Tuesday morning. Police were seen removing a brown bag from the home. 
One neighbor said he saw police wearing SWAT gear enter the home with K-9 unit dogs late Monday. 
Det. Lt. Kevin Beyrer, the commander of the homicide squad, said last week the remains of both victims did not appear to have been outside very long, perhaps just days or even hours, before they were discovered. 
&nbsp;On Wednesday afternoon, the resident of an adjoining duplex apartment&nbsp;was walking her dogs in the rain a day after police had searched her neighbors’ home. 
Stephanie Lecky, 32, said she didn’t learn about the arrests until Tuesday while police were searching the house. She said she didn’t know her neighbors or how many people were living next door for the past two years. 
“It’s very unsettling,” she said, adding she did not know of anything suspicious occurring next door. “That’s the most concerning part.” 
Lecky said she was somewhat surprised her neighbors were released from custody but didn’t know where they were living after the home was deemed uninhabitable. 
“It’s kind of crazy, but I guess that’s how the law is,” she said.&nbsp; 
With Shari Einhorn

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Babylon body parts case: Amanda Wallace, Steven Brown, Jeffrey Mackey, Alexis Nieves charged

Babylon body parts case: 4 defendants charged, released without bail

Four people are released without bail after being&nbsp;charged with concealing a human corpse, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution, in connection with the human remains found last week in a Babylon park. NewsdayTV&#39;s Shari&nbsp;Einhorn reports.

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Four people released without bail in LI body parts case

'We maintain our innocence'

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Investigators were questioning people arrested early Tuesday in Amityville in connection with the discovery of human body parts found in a Babylon Village park last week, according to law enforcement sources, while Suffolk police said additional remains were discovered at Bethpage State Park and in a wooded area in West Babylon. 
The remains discovered at Bethpage State Park and in West Babylon on Tuesday are believed to belong to the same man and woman whose body parts were found last week at Southards Pond Park in Babylon, Suffolk police said. 
The female victim has been identified as a 59-year-old woman whose name is being withheld pending notification of her next of kin. The male has been tentatively identified as a 53-year-old man whose name is also being withheld. Their last known address was in Yonkers, police said, but it is not clear when they last resided there. 
“Based on the investigation, this appears to be an isolated incident with no threat to the public,” Suffolk police said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. “The investigation is continuing.” 
Human remains were discovered Tuesday in the woods across from a home on Lakeway Drive in West Babylon, about three miles from where the woman’s remains were found in Southards Pond Park. The scene was processed by the Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad and the Suffolk County Medical Examiner, officials said. 
Additional remains were found in Bethpage State Park, police said, approximately eight miles away. That scene was processed by New York State Police and the Suffolk medical examiner. 
Law&nbsp;enforcement sources said multiple people were arrested early Tuesday after a search warrant was executed at a two-story home on Railroad Avenue in Amityville. The sources said criminal charges were pending and that arraignments had not been scheduled as of&nbsp;Tuesday afternoon. 
Suffolk police were seen conducting the search at the Amityville home early Tuesday morning. A Suffolk police Command Center vehicle was parked outside the home overnight, and two crime scene vehicles arrived at the home late Tuesday morning. Police were seen removing a brown bag from the home. 
One neighbor said he saw police wearing SWAT gear enter the home with K-9 Unit dogs late Monday. 
&quot;It's terrible to hear,&quot; said Amityville resident Chip Clark, who lives close to the Railroad Avenue home searched by police. &quot;It's a shocking thing … definitely something to talk to my therapist about.&quot; 
A man identified in public records as the owner of the Railroad Avenue house declined to comment on the search Tuesday morning before hanging up on a Newsday reporter. 
The remains of the woman&nbsp;— her head, left lower leg, right upper leg and arm&nbsp;— were found Thursday on the west side of Southards Pond Park, near Babylon Elementary School, police said last week. The discovery was not far from where a man’s severed&nbsp;arms were found on the east side of Southards Pond Park. 
Det. Lt. Kevin Beyrer, the commander of the homicide squad, said last week that police were investigating all possible motives and potential suspects. 
Beyrer said the remains of both victims did not appear to have been outside very long, perhaps just days or even hours, before they were discovered. 
On Tuesday night,&nbsp;Meri Stewart, 42, and Rafael Urena, 36, both said they have lived in an apartment near the home below the LIRR tracks for four years. 
Stewart said she came home from work Monday night to find the street blocked off by police, but she didn’t realize it was connected to the Babylon case until Tuesday morning. 
“The police were here and I didn’t think anything of it,” Stewart said. “I didn’t know what was going on and now I’m scared. I didn’t know it was connected to the body parts case. ... Just&nbsp;too close to home.” 
A Suffolk police command post was set up for much of Thursday and Friday near the intersection of Beverly Road and Ralph Avenue, with yellow crime scene tape obstructing public access to the park. Suffolk police were seen searching the park, as well as nearby North Babylon Cemetery, with the help of cadaver dogs. Investigators&nbsp;also were seen canvassing the area for home surveillance video. 
A group of high school students walking to school at 8:41 a.m. Thursday discovered the first arm belonging to the male victim on the side of the road on Siegel Boulevard, between Mason and Park avenues, about 20 feet from the eastern edge of the park, police said. 
One of the students called their father about the discovery, and the parent then notified police, officials said. 
Investigators returned to the scene where the first arm was found with a K-9 unit and discovered the second arm, Beyrer said. 
A police dog later found a woman's leg sticking out of a pile of leaves in a wooded area near Graham Place and Beverly Road, police said.

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More human remains found, arrests made in Babylon body parts case, officials and sources say

Police, sources: More human remains found, arrests made in Babylon body parts investigation

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Suffolk police confirmed&nbsp;additional human remains were discovered Tuesday at two separate locations, NewsdayTV&#39;s Shari Einhorn reports.

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Arrests made, additonal human remains found: police and source

'It's intense'

Suffolk County police have located human body&nbsp;parts that&nbsp;investigators believe belong to two unknown victims on the perimeter of a popular Babylon Village park, officials&nbsp;said Friday. 
Det. Lt. Kevin Beyrer, commanding officer of the Suffolk County Police Department’s Homicide Unit, said the remains appearing to belong to a woman — a head, legs and arm — were found late Thursday on the west side of the park, not far from where police had found two severed arms believed to belong to a man, earlier Thursday on the east side of the park. 
“Last night we discovered a female head, a leg and what appears to be a female arm,” Beyrer said at the scene Friday. “The doctor from the medical examiner’s [office] came, examined it in the field last night, [and] an autopsy is undergoing right now. Preliminarily, it appears the arm, the head and the leg came from the same person, but that will be determined through scientific tests and through the autopsy.” 
In a news release Friday night, police said they had also found a part of the woman's other leg. 
Beyrer said police were investigating all possible motives and potential suspects when asked whether investigators suspected that the street gang MS-13, known for using machetes to kill victims, was involved. 
The notorious street gang has been relatively quiet on Long Island since federal authorities launched a massive crackdown following the 2016 killings of two teenage girls and the 2017 killings of four young men — slayings that authorities have alleged were committed by MS-13 gang members. 
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The remains discovered Thursday were found on the edges of Southards Pond Park, just south of Sunrise Highway, and abutting a residential neighborhood. 
Beyrer said the remains of both the man and the woman did not appear to have been outside very long.&nbsp; 
“Based on the condition, preliminarily, it appears it is a matter of a small amount of days if not hours that they were out here,” said Beyrer. He said the man’s arms had tattoos and investigators are searching databases to see if the tattoos could be used to help identify him. 
The woman’s remains had no tattoos, Beyrer said. 
For much of Friday, a Suffolk police command post was set up, with yellow crime scene tape obstructing public access to the park. 
Suffolk police were seen searching the park, along with the nearby North Babylon Cemetery, with the help of dogs. Police concluded the search Friday as&nbsp;nightfall approached. Investigators were also seen canvassing the area for home surveillance video. The news release Friday night said the search was complete. 
 “We believe that the persons who dumped the bodies here were mobile,&quot; Beyrer said. &quot;We are pretty confident a car was involved, so we are going to search as thoroughly as possible with canines.” 
A group of high school students walking to school at 8:41 a.m. Thursday discovered the first arm belonging to the male victim on the side of the road on Siegel Boulevard, between Mason and Park avenues, about 20 feet from the eastern edge of the park, Beyrer said. 
One of the students called their father about the discovery, and the parent then notified police, Beyrer said. 
Investigators returned to the scene where the first arm was found with a K-9 unit and discovered the second arm, Beyrer said. 
A police dog later found &nbsp;a woman's leg sticking out of a pile of leaves in a wooded area near Graham Place and Beverly Road, police said. 
Students at nearby Babylon Elementary School and Babylon Memorial Grade School were &nbsp;affected by the police investigation. 
Schools Superintendent Carisa A. Manza said in a message to parents that students at those schools would have indoor recess Friday &nbsp;because of “the ongoing police investigation” near Babylon Elementary School. 
“We will also have mental health staff available for any student or staff member in need of support,” Manza said. “Additionally, our security team is working together to ensure the safety of students, staff and families.” 
A previous version of this story misstated the number of male body parts found by the police.

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More human remains from second victim, including head, legs and arm, found in Babylon, police say

Human remains belonging to 2 victims found near park, police say

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The park is still being searched by police and is an active scene at this time. NewsdayTV&#39;s Shari&nbsp;Einhorn reports.

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More human remains, belonging to two victims, found near Babylon park 

'Last night we discovered a female head'

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Robert Brodsky and Michael O'Keeffe

Two severed arms and a leg were discovered Thursday in three&nbsp;locations in the Village of Babylon,&nbsp;not far from&nbsp;a popular&nbsp;park and a school,&nbsp;law enforcement officials said. 
The first arm was found on the side of the road on Siegel Boulevard, between Mason and Park avenues&nbsp;in Babylon, by a group of high school students walking to school at 8:41 a.m., said Det. Lt.&nbsp;Kevin Beyrer, commanding officer of the Suffolk County Police Department's Homicide Unit.&nbsp;Beyrer said it was found about 20 feet from the eastern edge of the park. 
A second arm was found later, close to where officials recovered the first one. Late Thursday, the police said in a news release that &quot;the&nbsp;remains found on the eastern edge of the park appear to be male.&quot; 
One of the students who found the arm by the side of the road&nbsp;called their father about the discovery and the parent notified police, Beyrer told reporters near the scene Thursday. 
During a subsequent search by police Thursday afternoon, a canine unit located a leg sticking out of a pile of leaves in a wooded area on Graham Place, between Beverly Road and Martin Place, police said. 
It was not immediately clear if the arms and leg belonged to the same person. Law enforcement had no information on the condition of the remains although Beyrer said the first arm had not been there long.&nbsp; 
Investigators returned to the scene where the first arm was found with a K-9 unit and discovered the second arm, the homicide chief said during a late evening news conference. 
“So we have a right arm and a left arm,” Beyrer said. “The right arm was found about 20 feet further into the woods from the left arm, almost a direct line.” 
He said the tattoos on the first arm and DNA will help identify&nbsp;the victim. Investigators&nbsp;are also checking missing persons reports. “It does appear to be recent,” he said about the remains. “And a missing persons report might come in tonight.” 
Beyrer said the police would continue the search&nbsp;Friday morning. 
At the scene Thursday, yellow police tape and a parked police vehicle blocked a portion of Beverly Road, near the intersection of Ralph Avenue.&nbsp;But the neighborhood where the discoveries were made was calm and quiet once school was dismissed on Thursday afternoon.&nbsp; 
Babylon resident Josephine Roche, who lives close to where the&nbsp;first arm was discovered, said she was shaken by the news. 
“That it is terrible and very scary to hear something like that happen so close to home,” Roche said. “ … I think we are safe. There is a good police presence and I think that it wasn’t necessarily related to this area. I told my kids, 'Lock the doors, always, in any area.' ” 
Neighbor Joe Ferrara said the discovery of the severed limbs left him “stunned.” 
“I can’t even believe that,” Ferrara said. “You see that stuff in movies. When it happens this close to home it’s pretty wild to say the least.” 
The Village of Babylon posted on social media Thursday morning that Southards Pond Park,&nbsp;just south of Sunrise Highway, had&nbsp;been closed due to a Suffolk police investigation. 
Babylon Union Free School District Superintendent Carisa Manza sent a pair of notices to parents Thursday morning about the investigation. 
“Please be advised that I was notified that the Suffolk County Police Department is conducting a crime scene investigation near Southards Pond, Park Ave and Siegal Blvd which is proxemic to the Babylon Memorial Grade School and Babylon Elementary School,” she wrote. “Out of an abundance of caution and not to interfere with the investigation, we will be holding indoor recess today.” 
In a follow-up message to parents, Manza called the situation “extremely unsettling” and offered counseling to students who may need it. 
“The safety and mental health of our students is our number one priority, and we know this incident may be causing some extreme anxiety among our students, particularly the high school students who were directly affected by this situation on their way to school this morning,” Manza wrote. “We applaud them for their diligence in reporting their disturbing discovery to our building administration and law enforcement.” 
With Shari Einhorn

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Severed arms, leg found in area of Southards Pond Park in Babylon

Severed arms, leg found in area of Babylon park

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Human remains were found at Southards Park in Babylon by students walking to school. NewsdayTV&#39;s Shari Einhorn reports.

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Human remains found at Southards Pond Park in Babylon 

'It does not appear that it was there a long time'

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Babylon body parts case: All you need to know

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A South Setauket father, Vincent DiStasi, was sentenced to 17 years in prison on Thursday for beating his infant son to the point where he needed brain surgery. NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa reports.

The infant was 5 weeks old

John Pilaccio pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges in the fatal stabbing of CVS employee Edeedson Cine Jr. NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa reports.

'A violent criminal record'

Authorities are looking for a thief who stole a statue of baby Jesus from a Nativity scene displayed outside the H. Lee Dennison Building in Hauppauge last week. NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa reports.

Baby Jesus stolen from Nativity scene

Nassau County police said Tasabbir Hossain, 32, of Ronkonkoma, was westbound on the eastbound lanes of Sunrise Highway near Louden Avenue in Massapequa when he collided with the other driver's 2015 Acura.

Crash leaves two hospitalized

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Amir Sitafalwalla, 73, did not express remorse for his actions before he was sentenced by Judge Gia Morris, who also ordered Sitafalwalla to register as a sex offender.

Ex-doctor from Manhasset sentenced to 6 years' probation for sexual abuse of patients

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The officials also acknowledged troublesome trends in assaults on public officials and a rise in youth violence.

Mamdani, Tisch highlight NYC's reduction in violent crime in first NYPD news conference

On one side of Baxter Street were backers of the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, on the other, a larger group assailing the move.

Street debates outside Manhattan court show divide over Maduro arrest

The deposed Venezuelan leader and his wife, Cilia Flores, appeared in federal court for the first time since U.S. forces arrested them and brought them to New York.

'I am a decent man,' proclaims Maduro, saying he is innocent of narco-terrorism charges

Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores will be arraigned on multiple charges.

Maduro set to appear in Manhattan federal court today

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch highlighted some added precautions at a news conference on Tuesday.

What to know about Times Square security for New Year's Eve

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is taking over amid a drop in homicides but a slew of NYPD challenges will test his ability to keep New Yorkers safe.

Policing experts take wait-and-see approach to Zohran Mamdani

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Toys of Hope is asking for donations after the organization says several hundred toys from its holiday drive were stolen Saturday.

'A holiday nightmare'

Follow crime and courts news in Nassau and Suffolk, including incidents reported in your neighborhood, trial coverage, sentencings and more.

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