Cops: Arraignment today on man sought in horseman's shooting
Brett C. Knight, 45, a former tenant in the Setauket home of victim Ross Reisner, was found by U.S. Marshals, Suffolk County Homicide Squad detectives and officers from the Sevier County Special Operations Response Team at a home in Seymour, a town of about 10,000 near Knoxville, Tenn. the U.S. Marshals Service said in a statement. (Oct. 9, 2013) Credit: SCPD, Facebook
The man wanted for questioning in the fatal shooting last month of a well-known Long Island horseman is expected to be arraigned Friday on a second-degree murder charge, Suffolk police said.
Brett C. Knight, 45, a former tenant in the Setauket home of victim Ross Reisner, was extradited to New York Thursday, said Det. Sgt. Edward Fandrey of the homicide squad.
Knight, of Manhattan, also will be arraigned on a charge of aggravated harassment, a law-enforcement source said.
He was arrested on a warrant in the eastern Tennessee town of Seymour on Wednesday and landed at LaGuardia Airport early Thursday evening. He had signed extradition papers instead of fighting his return.
He is to be walked out of the Sixth Precinct Friday for his arraignment, police said.
Authorities sought him in connection with Reisner's death and the attempted murder of Reisner's partner, Kevin Murray, wounded in the shooting at their home, the U.S. Marshals Service said.
Reisner's Sept. 24 shooting spurred a nationwide search for Knight, who "purchased a motorcycle and was said to be traveling throughout the country," said the marshals service, which worked with the Sevier County sheriff's office in Tennessee and Suffolk police to capture him.
Two handguns were recovered from the Seymour house, marshals said. Authorities did not say whether either was the one used in the shooting.
Reisner, considered a fixture in the Island's equestrian community, was in his home on Upper Sheep Pasture Road with Murray when, police said, several shots were fired from outside the residence about 8:45 p.m. Sept. 24. One bullet struck Reisner in the chest, killing him, police said, while Murray was grazed in the arm but declined medical attention.
At that time, there was already an arrest warrant for Knight, a former American Express manager, stemming from aggravated harassment charges filed against him by Murray.
In court papers, Murray said he had been harassed by Knight, who was then renting a basement apartment in Reisner's home.
Knight was charged with second-degree harassment, a misdemeanor, but had failed to appear before an arraignment judge in First District Court in Central Islip on Sept. 4. That failure to appear prompted the arrest warrant acted upon by the marshals.
