Four suspects have been arrested in connection with the discovery of severed body parts in Babylon, West Babylon and at Bethpage State Park in the past week, Suffolk County police said – but none of them were charged with murder.
Amityville residents Steven Brown, 44, Jeffrey Mackey, 38, and Amanda Wallace, 40, and a suspect who police said was homeless, 33-year-old Alexis Nieves, were charged with hindering prosecution, tampering with physical evidence, and concealment of a human corpse. The four are due in Suffolk court March 6.
The arrests were made following police executing a search warrant at a home on Railroad Avenue in Amityville. No remains were found at the residence searched, authorities said.
Despite the lack of murder charges, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney continued to call the incident murder.
“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. This is yet another absurd result thanks to ‘bail reform’ and a system where the Legislature in Albany substitutes their judgment for the judgment of our judges and the litigants in court.”
The case first made news on Thursday, when a girl walking to school in Babylon saw a body part sticking out of a pile of leaves on the side of a street at Southard Pond Park. Police searched the area and, throughout the rest of the day and Friday, found a female head, right upper leg, left leg from the knee down and right arm and two male arms.
Police said onTuesday that additional remains were also found on Lakeway Drive in West Babylon and at Bethpage State Park, and are believed to be from the victims whose remains were first discovered last week.
Authorities said the woman has been identified and presumed to have been 59 years old, but her name has not been released pending notification of next of kin. The man has been tentatively identified and presumed to have been 53. Their last known address was in Yonkers, but their connection to Long Island is unclear.
Police did not specify what specific body parts were found Tuesday. Autopsies are currently underway.
