Sources: Murder suspect turned himself in, confessed and then released

REUTER (Times Union photo)

       According to sources, one of the suspects under indictment for the murder of Al and Maria Lockrow turned himself in and gave a statement confessing to the crime. But, because he was not read his rights at the time, police had to let him go and he wasn’t officially arrested until some 12 hours later.

 

A Grand Jury indicted Jacob Heimroth and Daniel Reuter on 19 charges in relation to the Aug. 20 brutal beating of the popular Lansingburgh couple. They are slated to be arraigned on Monday in Rensselaer County Court.

First, Reuter called police and told them about the crime and the location of the Lockrow’s Ford Escapade SUV that was stolen from their home by the murderers. It was found shortly thereafter in a Columbia County field. It had been lit on fire and severely burnt so the car offered little to investigators. On Sept. 1, Reuter physically went to the police station and gave a written statement.    

Police, however, had no choice but to release him because he was not read his Miranda Rights – which, among other things, advise suspects of their right to silence and to an attorney. Sources say the detectives were afraid that if he was officially read his rights, he would not have been as forthcoming with his statement that included confessing to getting high on drugs and alcohol and beating the couple to death. He also named Heimroth, who did not confess and who has been less cooperative than Reuter, sources said.

If police didn’t let Reuter go at that time, the statement could have been thrown out if the case goes to trial. But, since they let him go he was not in custody, the statement is considered voluntary and has a much better chance of being admitted as evidence.  

HEIMROTH (TU Photo)

On Sept. 1, after Reuter was released, his aunt Sue Ann Ringwood attempted to set up a meeting between police and Reuter and Heimroth, but the two didn’t show. Reuter was arrested some 12 hours later in Schenectady and Heimroth was arrested later that evening in Troy.

According to sources, Reuter told police he was splitting time between his mother’s home at the Lansingburgh Apartments where Ringwood also lived, and sleeping in a tent near the Lockrow’s home on First Avenue. Ringwood was a clerk at the OTB in Lansingburgh, a betting establishment frequented by Al Lockrow. She has since been transferred to the OTB East Greenbush branch.

Al Lockrow and Ringwood had been close friends for years. She was questioned at least twice by police.

Ringwood is from Columbia County as are Reuter and Heimroth.

Sources say after the murder and before burning the car in Columbia County, the two went to the home of the girlfriend of the brother of former Troy Police Officer Michael Johnson. Hudson police arrested her in March for possession of heroin while she was in a car Johnson was driving. Johnson was suspended for 30 days for that incident but did not face any criminal charges. He later resigned as an Internal Affairs investigation proceeded and has since been arrested for an unrelated burglary.

The name of the woman whose home Reuter and Heimroth went after the murder could not be determined Saturday but sources did say she is cooperating with authorities.  

It’s unclear what time Monday the two will be arraigned.   

 

 

  

A good day for the good guys

Police Chief John Tedesco announces the arrest of
 three people for murder (TIMES UNION PHOTO)

I’ve been covering Troy for a long time and never have I seen anything like what transpired over the last couple of weeks.

Amazing, really.

A summer marked with arson, murder and other violent crimes had tensions at a breaking point throughout the city but nowhere were things more strained than in Lansingburgh.

And then a well-known, well-liked couple was bludgeoned to death – Al and Maria Lockrow on Aug. 20.

Police were under the gun. The media jumped on such stats like “the murder rate has increased 600 percent” from last year and “per capita Troy had the most murders in the state” and they were echoed across social media.

There were stories of parents afraid to send their kids a couple blocks to the store or the playground and gun shots rang out with the frequency of church bells. There were calls for more patrols, a reinstatement of an aggressive Street Crimes Unit and cries for someone to do something.

Then, on Friday police found the Lockrows’ blue SUV - stolen by the murderers - in a field in Columbia County. It was set on fire, presumably, to help the two killers hide their tracks. It also kicked off what has to be one of the best nights in TPD history.

While I’m told the car’s discovery didn’t lead investigators to seal the deal and arrest Jacob Heimroth and Daniel Reuter, they were Three days later. Early Monday evening, police made the first arrest. Later that night, about 9:30 p.m., they picked up the second suspect while he was walking around Lansingburgh. I’m not sure which one was first but it really doesn’t matter.

Also, on Monday, police arrested Jeffrey Brown, an 18-year-old from Cohoes, for the murder of Robert Rivera, a 54-year-old who was found shot to death in his Second Avenue apartment on June 30.

In one night, police arrested three people for murder. Amazing, really.  

The Lockrow crime scene

Police Chief John Tedesco said “this is huge for us.” He’s right. And it’s not only huge for the TPD but for the resident too. Fueled by fear and Facebook pages and sick of the empty political rhetoric, they were losing patience with the men in blue and their ability to keep their neighborhoods safe.

Rallies and vigils were held to “Take Back Troy, Tedesco and Mayor Lou Rosamilia, under increasing pressure to do something, put 20 extra patrols on the streets and there was the very real threat of people taking matters into their own hands.

Meanwhile, detectives were behind the scenes working the murders of eight people in the city this year (in two of the cases, two people were killed so it was considered one case.)

And that work paid off on Monday.

So far, police have arrested suspects in five of those cases. And while the murder of 19-year-old Vanessa Milligan and her unborn baby in April remains open, Tedesco indicated an arrest there is imminent too.

ROSMILIA

There are all sorts of possible motives for the Lockrow killings – the most brutal to happen in the Collar City in at least two decades – and I will explore them later. There are also some grumblings about how detectives broke the case – again, I’m told the car played a small role in it – and I will explore them too at a later date. There is also a lot of work to do because murders may be the highest profile crimes they are far from the most prevalent, thankfully.

Let me conclude by saying I’m one of the first ones to criticize cops for their Cadillac contract and their excessive OT and when they otherwise screw up. But for their work that culminated on Monday, the entire TPD deserves a round of applause.

Three arraigned in two separate murder cases in Troy

Three murder suspects were arraigned this morning in connection with two murder cases.

Daniel Reuter, a homeless 33-year-old, and Jacob Heimroth, of Troy, were arrested Monday for the beating death of Allen and Maria Lockrow. Both were formally charged with first and second degree murder on Tuesday, said Police Chief John Tedesco.

Both men were originally from Valatie.

Also, Jeffrey Brown, 18, of Cohoes, was charged with shooting to death Robert Rivera on June 30 at his 603 Second Ave. home in Troy.

The cases are slated to go to the Grand jury on Thursday, according to the Times Union.

The Lockrows were found brutally beaten at their 709 First Ave. home on April 20 after police answered what they thought was a routine domestic call.  

Police recovered the couples stolen SUV on Friday in Valatie. It had been set on fire, presumably to help hide any evidence.  

Here is a story from Channel 13.