Wiltshire cancels order for new chairs; shortest lived controversy in Collar City history

WILTSHIRE

The day the purchase order was signed, Council President Rodney Wiltshire opted not to buy nine new chairs – presumably one per Council member - that would have cost $2,352. 

“I've instructed the clerk to cancel the order. I've read some interesting ideas here on getting chairs at low or no cost. Ken Zalewski and Penny thank you for some great ideas. Surplus chairs from an institution that may want to donate them could be a great option,” Wiltshire wrote on Facebook in response to a number of posts critical of the purchase. “Moreover, and just to reiterate, This expenditure is budgeted. But I think that tablets for better productivity is a wiser purchase.”

Councilman Ken Zalewski, D-District 5, attempted to deflect the critics saying the relatively small amount of money is just 0.0035 percent of the city’s $66 million-plus budget.  

“It ignores the fact that every city employee has a decent chair to sit in. It ignores the fact that the Planning Department recently purchased a brand new set of chairs for the conference room to replace already-comfortable but somewhat dilapidated chairs,” Zalewski said of a post on this blog. “Like I said, I don't care either way. I'll sit on the floor if I have to. But come on, an entire blog post on $2,350 out of a $66,124,624 budget? I'm anxiously awaiting similar scrutiny on that other $66,122,274.”

ZALEWSKI

(As an aside, there are links to stories here, here, here and here and  about the entire budget.)

Councilman Jim Gordon, R-District 1, said he learned of the purchase after the aforementioned blog post was put up on Facebook.

“What??? You're kidding?? This is how I learn of such an unnecessary expense? I spoke against this during the budget hearing and will again - I do not need a new chair! No one does!,” he wrote. “If attendees at council meetings can ‘suffer’ on similar chairs then we too can do their business on them. This is ridiculous.”

Prior to Wiltshire’s decision to nix the new chairs, Gordon said on Twitter that he would buy each member of the Council a seat cushion and that he would gladly give his chair to the first person to mention “chairgate” at the Feb. 5 meeting.

A number of citizens and business owners weighed in on social media too.

“What is really sad is they placed the order in the first place. Then cancel the order when it gets too hot on Facebook?” said Debra Lockrow, owner of Artcentric in downtown. “The council needs Facebook conversations to give them a clue on how to behave with fiscal intelligence?”

GORDON

“They paid for those chairs with the money they got from me when they hired GAR to overestimate the value of my property!” said Jo Rehm. “Then it cost me more money to hire someone to come in & do an accurate estimate. Do I get any of that money back, hell no!”

Penny Bonesteel said the Council should explore other options like using the new chairs the Planning Department just purchased. Zalewski concurred and said it would take nine minutes to move the chairs – one minute per chair.

“None of us are naive enough to think 2k is going to tip the bucket one way or the other, but given the circumstances, it definitely sends the wrong message to citizens that are going to have to deal with a lot of butt pain in the foreseeable future,” said Nancy A Bourgeois Wright.

And she is right, the $2,352 is not going to make or break the city and either is the $10,000 confidential secretary or the $27,000-plus assistant city clerk. But the impact is two-fold: One is that pennies eventually lead to dollars and it just sends the wrong message given the city's financial crunch that will get nothing but worse in the very near future.  

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.

 

TPD make an arrest in double homicide; search is on for second suspect

Sources close to the Lockrow family say police told them one person in is custody for the brutal double homicide.

The identity of the person in custody is not known at this time.

Al and Maria Lockrow were beaten to death shortly after 2 a.m. in their 709 First Ave. home on Aug. 19. Al Lockrow was declared dead at the scene, Maria succumbed to her injuries shortly after authorities arrived.

Friday, police recovered the couple’s stolen 2013 Ford Escape SUV.

The second suspect remains at large.

Police would not comment on the arrest Monday evening.  

More information as it becomes available.

Mayor Lou Rosamilia has called a press conference Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m. at the police station.

 

Sources: Police recover murdered couple's SUV

Police have found the SUV stolen after a Lansingburgh couple was brutally beaten to death on Aug. 19.

Details are scant, but sources did confirm police have recovered the blue 2013 Ford Escape SUV owned by Al and Maria Lockrow.

Where it was located and the condition it was found is unclear. Also unclear is if finding the vehicle assisted investigators identify and/or locate the suspects.

The couple was found beaten inside their 709 First Ave. home when police responded to what they thought was a routine domestic call shortly after 2 a.m.. Witnesses claim they saw two men walking away from the home carrying something that looked like a baseball bat.

Al Lockrow was pronounced dead on the scene. Maria Lockrow later died of her injuries.

Police have questioned Thaddeus Pietrak, Maria Lockrow’s brother who was arrested in 2005 for allegedly trying to kill their mother and again in 2012 for assaulting Maria. They also twice questioned a clerk at the Lansingburgh OTB where Al Lockrow was a regular. Kyle Kilgallon was considered a person of interest.

More information as it becomes available.  

 

Police question OTB clerk for second time in double homicide investigation

On Friday, for the second time, police questioned an employee at the OTB in Lansingburgh.

On Aug. 22, they first questioned the clerk at the Second Avenue gambling establishment in relation to the brutal, Aug. 19 murder of Al and Maria Lockrow.

Al Lockrow was an OTB regular and had just won a sizable amount of money but had not cashed the ticket before he was murdered.

The two were found bludgeoned to death in their 709 First Ave. home when police responded to what they thought was a routine domestic incident. Inside they found Al Lockrow beaten to death. Maria Lockrow later died of her injuries.

Witnesses said two men left the trailer holding what was appeared to be a baseball bat. The two men then took the couple’s 2013 Blue Ford Escape SUV.

Earlier, police questioned Thaddaeus Pietrak, Maria’s brother, some six hours after the murder and he said the car was spotted on the Rip Van Winkle Bridge – which spans the Hudson River between Catskill and the City of Hudson. Sources confirmed there was a “ping” or a photo of the SUV captured on the bridge shortly after the murders.

Pietrak, of North Greenbush, was arrested for trying to kill his mother in 2005 and assaulting Maria Lockrow in 2012.

Police also considered Kyle Kilgallon a person of interest.

The longtime clerk’s last name could not be confirmed Friday night. More information as it becomes available.  

 

Second person of interest in 'Burgh double homicide

Some six hours after a brutal double homicide, police questioned the brother of one of the two Lansingburgh victims but found no evidence to pursue the inquiry.

Now, police consider Kyle Kilgallon a person of interest, according to sources close to the investigation. Kilgallon, 57, grew up in Lansingburgh and in recent years has split his time between his hometown and Florida. Longtime residents of Lansingburgh have seen him around town as of late and he is known to frequent the OTB parlor on Second Avenue.

Police are investigating the murder of Allen and Maria Lockrow, who were found brutally beaten to death inside their 709 First Ave. home early Wednesday morning.

According to other sources, Allen Lockrow, who liked to play the horses, hit a race worth a substantial amount of money. However, according to sources, he did not cash the OTB ticket.

2001 mug shot of KYLE KILGALLON
from Charlotte, Florida 

One theory is that he hung onto the ticket because he was looking for a way to avoid paying taxes New York state demands on larger winnings. Any payout that is 600 to 1 or more - for example if you bet $1 and win more than $600 - requires the winner to fill out a form applying it to the person’s taxable income. Lockrow was looking for someone who made less than he and his wife – or someone on Social Security or disability - to cash the ticket who may not have to pay any taxes on the winnings.

It's unclear if the winning ticket was left at the scene or if it was stolen.

Police believe the murderer or murderers fled the scene in the Lockrow’s 2013 blue Ford Escape.

Kilgallon is a longtime, well respected family name in ‘The Burgh.

Kyle Kilgallon was arrested in Florida 13 years ago for “domestic battery” and violating an order of protection, both misdemeanors.

Thaddeus Pietrak, Maria Lockrow’s brother, was questioned shortly after the murders. He told the Times Union Kilgallon had a $600 ticket from OTB and criticized police for questioning him about the murders he knew nothing about.

"I got angry with them and asked for an apology," Pietrak said. "They taped the whole thing. On my way out one of the detectives did apologize and say he was sorry for what happened to my sister."

Maria Lockrow had an 2012 order of protection against Pietrak, according to the Times Union, and was arrested for attempted murder in North Greenbush for allegations he tried to strangle his mother, twice.

(UPDATED) 'Burgh murder victim's brother has history of violence

Police believe the double homicide in Lansingburgh was not a random act of violence. Rather, investigators think at least one of the two perpetrators knew the victims and were there for a specific purpose.

While talking to a number of people who knew Allen and Maria Lockrow, one name was mentioned again and again – Thaddeus Pietrak, Maria Lockrow’s brother. Police would not comment on the specifics of the investigation.

In 2005, according to a broadcast at that time by what was then YNN, Pietrak was arrested by North Greenbush Police for trying to kill his mother, Julia Pietrak … twice.

According to the television news station, Pietrak, then 46 years old, tried to choke his mother, who died in 2011 at the age of 89. He prevented her from calling for help and attacked another family member who tried to assist the mother. Both victims were treated at a local hospital. Julia Pietrak died in 2011.

A source close to the Lockrow family said the family member Thaddeus Pietrak was arrested for assaulting in 2005 was Maria Lockrow.

Pietrak, who's last known public address was in Rensselaer, was charged with attempted murder, assault, unlawful imprisonment and harassment.

There is no record of him doing any hard time on the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision website but the charges could have been substantially reduced depending on the level of cooperation by the mother and the other unnamed family member. The disposition of the case is not known at this time. 

Wednesday at 2 a.m., Police said they were answering a call at 709 First Ave. and found the door kicked in and the Lockrows beaten with what is believed to be a baseball bat. Allen Lockrow was pronounced dead at the scene, and Maria died on the way to the hospital as a direct result of her injuries.

The two men allegedly stole the couple's blue 2013 Ford Escape and are still at large.

Allen Lockrow was a longtime employee of the Troy Parks and Recreation Department while Maria was employed as a nurse for Rensselaer County.