Elisabeth Hasselbeck Buying $4M Greenwich Home

Moving to 62 Brookridge Drive, Greenwich. 

(Surprised they disclosed the address!)

The Daily Mail is reporting that Hasselbeck, a co-host on ABC’s The View, and her husband, former NFL quarterback Tim, have listed their Manhattan apartment for $3.3 million and are close to closing the deal on a sprawling house on Brookridge Drive for more than $4 million.

The Hasselbecks, reported to be looking for a quieter spot than their luxury Upper West Side apartment, have three children — Grace, Thomas and Isaiah.

The house, built in 1999 and showcased here on Trulia.com, is 7,605 square feet and has seven bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a gazebo and a pool, among many other amenities.

Creepy in Greenwich: Part One

Part One- 14 Lincoln Avenue

Lincoln Avenue, close to the heart of Greenwich and just off of the prestigious Greenwich Avenue, is home to a house full of very traumatic history.

A family of 3, all stricken by a rare disease, Marfan's Syndrome, all found slain at number 14 on this street.

The two children, one boy and one girl, were found shot dead while apparently sleeping, then the mother was found with the gun in her hand and was shot to death as well.


This is in 1982.

I was born in 1985, and have never heard any mention of this town tragedy in all my years (now 26) as a resident. I only came about researching this event after my mother mentioned something like that happening in town years ago.


I very much wonder if whoever's living in the house is aware of this, I'm sure they must be do to laws and all... But I can't imagine living in a house with such a history!

----

Here's an original Norwalk Hour article, dated September 4th, 1982:

And an original New York Times article, dated September 4th, 1982:
3 IN GREENWICH ARE FOUND SLAIN AT THEIR HOME

A woman and her 14-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son were found shot to death in their Greenwich, Conn., home yesterday morning, and the police later said the mother, who had a recent history of depression, apparently had killed the children and herself.

The police said all three were afflicted with Marfan's Syndrome, a genetic disease of the ocular, skeletal and cardiovascular systems that had severely impaired the children's eyesight and had rendered the mother legally blind.

The slayings were the first in the affluent suburb 20 miles north of New York City in more than six years. Greenwich, a community of sedate homes and landscaped corporate headquarters, has 60,000 residents and a reputation as one of the country's safest cities.

The police said the victims, 43-year-old Linda V. Sandor and her children, Michelle and Scott, had each been shot once in the head. They were found in separate upstairs bedrooms of their recently purchased eight-room, $130,000 home at 14 Lincoln Avenue in central Greenwich, at 10:40 A.M. by a stepson, Richard, who called the police. Husband Reportedly at Work

Mrs. Sandor's husband, Michael, a Greenwich building contractor, had left the house about 8 A.M. and was at work when the slayings occurred, according to the Greenwich Police Chief, Thomas G. Keegan, and his deputy chief, John J. Cornelius.

''Both children had been shot once in the head, while in their beds, apparently asleep,'' Chief Keegan said. Mrs. Sandor, he said, was found fully clothed, lying beside a .38-caliber handgun that was apparently used in the killings. It had been purchased by Mrs. Sandor at a local gun store on Thursday, the chief said.

''Preliminary investigation and testing indicate that the fatal wound to Linda was self-inflicted,'' said Chief Keegan, who added that there was ''no evidence of foul play.''

The chief said that Mrs. Sandor ''had been suffering from severe depression and had attempted suicide earlier this year.'' A factor in that depression, the Chief said, may have been the disease that had afflicted the family. The woman was becoming progressively more blind and may not have wanted her children to suffer further, the Chief said. Both children wore heavy corrective lenses.

The family had moved into the three-story frame home from the Glenville section of Greenwich in July and was not well-known to neighbors. Mr. Sandor had been renovating the white-shingled home, whose small yard yesterday was strewn with lumber, concrete blocks and other building materials.

HIATUS

I've taken quite a hiatus haven't I? I Don't thik there's anyone out there anyway who takes interest in my blog.. But I don't care... This is *my* vault of memories...

I think this has been quite the summer for local shocking news... Especially in the Stamford and Greenwich areas.

I'm going to sit back and reminisce, try to catch up on any noteworthy news..

Earliest local news that comes to mind was a few months back when a 2 year old, Massimo Furano and his grandmother, Anna S. Furano, were found drowned in their koi pond over on Fox's Lane in Greenwich...Very tragic.

Joe Schiano, who was slightly younger than me and had mutual friends in common with me, passed away after serving two terms in the Marines.. Unfortunatley he died in a car accident in New York after returning from duties.

I believe a few days after that I learned of a car with two women driving on I-95 in Cos Cob over the Mianus Bridge... A bolt fell off of a dump truck in front of their car, and it flew threw the window into the passenger's head, killing her. Can you imagine?

As the summer goes on all you hear about, sadly, is all the murders in Bridgeport, Stamford and Norwalk... Then, more noticible news again out of Stamford- on Bedford Street behind the diner (very close to an apartment I work sometimes) was found a 39 year old man hanging from a tree in the back part of the parking lot.

Close in time to that was another suicide of a 2o year old Stamford junior volunter firefighter, his body found in a Belltown grass field.

Jasmine Brown, an inspiring fashion designer from NY was high on PCP, climbed a tree naked and fell out of it, killing herself. Imagine that horrible scene..

In a bit of national news- as we all know, over the weekend a helicopter full of Navy Seals (3o) was shot down. One of them, Brian Bill, was from Stamford. Thank you for paying the ultimate price while fighting for our country....

A 92 year old man, trying to park in a handicapped spot, accidently floored his Honda, plowing threw a pole and proceeding to crash 20 feet into Cafe Oo La La on Summer Street (Ridgeway Shopping Center), sending people flying all over the place. Miracously no one was killed, but a baby and a pregnant woman were injured in all the mess. Thus sparks the debate again on modifying driving conditions for elderly drivers. Is it really all that hard for the DMV to put in place a system where the eldery driver would have a simulated road test say at the person's physician's office or even at the DMV itself? God forbid we spent any on insuring people can stay safe on the roads and keep clear of crazy old grandpa who's too proud and dementiated to take himself off the road. They are actually charging him ... Not sure for what but good for them! His family shouldn't have let him drive.

The next day, which I believe was Tuesday, I heard of a poor woman on route in Wilton who must've not even seen it coming when a dump truck hit her Ford Taurus, killing her and injuring three others (including a six year old) in the car. The car pulled out from a church, right into the path of the dump truck that couldn't stop in time. The driver of that car was 91, and was the victim's father. Her grandaughter was next to her, and probably saw her die.

Why did these people have the grandfather drive??? He could've killed his six year old grandaughter as well...Bad enough now he has to live knowing he killed his daughter. Sad and tragic, shouldn't have happened.

This morning I read that a car hit into a construction site, killing the driver, a 23 year old Greenwich resident, Michael Defruscio. Two years younger than I am, but I do not recognize the name..

It's sad but true that most news we hear of is depressing and negative, but if it wasn't something so shocking it wouldn't be newsworthy. There is some news lately that's been amusing and some news that actually is postive.

A month or two ago a mountain lion was spotted in Greenwich, and then a few days later found dead in Milford on the turnpike. It was found out that the mounatin lion had actually migrated from North Dakota, something that was unheard of for mountain lions until now! Apparently there were two new sightings this past Sunday... So are there more or what??

Here's a picture of my Uncle Mike, middle, on duty and it looks like he's with a search for the lion. (lol)

Remember Charla Nash, the poor woman who had her face pretty much torn off by that ape in backcountry Stamford? She succesfully completed a 20 hour facial transplant a few days ago, and unveiled her new face for all to see in both national and local articles. Good for you, Charla!

Captured EVP of "Help Me" At Burying Hill Cemetery?

I was recording alone at Burying Hill Cemetery in Greenwich, Connecticut, and believe I might've captured a male voice saying "Help me"...
Does anyone else agree?

Old Cherry Orchard Cemetery - Possible EVP

On playback I notice an odd sound at 6 seconds, is it my phone or a weird voice?

Along with the sound I see two white rods that appear at about 13 seconds, make a vibration-like sound then disappear. Is that a video glitch? I know my video wasn't set to best quality on my cell phone, but I've never seen that before.

This cemetery is hidden off of Tod Lane on the corner of Taconic Road in Greenwich, CT.

I'm not sure the name of it and have a hard time pinpointing which one it'd be off of www.findagrave.com.

Awesome Antique News Article!

Anything vintage and weird about my own home town is right up my alley!
Click picture to view article:

Crazy article.. A "demented" woman by the name of Menthol Sweeney sets fire to a barn on what is now Conyers Farms in backcountry Greenwich, CT.

Afterwards I googled Converse Farm too see what came of it:

MRS. SWEENEY IN SANITARIUM; Denies Setting Fire to Converse's Barn -- Believed to Be Insane.
STAMFORD, Conn., Nov. 29. -- Araminta Sweeney, who was suspected of incendiarism when the $10,000 burn on Conyer's Manor, the estate of E.C. Converse, the steel magnate, in Greenwich, was destroyed by fire last Wednesday night, has been committed temporarily to a sanitarium by Judge Charles D. Lockwood in this place.

SAYS THREAT UPSET HIS NIECE'S MIND; Miss Sweeney's Mental..
STAMFORD, Conn., Dec. 2. -- The acute mental condition of Araminta Sweeney, the woman accused of writing anonymous letters and making threats against Mr. and Mrs. E.C. Converse, is due largely to an anonymous letter which she herself received last January, according to Charles Brown, her uncle by marriage.

GREENWICH RECORDS BIG REAL ESTATE DEAL (Pay Article)
GREENWICH Conn June 10AP Fourteen hundred acres of the Converse Farm one of the largest estates in the town of Greenwich

Converse Farm Sold For Building Lots, Brings $1,400,000 (Pay Article)


"Banksville was named after Samuel Banks, who settled on the upper reaches of the Mianus River in the northeast comer of Greenwich in 1700. For the next 200 years it was a quiet farming community, but in 1904 Edmund Converse assembled more than 1,000 acres to create Greenwich's greatest estate, with forty buildings and a staff of 200. Farming operations continued up until 1960. It then lay fallow for twenty years when it was finally sold to the Conyers Farm Partnership and its 1,468 acres subdivided into sixty lots. Conyers Farm is the home of many well-known residents who can afford its magnificent ten -acre lots. It is also the locale for the Greenwich Polo Club where many town residents go to enjoy the polo games on a Sunday afternoon. (As an interesting sidelight, Conyers Farm would not exist nor would most of backcountry Greenwich be the same, had a proposal in 1945 to locate the headquarters of the United Nations here not been defeated by an alarmed group of Greenwich citizens.)

Banksville's small business center near the New York State line is reminiscent of a simpler time. Many of its residents refer to Banksville as the land that time has forgotten. "

Community Mourns Loss of 'Joyous' GHS Sophomore

I'd like to know more about why this happened... People are saying it was suicide... She was apparently part of a loving family, father was a minister... I wonder what was so bad that she wanted to leave this world like that?

Greenwich teenager Josie Day commits suicide

Early Sunday morning eleven-year-old James Day walked into the garage of his backcountry Greenwich home and found his sixteen-year-old sister hanging from the ceiling with a towel covering her face.

Relatives believe sometime between Saturday night early Sunday morning, Josie Day committed suicide.

No one will ever know the real reason why the relatively happy teenager committed suicide, but the family believes Josie never fully got over her difficult childhood living in an orphanage in the Caribbean.

Eight years ago Rev. Randy Day and his wife, Emily, fell in love with a then 8-year-old Josie while visiting an orphanage in Haiti.

With three kids of their own, two from previous marriages, and James, whom they adopted also from Haiti at the age of one, the couple began the necessary paperwork to adopt little Josie.

Seven years ago, not speaking a word of English, Josie came to live with her new family in America.

With help from family and tutors, Josie quickly learned to speak English, but she found it difficult to acclimate in a classroom environment since it was the first time she had ever been to school.

Josie grew into a lovely teenager with lots of friends, but deep down she struggled with the abuse she had suffered while living in the orphanage in Haiti.

Friends said Josie was a talker, but she talked about everything other than her life in Haiti.

Sometime Saturday night or early Sunday morning, Josie, a sophomore at Greenwich High School, walked to the detached two-car garage of her backcountry home, placed a towel over her head and hung herself.

Since the teenager did not leave a suicide note, no one will ever know the real reason why Josie committed suicide.

A wake is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. at the Round Hill Church and funeral services are scheduled for Thursday afternoon, also at 4:00 p.m. at the Round Hill Community church.

----------------------------------------

I think the house they live in is at 3 John Street, it's the white pages result when I searched for Emily Day, wife of the Reverend. Reverend himself has no home listings. 3 John Street is also very close to the church, so makes sense..

------------------------------------------------

Greenwich Time-After a massive earthquake struck her homeland of Haiti earlier this year, Greenwich High School sophomore Josie Day helped raise thousands of dollars to help with the extensive relief effort.

This week, members of the Greenwich community are mourning the loss of the smiling, friendly girl, a talented athlete who shared her culture in a town that was starkly different from where she grew up.

Jocelyne Gilles Day, 16, was born in Haiti and moved to the United States in 2005, after she was adopted by R. Randy Day, now pastor of the First Church of Round Hill, and his wife Emily. Josie, as she was known by friends and family, died Sunday.

"That's all she talked about, was going back to Haiti and helping her village," said Nicole Currivan, 15, also a sophomore and friend of Josie's.

Those who knew Josie were stunned by the loss. The Office of the Chief State's Medical Examiner in Farmington said her death was a suicide.

"We are heartbroken at the loss of our precious Josie," read a statement released by the Day family. "We appreciate the prayers and concerns of the community, and ask that our privacy be respected during this terrible time."

At Greenwich High School Tuesday, there was a moment of silence for Josie, and Superintendent of Schools Sidney Freund said the high school has convened the school crisis team to help students and staff deal with the loss. Counselors and school psychologists were available for grief counseling.

"There are no words that can adequately express the sorrow that is felt for the tragic loss of this young life," Freund said in a statement. "Our hearts go out to the student's family, friends and teachers and we offer our condolences and support."

Josie's friends and teammates on the GHS spring track team remembered her as constantly smiling.

"I think a good word to describe her is very close to her name," said girls track coach Bill Mongovan. "She was a very joyous person."

Mongovan said Josie would openly talk about where she came from, even once sharing the raw sugar cane she brought, and showing her teammates the proper way to eat it.

"When the track season comes along, it's definitely going to be hard for everyone," said junior Claire D'Etiveaud, 16, who was part of a relay team with Josie. "We won't be used to running without her. She brought a lot to the team."

Nicole recalled that Josie loved being around her friends, and was quick with compliments.

"In school, the bell would ring for a class to have started (and) she would walk me to class, even if it meant her being late," Nicole said.

Fellow sophomore Rose Arezzini was in the school orchestra last year with Josie, who played violin.

Rose, 15, said when she first met Josie two years ago, Josie "gave me the biggest hug."

Josie had been working with Rose's older brother, Karl, who has autism, in the Little League Challenger Division, a baseball program for kids with special needs.

"She said, `I've been helping your brother play baseball,'" Rose recalled. "She was just very, very sweet, and she always had a glisten in her eye."

Hundreds have expressed their condolences and shared memories on a Facebook page created as a tribute to Josie.

Some friends said that while Josie seemed happy with her life in Greenwich, she talked about missing her relatives in Haiti. It was clear she had experienced hardship, having grown up in the mountains of Haiti with no electricity or running water, something R. Randy Day mentioned in an article he wrote for Greenwich Time last year.

Josie helped raise money to support the Greenwich teen chapter of Save the Children's Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund.

Nicole said the day she and other friends of Josie's found out about her death, they went online and designed a silicone wristband that said, "Remember Josie." They are thinking of selling them and donating the proceeds to Haiti as a tribute.

"She always wanted to help Haiti," Nicole said. "We wanted to finish what she started."

Aside from her parents, Josie is survived by four siblings, including a brother who was also adopted from Haiti.

Calling hours will be on Wednesday from 4 to 8 p.m. at the First Church of Round Hill, 464 Round Hill Road. A church service will be held on Thursday at 4 p.m. at the Round Hill Community Church, 395 Round Hill Road.

Greenwich Burying Grounds

VIEW SPOTS HERE!!

Super Long Hiatus

I apologize for everyone out there (that still read this) for my incredibly long suspension of posts- I recently started a new job, and have been busy personally as well.

The last few weeks I've become keenly interested (again) in the paranormal and strange. I was researching the hell out of ghost/haunting legends and locale, then somehow branched off into historical research.

I found a lot of interesting information (to me, at least), like how around the corner from my house there was once an infamous sanitarium, Blythewood, which housed all sorts of people with varying levels of mental disease. In my researching of articles I found a series of strange suicides/disappearances of patients from Blythewood, including one article regarding a patient who drowned herself in a pond right by my house that I regularly visit.

My mind was blown- ever since finding this out I've been feverishly researching my town's history as well as our neighboring towns. It's amazing to me learning of things that have happened right here almost "under my nose" in a way, if it weren't just for a small thing- time periods.

It's quite suitable I delve into all this creepy stuff, October's here and fall is quite simply the perfect time.

I've also gotten into mapping out burying grounds and cemeteries, both large and small, new and old, in Fairfield county.

Once I figure out how to post my Google maps on here I will, and share with anyone who's interested all the different creepy spots I've found, whether it be a supposed haunting or just creepy because of something that had historically happened in that spot (usually going hand-in-hand anyways).

Thank you all for loyally visiting, I hope everyone is well!

-Krystle

Woman Killed by Falling Trees ID'd; Remembered by Church

[ARTICLE 2]

Greenwich Time- A Greenwich woman who was killed Saturday after being struck by falling trees was remembered Monday as a "wonderful person" who was active in her church and loved music.

Police identified the woman Monday as 61-year-old June Einhorn, of 19 Boulder Brook Road.

Einhorn was killed Saturday evening during the height of a fierce storm that ripped through Greenwich and caused major destruction in the backcountry, where Einhorn lived.

Police said Einhorn was out walking with her husband, Eric Einhorn, in their northeast Greenwich neighborhood when several trees struck her, causing a severe head injury.

It is believed the Einhorns were walking to a neighbor's house for dinner at the time of the incident. Officials believe she was killed instantly.

On Monday, news of Einhorn's passing shook the members of Christ Church Greenwich, where she had been an involved member for several years.

"She was always very active in a lot of our programs and our music department," said Susan Marks, communications director for the church.

"She was an amazing lady. Very talented. She could do everything, and this is such a loss, not just to Christ Church but to the whole community."

Marks, who described Einhorn as a good friend, said Einhorn was South African and had two children who both recently graduated from college. Her children were in the church choir, Marks said.

"They actually had just moved back to Greenwich," said Marks, noting that the Einhorns had moved out of town for a period. "She was just a wonderful person."

As of Monday afternoon, Marks believed there would be a memorial service at the church, but plans had not been discussed, she said. Einhorn's family could not be reached for comment at their home Monday.

According to online records, the Einhorns were one of numerous donors to a program called the Sekolo Project Inc., which works to help prevent HIV infection in Namibia. Marks said she was familiar with the project and the couple's involvement.

On Sunday, one of the Einhorns' neighbors described how the ordeal unfolded. Neighbor Gary Silberberg said he was outside checking on damage when he was approached by the woman's husband, asking him to help search for his wife.

After grabbing a flashlight from his home, Silberberg returned to find the woman had been lying on the road close to a tree.

"She was lying face down and we turned her over and I couldn't get a pulse and she had a gray pallor on her face," Silberberg said Sunday.

With the assistance of a neighbor, they used a tarpaulin to carry her to a nearby home where a doctor lived. However, Silberberg said there was nothing the doctor could do.

It took medics and police nearly two hours to get to the scene and even longer to get the woman to a hospital due to the damage in the area from falling trees and power lines. Police said the Einhorns arrived at Greenwich Hospital at approximately 11 p.m. Saturday. June Einhorn was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Ingrid McMenamin, president of the Northwest Greenwich Association, said the tragedy demonstrates how residents need to be wary of falling trees and stay indoors if they can.

"Our heart reaches out to the family," said McMenamin. "It is just tragic. It reinforces the need to stay in shelter when the weather is like this."

Falling Tree Kills Backcountry Woman on Way to Dinner

[ARTICLE 1]

This article reflects my uncle (Sgt. Mike O'Connor)'s account of nearly losing his life as well.


Greenwich Time- A 61-year-old woman was killed after a tree struck her on the head as she and her husband walked in their northeast Greenwich neighborhood during the storm Saturday night.

Police did not release the woman's name pending notification of additional family members. Her husband, who was slightly injured, was treated and released from Greenwich Hospital, and could not be reached by telephone Sunday.

The woman and her husband lived on Boulder Brook Road, and were believed to be walking to a neighbor's home for dinner, police said.

Neighbor Gary Silberberg said he was outside checking on damage when he was approached by the woman's husband, asking him to help search for his wife.

"He was upset, he was agitated," Silberberg said. Darkness and extensive tree damage made the search difficult, Silberberg said.

"It was just awful there were so many trees down," he said.

Silberberg returned to his home to find a flashlight. When he returned a few minutes later the woman had been found lying on the road close to a tree.

"She was lying face down and we turned her over and I couldn't get a pulse and she had a gray pallor on her face," said Silberberg, 65, who had been a medic in the Army about 40 years ago.

A neighbor found a tarpaulin and Silberberg and other neighbors carried her to a nearby home where a doctor lived.

The doctor looked at her but there was nothing he could do, Silberberg said.

Police believed one white pine tree knocked two others down, and that one of the those trees fell on the woman's head.

"We think she died instantly," said Chief David Ridberg.

It took almost two hours for police and paramedics to arrive because of the storm damage that blocked roads leading to the scene, said Sgt. Michael O'Connor.

At one point he feared for his life on Stanwich Road.

"We were outside trying to move a tree when we heard a loud crack -- the gust of wind must have been 70 miles per hour easily -- and we jumped back into the truck," he said. "The tree just stopped above the hood, it was the (telephone) wires that stopped it. If I had moved that truck about four feet (before the tree came down) I think it would have crushed the truck."

The tree's trunk, which O'Connor estimated to be about three feet in diameter, stopped just inches above the hood of the police department pickup he was in with two other officers and two paramedics.

"It was right in the windshield, right in our faces," he said. "There were some expletives said and I said let's get out of here."

They parked the vehicle in a driveway and waited for a tree crew to cut the tree to let them through. But another tree was in their way preventing them from responding to Boulder Brook Road.

They got out and walked but in the meantime two detectives had reached the scene, said O'Connor. Instead they responded to other calls including one where a family had been trapped in a car for hours because trees had come down on either side of the car.

"It was like something out of a movie," O'Connor said about the damage wrought by the storm and the danger they were in. "I was scared. I have been a police officer for almost 26 years and I was a volunteer firefighter before that. This was the worst I have ever seen it. I do consider myself lucky."

It wasn't until about 11 p.m. that the woman and her husband were brought to the hospital, police said.

The woman's body will be taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner Monday. Police did not know if an autopsy will be performed Monday.

Daughter Charged in December Stabbing

STAMFORD -- A Greenwich woman was arraigned in state Superior Court Tuesday after police said she stabbed her mother during a domestic violence incident that occurred in December 2009.

Gail Stechel, 20, of Dingletown Road, was charged with first-degree assault and interfering with an emergency 911 call after turning herself in on an arrest warrant Monday night.

Police said officers responded to Stechel's Dingletown Road residence on Dec. 26, 2009, for a report of a possible overdose on pills. When officers arrived, however, they discovered there had been an altercation the night before that left the mother with "numerous facial contusions," police said. Upon further investigation, officers at the scene learned Stechel's mother had been stabbed several times in the face, back, hands arms and legs, according to Lt. Daniel Allen.

Allen said it was not clear if the wounds were superficial or deep, penetrating wounds. Police said if the victim had received treatment at a hospital, police would have been notified to investigate a possible crime. However, they were never notified about the altercation the night of the alleged stabbing.

Allen said the victim and Stechel were taken to Greenwich Hospital on Dec. 26, 2009. The victim's wounds did not appear to be life-threatening then, police said.

Stechel was treated for a possible overdose on pills, according to police reports.

Allen said in the months after responding to the incident, detectives decided to pursue an arrest warrant to charge her with the crimes.

Police said officers found a knife and other evidence at the scene of the home.

Allen said Stechel posted a $100,000 bond and was released Monday night.

Her attorney, Mark Sherman, said Stechel appeared in state Superior Court for her arraignment Tuesday afternoon, where a judge held her bond at $100,000 and issued a partial protective order allowing Stechel to have contact with her mother, but barring her from any further physical altercations.

Sherman declined to comment on the circumstances behind the incident, as did police.

"This is a delicate, sensitive family situation," said Sherman following the hearing. "The family has begun the healing process and put mechanisms in place so that this does not happen again."

Pomerance, Fall of 2009.

Instead of the silly slideshow, click here to view the actual album!

Gorgeous shots if I may say so myself..!

Boy Hit By Car Friday Night Taken to Hospital in Critical Condition

Greenwich Time- A 12-year-old boy was in critical condition as of Friday night after being struck by a car near the intersection of East Putnam Avenue and Robertson Lane, police said.

The boy was in the area with a couple of friends around 8:30 p.m. when he was struck, said Sgt. Michael O`Connor, who released few additional details about the accident. The boy was taken to Stamford Hospital.

O`Connor said he didn`t anticipate any charges against the driver, who had stopped after hitting the boy. O`Connor had no updates on the boy`s condition, but said he was moved to another facility, although he didn`t specify which one.

Crime Library Files: Martha Moxley Murder

The Martha Moxley murder trial culminates in a guilty verdict for Michael Skakel.

Read the facts leading up to this historical decision.

[CrimeLibrary.com article ]

Scenic Bruce Park

Bruce Museum & Pomerance

So I took some pretty pictures taken while out biking today:

The first shot was actually an accident- I was tipping over on my bike! A man was walking two dogs, one of them barked and scared me while I was trying to take a shot of the pond, like the second picture.

And I visited a sculpture exhibit over at Bruce Museum:

Look familiar? It's Connecticut coast line =]

(I really wasn't supposed to be photographing the last two ;] )

Matthew Margolies

Poor little Matthew. This always struck close to home, because it's one of two crazy unsolved murders from my hometown- Greenwich, Connecticut. Although Martha Moxely's justice took a while to achieve, justice was finally served in her case, a feeling of closure that unfortunately the Margolies family hasn't had the fortune of having.

NY Daily News Crime File Article:


The other Greenwich murder

----------------------------------------------------

BY DAVID J. KRAJICEK
SPECIAL TO THE DAILY NEWS

Sunday, September 2nd 2007, 4:00 AM
Summer was in its Labor Day swoon, and eighth grade loomed just ahead for Matthew Margolies.

His footloose days were numbered, so he decided to spend Aug. 31, 1984 - Friday of the holiday weekend - pursuing his favorite hobby: angling.

The gangly 13-year-old was Greenwich, Conn.'s version of Huck Finn. He was rarely seen without a fishing pole, stalking chubby trout in the Byram River near his home on Pilgrim Drive, which traverses the border between Greenwich and Port Chester, N.Y.

Young Margolies lived with his mother, Maryann, and older sister in the blue-collar Pemberwick section of Greenwich, far from the broad lawns and mansions of Belle Haven.

Maryann Margolies worked as a nurse, and Matthew was a latchkey kid, splitting time between his own home and that of his maternal grandmother, who lived a few blocks away.

It had been a difficult year for Matthew.

His parents had split up, and he had become estranged from his father, who moved to Texas. His beloved grandfather and angling guru, George Miazga, had died earlier that month, leaving Matthew without a fishing buddy.

Yet the boy never lost his passion for the sport, his mother would later say. On most days, he would pull on his distinctive black-and-white checkered sneakers and head to the river.

At 4:30 p.m. that Friday, passersby saw the boy fishing at one of his favorite spots, the Comley Ave. bridge over the Byram, near his grandma's place.

Maryann Margolies had arranged to pick him up at 5. Matthew was normally punctual, and his mother was concerned when he failed to show up.

She drove the neighborhood, then phoned police at 7 p.m., as darkness beckoned.

She found herself up against the familiar missing-child bugaboo. Greenwich police told her to drive around and call the boy's name. They suggested he may have been despondent and in hiding over the trauma of losing his grandfather.

Call again if he doesn't turn up, cops told the panicked mother.

On Saturday afternoon, police finally mustered a legitimate response, including media bulletins and a search. They would look for several days but find nothing.

On Wednesday, Sept. 5, a man who had read about the missing boy was walking in the woods when he spotted a pair of checkered sneakers strewn beside the footpath.

He ran to alert police, and the body of young Matthew was found nearby beneath tree branches and stones.

He had been killed there, police said, near the river half a mile upstream from where he was last seen fishing.

It was a horrible way to die. He had been stabbed a dozen times in the torso and neck, and his hands were slashed to ribbons. He had died fighting.

His mouth and throat had been jammed with dirt and sticks while he was still alive, and he had died of asphyxiation.

Authorities judged it a torture death. A woman in the area later reported that she heard a boy's agonized screams at about 6 on the evening he went missing.

Matthew was found in his underwear, although he had not been molested. Police theorized his shorts were removed in an act of humiliation, not sexual assault.

The murder weapon - an old 10-1/2--inch boning knife with a wooden handle - was found near the body.

The murder seemed to be a spontaneous act, perhaps by a psychopathic teenager.

With a body, crime scene evidence and a distinct murder weapon in hand, police seemed likely to solve the murder.

They had at least eight suspects, including several teenagers. One was a 16-year-old bully who lived near the murder scene. Another was found with the fishing rod Matthew used that Friday. (He claimed he bought it from him for $2.)

But weeks and months passed without an arrest. A year after the murder, a Greenwich police captain confidently told a reporter, "Somebody knows who owns this knife. Sooner or later, that person will come forward."

So far, he's been wrong.

For years, the Margolies slaying was known as Greenwich's other unsolved murder. But it garnered only a fraction of the attention given the 1975 clubbing death of Martha Moxley, 15, in the city's Belle Harbor gated enclave.

The Moxley family finally got justice in 2002, when Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

But the Margolies family still waits, 23 years later.

In his book about the Moxley case, Los Angeles Detective Mark Fuhrman gave this damning assessment of the local police: "In Greenwich, unsolved homicides are business as usual. Other than self-solvers, I could not find a single homicide in nearly 50 years that the Greenwich police have actually solved."

When the Margolies probe stalled, the city hired Vernon Geberth, the ace NYPD homicide investigator, to evaluate the investigation. He wasn't impressed.

Geberth noted that until the body was found, the investigation was assigned not to detectives but to youth division officers, who were more accustomed to tracking runaways than solving murders.

Greenwich police prefer not to say much nowadays about the investigation, which has been passed to a state cold case squad.

The state has a standing $50,000 reward offer, but any chance of solving the murder likely lies with DNA from the stored crime scene evidence.

A few years ago, investigators scrutinized Roger Bates, an ex-Port Chester cop convicted of sex abuse of a teenage boy in Texas. He was said to have been acquainted with young Margolies, but that lead dead-ended, too.

The victim would have been 36 this Labor Day weekend - and he'd probably have been fishing.

Instead, a plaque in memory of Greenwich's Huck Finn stands over one of his favorite holes on the Byram. It reads:

"Matthew Margolies,

An Excellent Angler,

And Now With God

1971-1984"

Greenwich's St. Patty's Day Parade

Today At Binney Park