Body Parts Pair Cop Pleas
Two of the suspects in the Babylon Body Parts case have copped pleas that will bring them to justice for helping cut up and dispose of the remains of two victims but spare them of murder charges.
An Amityville home became a horror house when Jeffrey Mackey and Alexis Nieves stabbed and strangled Malcolm Craig Brown and Donna Conneely, visiting from Yonkers, and the suspects tried to hide the evidence, according to the police.
Housemates Steven Brown and Amanda Wallace admitted to helping cut up the bodies and drop them off at wooded areas in the Babylon area and Bethpage in February. They were discovered by high school students walking to class, leading police to a grisly scene at the Railroad Avenue house.
Brown and Wallace pleaded guilty to felony charges, including conspiracy, concealment of a human corpse, and hindering prosecution. The case exposed the state’s cashless bail system, as the suspects could not be held on those charges. The criminal justice conundrum set off a spat between District Attorney Ray Tierney, a vocal critic of the bail laws, and Gov. Kathy Hochul, who commented that the DA could have held the suspects had he arrested them on a murder rap, charges Tierney said at the time he was not ready to bring.
Brown and Wallace face 1-5 years for their crimes when they are sentenced before Supreme Court Judge John Collins. In court, Wallace pointed the finger at Mackey and Nieves for killing the Yonkers pair. She expressed remorse for her role in the coverup and said through her attorney that she copped the plea to get on with her life. She is expected to be a key witness in the murder prosecution.
The case horrified Long Islanders when it was reported that arms later identified as belonging to Brown were found by the teens at Southards Pond Park in Babylon. Subsequent searches uncovered body parts in West Babylon and Bethpage State Park. Police described a gruesome scene at the Amityville house where bloodied meat cleavers and butcher knives were discovered, along with sink drains clogged with human remains.
Brown and Wallace’s sentencing will also include charges for their role in a robbery of a Valero gas station with Mackey a week before the murders. Shortly after she was released in the dismemberment case, Wallace was arrested for shoplifting at a Lindenhurst CVS while wearing an ankle bracelet, a condition of her cashless bail deal.