District Attorney Tierney and Governor Hochul Go Tit-for-Tat in Babylon Body Parts Case

As Suffolk officials rally for changes in a criminal justice system that saw four suspects in a body mutilation case set free with no bail, Suffolk District Attorney Raymond Tierney and Gov. Kathy Hochul went tit-for-tat on who’s to blame for their release.

Hochul went on FOX 5 NY with Rosanna Scotto and declared: "Maybe the DA should have done a more thorough investigation and brought murder charges or conspiracy to commit murder or even assault charges because all of them are bail eligible. I encourage the DA's office to go back and build your case because if you bring any of those charges, which I think would be appropriate, that's absolutely bail-eligible. Those people would not be out on the street."

Tierney fired right back: "Governor Hochul is either completely clueless or being deceitful about how the criminal justice system works. Prosecutors have a duty to bring only charges that are supported by evidence. Anything else would be unethical.” According to Tierney, Suffolk Police homicide detectives are working 24/7 to put together a murder case. “For the governor to criticize the efforts of these detectives without knowing any of the facts in defense of a broken bail system is both baffling and indefensible. When law enforcement had enough evidence to arrest these defendants for serious felonies, they did the right thing and made those arrests. Did the governor want the police to leave them out despite having evidence that they cut up and disposed of two bodies?"

Suffolk District Attorney’s Office & Governor’s Office

Police arrested four suspects in a case that horrified residents after a girl walking to school discovered body parts at Southards Pond Park in Babylon. More remains were found at two other locations, and police discovered a grisly crime scene at a house in Amityville that three of the defendants called home. Charged with mutilation, hindering prosecution, and illegally disposing of body parts–all ineligible for bail under state law passed in 2019 under former Gov. Andrew Cuomo–the suspects, including a person listed as homeless, were set free.

Gov. Kathy Hochul Suffolk District Attorney’s Office

One of the suspects, Amanda Wallace, 40, found herself behind bars anyway for breaking the terms of her no-bail agreement by getting arrested for shoplifting. At the bare minimum, you should be able to go nine days without being rearrested,” Judge James McDonaugh told the defendant. Police have identified two victims in the case: Donna R. Conneely, 59, and Malcolm C. Brown, 53, both previously of Yonkers.

"The governor’s platform on public safety is laughably inadequate, and she should know enough not to comment on ongoing investigations,” Tierney went on. “It would be helpful if the governor confined her comments to subjects that she knows something about."

The high-level spat is reminiscent of a verbal tiff between the governor and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who remarked that she should stay out of Long Island. Blakeman panned what he called Hochul’s pro-criminal, anti-police stance and her efforts to usurp local zoning authority to build multi-family housing.

Suffolk District Attorney Raymond Tierney Suffolk District Attorney’s Office

"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," Tierney said when the defendants were released. "We will work with the Suffolk County Police Department to resolve this investigation as soon as possible and implore our Legislature to make common sense fixes to this law."

Also pressuring the governor was County Executive Edward Romaine, who appeared with a bi-partisan group of officials and members of law enforcement at a Hauppauge press conference calling on Hochul to scrap the cashless bail system. They urged her to include the necessary language in her budget resolution the same way Cuomo changed the bail laws in 2019. They’re also calling on Hochul, who served under Cuomo as lieutenant governor, to allow judges more discretion in holding suspects such as those arrested in the Babylon Body Parts case.