4 face charges after human remains discovered on Long Island
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. -- Two men and two women have been charged after body parts were discovered last week on Long Island.
Since last Thursday, human remains belonging to the victims were found in Babylon Village's Southards Pond Park, Bethpage State Park and in a wooded area of West Babylon.
Investigators said a high school student made the initial discovery, then a cadaver dog turned up a severed head, legs and arms with the fingertips removed.
Many questions remain about the murders of two people from Yonkers.
Suffolk County Police say 44-year-old Steven Brown, 38-year-old Jeffrey Mackey, 40-year-old Amanda Wallace and 33-year-old Alexis Nieves were charged with concealment of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and hindering prosecution. They have not been charged with murder.
Authorities gave no motives nor relationships to one another or to the victims, but the DA said the four went to "barbaric lengths" to cover the crime.
Attorneys said their clients are innocent.
"He didn't kill anybody. As far as I can see, from the get go, this case is filled with a lot of presumptions," Mackey's attorney John Halverson said.
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Prosecutors told a judge there was so much blood in pipes, sink, shower and toilet of the Railroad Avenue home in Amityville where the suspects were arrested that it was deemed uninhabitable. Police said the confiscated "meat cleavers, butcher knives, flesh and body parts."
Attorneys for Brown and Mackey admitted their clients lived in the Amityville home, but denied chopping up the 59-year-old woman and 53-year-old man, whose last known address was in Yonkers.
"He's dealing with it best he can. As you can imagine, a very difficult situation," Brown's attorney Ira Weissman said.
Halverson said he wasn't going to discuss the charges or relationship to the victim.
Wallace also lived with Brown and Mackey in Amityville. Police said Nieves is homeless.
All four pleaded not guilty. The judge released them without bail. They were fitted with GPS monitoring, must report to in-person probation and surrender their passports.
The district attorney and Suffolk County executive expressed outrage that the defendants were not remanded.
"The failure of Albany's bail laws has resulted in those charged with dismembering and placing body parts in our communities to walk free without posting any bail. This is outrageous, and completely unacceptable in a civilized society," Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine said.
The grand jury will hear evidence. Charges may be upgraded.