2 of 4 suspects appear in court in Long Island body parts case
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. - Two of the suspects after human remains were found on Long Island were back in court Friday.
A judge ordered them to continue wearing electronic monitoring bracelets.
Alexis Nieves and Jeffrey Mackey, two of the four charged with concealing and dismembering a human corpse, were again released pending upgraded charges.
"The DA plans to present the case to a grand jury. We waived their speedy trial rights," Mackey's attorney John Halverson said.
Halverson said Nieves and Mackey are "in a relationship," and had nothing to do with carving up two bodies.
They left court saying only they're not guilty. Their ankle monitor bracelets were visible.
"Until there is an indictment, the GPS will remain," Halverson said.
Two other suspects, Amanda Wallace and Steven Brown, will return to arraignment court Monday.
The charges the four face, so far, are not eligible for bail under the 2019 bail reform law, which has been amended several times.
"We are here today to announce new legislation making the mutilation of a human corpse a qualifying offense under the bail law," St. Sen. Anthony Palumbo said. "Out of the entire 50 states in the union, New York is the only state that does not allow judges to consider 'dangerousness' when setting bail."
"If prosecutors are, were able to argue 'dangerousness' in their bail application, those four defendants would be in jail," Suffolk DA Ray Tierney said.
"Can't believe. I was talking to my wife about the whole thing," Gerald Choy said. He and his wife live near the Babylon park where human remains were first found. "Like, being in possession of a body part - is that not on the list?"
He was referring to the list of what qualifies for bail.
"I'm not against bail reform in general, but they need to - definitely need to - update it," Babylon Village homeowner Joseph Ermert said.
"The bail laws I thought were gone too far, wrong direction. I'm bringing them back, and we will continue to make sure we keep people safe," Gov. Kathy Hochul said.
There's still no word from the medical examiner about the cause of death, and police are mum about the victims' identities, except to say the bodies of a 59-year-old woman and 53-year-old man were chopped up and strewn in locations across Suffolk County.
The home where the suspects lived has been deemed uninhabitable.