News: Long Island Gym Owner Convicted
(Long Island, N.Y.) A forty-two-year-old Dix Hills resident and co-owner of five fitness gyms on Long Island was convicted Monday on two murder charges. One of the crimes dates back eighteen years to June of 1994, when he was twenty-five. The jury did not reach a verdict on the third murder charge, which involved the death of Twisted Sister front man Dee Snider’s brother-in-law.
On June 23rd, 1994 an armored car driver and guard was killed after an alleged $100,000 was robbed from his vehicle in broad daylight. The incident occurred on a Syosset sidewalk where the driver worked for the Mid Island Check Cashing company. Though reports stated that the guard was fatally shot by the accomplice, the gym owner wore a mask and participated in the crime, making him a conspirator.
Investigators believed that, following the robbery, he planned to kill his former associate out of fear he’d turn on him for leniency in sentencing. The associate had been arrested on unrelated racketeering charges months after the robbery, and on August 12th, 1994 he was murdered. His remains were found days later by the US Coast Guard who discovered a tool trunk containing a body.
In 2003 another associate of the gym owner, Snider’s brother-in-law, was shot and killed in New York City. Reports stated that the deceased had recorded the gym owner’s admission to the previous crimes. Snider claims that his brother-in-law believed the gym owner was a bad man and gave his life to have him stopped.
Snider has released a family statement thanking police and authorities who handled the case for their hard work during the years since his brother-in-law’s murder. Speaking on behalf of the deceased’s loved ones; he claimed to be grateful for a sense of legal closure. He also recognized that nothing can bring back a man who was cherished or retract the loss.
Reports stated that the gym owner was charged in 2008 for the crimes, fourteen years after the initial robbery and murder of the guard. He now faces two mandatory life sentences for the murders of the armored car driver and his associate. His trial lasted for eight weeks and was presented in front of a federal jury in the Central Islip Courthouse.
Since the jury failed to reach a verdict in the case of Snider’s brother-in-law, a retrial is to take place in August. If convicted, the gym owner could face a maximum of another life sentence. This has some followers of the case questioning the logic behind the decision for a retrial, being that the defendant has already received two mandatory life sentences.
During this time, family and friends of the gym owner have demonstrated their support through web-pages and blogs. Despite the outcome of the trial, they have continued to campaign for him and have maintained his innocence. They believe that he had been waiting for his day in court to set the record straight after having been wrongly accused of the crimes.
