YaYa_521
Retired WS Staff
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2019
- Messages
- 16,712
- Reaction score
- 47,999
NIAGARA FALLS: Cops say tey never stop working on cold cases
Phil Bennett’s body wasn’t even cold when the addicts and street hustlers he serviced and feuded with began to pick his pockets, taking his stash of crack and even the
www.niagara-gazette.com
SBM
n the early morning hours of Sept. 28, 2001, Anthony Avojan was asleep in the living room of 1814 Niagara Ave. Also sleeping in the living room were a husband and wife, friends of Avojan, and three children.
Police investigators say it wasn’t uncommon for Avojan to be at the Niagara Avenue home.
“He hung out there and worked on cars with one of the residents,” Coney said.
However the home wasn’t noted in the neighborhood just for auto repairs. Detectives say it was “a well- known weed house.”
“People in the neighborhood knew what went on there,” Coney said. “You ask the guys hanging by the convenience store on the corner, and they told you that was the place to go buy weed.”
As Avojan and his friends slept, at 3:35 a.m., bad things were about to happen.
First, there was a knock at the side door of the home, but before anyone could answer the knock, someone kicked in the door. A single suspect, brandishing a shotgun stepped into the dining room of the home as Avojan was waking toward closed French doors and separated the living room from the dining area.
“There were two shots fired,” Coney said. “One, which we think was accidental, into the floor and one through the French doors.”
[snip]
As investigators looked for evidence, they didn’t find much. To preserve the crime scene, officers actually took the people inside the home out a rear window.
“The best piece of evidence we found at the scene was a sneaker print (from the killer),” Palmer said.
Despite checking the unique print, from an Air Force 1 sneaker, against a number of pairs of footwear belonging to potential persons of interest, detectives didn’t get a match, Now, more than five years later, investigators worry that the sneaker print evidence has probably lost most of its value.
“That sneaker is probably long gone now,” Palmer said. “How long do you keep your sneakers?”
# More at link
Cold Case: A nearly 20-year search for suspect in Falls homicide
Nobody is really sure who killed Anthony Avojan in the early morning hours of Sept. 28, 2001.
www.niagara-gazette.com
SBM
A witness told police they saw a car speeding away from the scene, but that was all they saw. Eventually, detectives released a description of a possible suspect, described as a black male wearing a short-sleeve white shirt and white sneakers. The suspect also reportedly wore a black bandana.
[snip]
Detectives said the vague description of the suspect, the suddenness of the crime and the possible tie to weed dealing may have chilled the desire of those with information to cooperate with authorities.
A year later, in an effort to spark movement in the case, members of the victim's family posted a reward for information. The reward led to a few tip calls, but no solid leads.
# More at link
).