GUILTY NY - Four people shot to death in Medford pharmacy robbery, 19 June 2011

[starviego]

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/06...pharmacy-massacre-suspect-appearing-in-court/
Police said they found 11,000 hydrocodone*pills inside Laffer*and Brady’s basement apartment....

They lie and lie and lie. I wonder how they are going to change the story around next?

They got rid of all the pills, except a thousand of them, when even one could tie them to the robbery. They buried the barrel of the gun in their yard, when they could have tossed it out while driving on the LI thruway. It is a wonder that anybody believes their garbage.

 

[Reader]

http://post-journal.com/page/conten...ife-knew-4-would-be-shot.html?isap=1&nav=5027

July 20, 2011
Associated Press

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) — A woman accused of driving the getaway car after her husband allegedly massacred four people inside a pharmacy during a prescription painkiller theft will not be charged with murder because authorities have no evidence she knew in advance the killings would happen, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

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Spota said the relatives were understandably upset that a grand jury failed to indict Brady on murder charges, but he said they understood the legal reasons. None of the relatives of the four shooting victims spoke with reporters after Brady's arraignment.

"I committed to them that if Mr. Laffer is convicted of the intentional murder of these people that he will never see the light of day," the prosecutor said.

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Spota said since the couple's arrest, investigators have returned to their Medford home, where they located additional parts of the disassembled weapon allegedly used in the holdup, as well as 1,000 hydrocodone-type pills secreted in an appliance box. Prosecutors had previously said another 1,000 pills were found at the couple's home, but Spota conceded the exact number of pills taken during the robbery may never be known.

He said the couple flushed an unknown number of pills down the toilet before they were arrested.

More at link...

 

[Reader]

Found a link that gives a better account of Melinda Brady's statement to reporters regarding her husband David Laffer (since there was a question who she was talking about):

http://www.newsday.com/news/breaking/david-laffer-s-wife-i-m-sorry-1.2978862 - excerpt

Led from police headquarters overnight, Brady was besieged by reporters. Here's how she responded to those questions early Thursday:

"Are you addicted to drugs?" a reporter asked.

"No," Brady said.

Another asked, "Melinda, why do you think David did it?"

"Because ... he was doing it because ... it may be because he lost his job over my health."

"What do you have to say to the families?" a reporter asked.

"That I'm sorry he did all of this," she replied.

Another reporter said, "Did you drive the getaway car?"

"What?" she said.

"Did you drive the car away from the scene? Did you help him? Did you help him at all? Did you drive the car?"

"Who keeps talking to me? Can you stop ... I can't see ... for a second?" Brady said. "So I can see who is talking to me?"

"Were you there when he did it?" a reporter asked.

"He did it ... on ... He did all of it," she said.

"Did you give him away?" a reporter said.

"Can you stop doing that to me?" Brady said.

 

[jjenny]

http://post-journal.com/page/conten...ife-knew-4-would-be-shot.html?isap=1&nav=5027

July 20, 2011
Associated Press

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) — A woman accused of driving the getaway car after her husband allegedly massacred four people inside a pharmacy during a prescription painkiller theft will not be charged with murder because authorities have no evidence she knew in advance the killings would happen, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

----------
Spota said the relatives were understandably upset that a grand jury failed to indict Brady on murder charges, but he said they understood the legal reasons. None of the relatives of the four shooting victims spoke with reporters after Brady's arraignment.

"I committed to them that if Mr. Laffer is convicted of the intentional murder of these people that he will never see the light of day," the prosecutor said.

---------
Spota said since the couple's arrest, investigators have returned to their Medford home, where they located additional parts of the disassembled weapon allegedly used in the holdup, as well as 1,000 hydrocodone-type pills secreted in an appliance box. Prosecutors had previously said another 1,000 pills were found at the couple's home, but Spota conceded the exact number of pills taken during the robbery may never be known.

He said the couple flushed an unknown number of pills down the toilet before they were arrested.

More at link...

I find that very puzzling. There are people convicted of felony murders in robbery cases who didn't know anyone would be shot. For instance, the two adult men were convicted of murder in case of a teenager shot by Jerome Ersland. I presume they also had no idea that this teenager would be shot and killed. The two of them themselves weren't actually physical participants in the robbery, they are alleged of being masterminds. They didn't kill the teenager themselves and didn't physically participate in a robbery. And there obviously was no problem in getting a murder conviction. So how is this case different?

 

[Reader]

A more recent article on the couple:

http://www.newsday.com/news/breaking/drugstore-slayings-downfall-of-a-couple-1.3034397

Excerpts:

David Laffer needed cash. Twice last spring, he pawned jewelry at a shop in Selden.

On April 5, he brought in a 14-carat gold wedding band with a Greek design to Empire Pawn Inc. on Middle Country Road.

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It was not readily apparent then why Laffer needed the cash. From outward appearances, he and his wife, Melinda Brady, lived comfortably in an apartment carved out of his mother's house in Medford. He had a steady job as a clerk for a measuring-instruments company in Yaphank.

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But within the past year, they had become socially withdrawn from small circles of casual friends.........

A neighbor, Kimberly Lavieri, noticed that Brady had become increasingly incoherent. When they saw each other outside, "she could hardly talk," Lavieri said. "She had her eyes closed. She didn't make sense."

------
Ten days before the Haven Drugs killings, Laffer was suspended from his job of seven years at COSA Xentaur Instrument Corp. when he was accused of stealing, according to police. His supervisor, who asked not to be identified, said Laffer was recorded on video going through her purse and taking $300.

"That's not the person that worked here," said the supervisor, stunned by the theft.

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Members of both Laffer and Brady's immediate family have declined interviews. Laffer's paternal aunt, Miriam Laffer of Merrick, said the accused killer's mom and sister were in a state of shock.

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Signs of their eventual undoing, however, were already visible to those who looked closely......In June 2008, she wrote: "I have known him for 4 years and he is a wonderful man he has changed the last few months and he says it is me I bring out the worst in him and I screwed him up."

She also wrote that month of using three different painkillers including Vicodin, a brand of hydrocodone.

 

[Reader]

I find that very puzzling. There are people convicted of felony murders in robbery cases who didn't know anyone would be shot. For instance, the two adult men were convicted of murder in case of a teenager shot by Jerome Ersland. I presume they also had no idea that this teenager would be shot and killed. The two of them themselves weren't actually physical participants in the robbery, they are alleged of being masterminds. They didn't kill the teenager themselves and didn't physically participate in a robbery. And there obviously was no problem in getting a murder conviction. So how is this case different?

It's puzzling to me also because in my state anyone who participates in a felony is usually charged the same as the one(s) who injured or murdered someone during the crime. I'm not sure of the law in N.Y. but maybe the grand jury considered that she did not even know he had a gun with him?

In this article DA Spote explains it a little better:

http://www.newsday.com/news/breaking/da-spota-explains-melinda-brady-s-charges-1.3036116

Though Brady, 29, implicated herself during questioning by detectives in the plot to steal thousands of painkillers from Haven Drugs, she said the shootings were not part of the plan, according to authorities.

"We cannot legally prove that she was aware that he had armed himself with a deadly weapon or that he intended to kill the people in the drugstore," Spota said after Brady's arraignment, explaining why she was not charged with second-degree murder.

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The new charge against Brady (first degree robbery) -- upgraded from third-degree robbery -- carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.

 

[joe jones]

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/long_island&id=8344413

to plead guilty on Thursday, if only more defendants pled to what they have done and did not drag out trials for years at great expense,

 

[joe jones]

http://indianapublicmedia.org/news/11year-olds-murder-trial-conclude-today-0907-20035/

both pled guilty, sentenced October 17th

 

[starviego]

There is nothing to be gained for the defendants by pleading guilty. At least Laffer could have negotiated a deal where his wife could have pled to a lesser crime in exchange for his cooperation. They got bad legal advice, and I'll bet they'll try to argue for withdrawing their pleas after a couple of years in prison.

 

[joe jones]

There is nothing to be gained for the defendants by pleading guilty. At least Laffer could have negotiated a deal where his wife could have pled to a lesser crime in exchange for his cooperation. They got bad legal advice, and I'll bet they'll try to argue for withdrawing their pleas after a couple of years in prison.

why should one gain something from a guilty plea, he committed the crimes, he pled guilty, she committed the crimes she pled guilty

if more defendants did so then the system would not be in such a mess,

I think it takes courage to accept what you have done and to accept the punishment and not expect anything else, they will have short shrift if they wish to ever try to renege on the guilty plea, the judge explained very clearly to them both what a guilty plea meant, so there will be no comeback if ever they got cold feet,

 

[joe jones]

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?s...120&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

David Laffer gives interview to news media

 

[joe jones]

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?s...899&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

sentenced today, the Judges comments about her apology were very apt

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

Family of LI Pharmacy Nassacre Victim Suing Drug Maker, Doctor


"The family of one of four people killed during a New York pharmacy holdup says it’s filing a lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies that make oxycodone and the doctor who allegedly prescribed painkillers to the convicted murderer."

"The attorney for the family of Jamie Taccetta says the suit also names the Suffolk County police department and the Long Island pharmacy owner."

"Attorney John Ray scheduled a news conference Thursday to announce the suit."



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