NY - Lois Colley, 83, beaten to death, North Salem, 9 Nov 2015 *Arrest*

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  • #41
wfgodot said:
Going back & forth here between the random (break-in) and the conspiratorial (much closer to home).
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Both are possible in my opinion too. Perhaps the burglar knew her and he didn't expect her to be home. I wonder if anything of value is missing or if the house was ransacked.
 
  • #42
The investigation into the murder of a Westchester County socialite on her 300-acre horse farm in November has led to the arrest of two workers on the estate who are accused of stealing about $30,000 worth of hay over nearly three years. The two men, Angel H. Parra Penafiel and Hugo Ramirez-Morales, were arrested on Sunday and charged with felony grand larceny...

One law enforcement official who had been briefed on the investigation cautioned that there was no evidence linking the two men to the murder and that the theft of the hay was uncovered “tangentially” to the murder investigation. “This most likely isn’t the big break in the case,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was continuing. “Put it this way, these guys are all part of a greater or lesser circle of people who may or may not know something.”
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http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/07/nyregion/lois-colley-murder-investigation-hay-theft-arrests.html
 
  • #43
Maybe LE thinks there is no evidence that Lois knew about the hay theft, but I would not be surprised if she did figure it out. That is a lot of hay to go missing, $30,000 in 3 years. I have horses and I know how much hay I have, down to the number of bales. She may not have counted all the bales but she would have had a general idea of how much hay she had and knew something was up. I think she found out and they killed her before she could expose them. My feeling is that the laundry room where she was found was probably the way into the home from the barn. Many people with horses/stock will have a "mud room" entrance. This may be the way helpers went up to the home to speak to Lois. I doubt barn workers would go to the front door. I think she confronted one of them about the missing hay and they grabbed the extinguisher and killed her. There was nothing else taken.
 
  • #44
colette said:
Maybe LE thinks there is no evidence that Lois knew about the hay theft, but I would not be surprised if she did figure it out. That is a lot of hay to go missing, $30,000 in 3 years. I have horses and I know how much hay I have, down to the number of bales. She may not have counted all the bales but she would have had a general idea of how much hay she had and knew something was up. I think she found out and they killed her before she could expose them. My feeling is that the laundry room where she was found was probably the way into the home from the barn. Many people with horses/stock will have a "mud room" entrance. This may be the way helpers went up to the home to speak to Lois. I doubt barn workers would go to the front door. I think she confronted one of them about the missing hay and they grabbed the extinguisher and killed her. There was nothing else taken.
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I agree. At any given time I could tell exactly how many bales of hay should be out there and at just a glance I would notice if more were missing that shouldn't be.
 
  • #45
This may be why the investigation seems to be taking a long time, potentially uncovering more things (e.g. this crime) as they investigate.

Very sad.
 
  • #46
I really don't think LE would sit on a murder arrest in this case in order to nab more hay thieves.
 
  • #47
I don't think they have enough evidence to arrest for murder so they got them on the hay. At least that way they have them in custody. My opinion only.
 
  • #48
  • #49
I have to admit that it hasn't, but we do lock the doors at night; I've always had really big, loud dogs here, and it would take a very determined person to want to get in here for any reason, unless that person was familiar with my animals and their habits. And...I am not known to be an especially friendly person, so strangers may approach cautiously. The family that I work for have a german shepherd guard dog, and their door is never locked, either.
 
  • #50
People here have speculated about whether or not anything besides the fire extinguisher may have been taken-and of course, the police wouldn't say if there was. North Salem really is a quiet little town, where you don't expect much besides the occasional DWI arrest to happen. But interestingly, there were a number of car thefts recently, too. Not related to the Colley murder, but it shows that you really can expect anything to happen anywhere-maybe I better start locking my doors...
 
  • #51
I don't think the Colley house is too near to the barn; but there are several houses on that property as you travel up their long driveway; you can't even see the main house from the street. Having said that, I think she may have discovered the theft of hay-but I doubt that she would have called one of them up to the house to speak with her about it. She would more likely have spoken with the barn manager or caretaker, or whoever was in charge of the operations there; Windswept farm is a big outfit on 300 acres. I am having a difficult time imagining that a stranger may have walked or driven past the other houses on that long driveway, and back out again after killing her; I also don't think that 2 guys who stole $30,000 from the Colleys would have still been in town if one of them killed her. They should have been long gone, if one of them was responsible. But they may know something that the police don't regarding what may have happened that day
 
  • #52
If one of the hay wrestlers killed Lois and they thought no one knew and he could get away with it, why wouldn't he stay? Running away would make everyone look at him, so he would stay there and act innocent IMO.
 
  • #53
  • #54
  • #55
Two long years without much, perhaps a break soon. Thoughts are with her family near this sad anniversary.
 
  • #56
No new updates.
 
  • #57
I read about this one last year. New member to Websleuths and can't find that this was ever a thread here. Baffling story.

I just don't buy the burglar angle. If she interrupted them, they must have just arrived since nothing was missing other than the suspected murder weapon.


http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/12/n...-murder-of-lois-colley-society-matriarch.html


http://www.lohud.com/story/news/crime/2015/11/10/north-salem-homicide/75505208/


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...eyed-death-millionaires-83-year-old-wife.html
 
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