Found Deceased NY - Sheila Abdus-Salaam, 65, Harlem, 12 April 2017

[deugirtni]

Depending on which news is the 'fake news', it seems that:
-not a Muslim: Sheila was born 'Sheila Turner'; she married Sharif Abdus-Salaam and kept his name; according to Sheila's family, she has not been a practising Muslim for 20 years:

"The judge's extended family also weighed-in on Abdus-Salaam, who was born Sheila Turner and who was widely hailed as the nation's first female Muslim judge.
"Sheila has not been a practicing Muslim for the past 20 years," the Turner Family said in their statement. "She continued to use her first husband's surname professionally"

-Sheila's mother and brother apparently did NOT commit suicide:

"The Turner Family also took aim at reports that Abdus-Salaam's mother and brother had also committed suicide. "Sheila's mother, the matriarch of our family who died at age 92 in 2012, did not take her own life," their statement read. "Shelia's younger brother, who died in 2014, lost his battle with terminal lung cancer.""

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/husband-dead-new-york-judge-pleads-help-after-cops-call-n748411

Being as how she was a judge, and also that she 'had lived in Harlem almost all of her adult life', it seems she would have been aware of any risks a woman may be exposed to while being out alone in the streets at night (in NYC, no less??) - would she really have gone out without her cellphone? ID? And bank card? What about her keys? Was she found ONLY with a Metro card? Why did she have that? Did she use it? Where did she go? Also, considering her career as a judge, IF she had contemplated suicide, would she not think ahead to the possibility that her loved one could potentially be blamed for her mysterious death, and leave some kind of indication which would vindicate him, ie a note, something?

She took the surname of her first husband and kept it during her professional career. She was married a total of three times.
Due to the fact that her first husband, was a Muslim it was reported that she was the first Muslim to be a member of the New York Court of Appeals. However, she never converted to Islam.

Her second husband was James Hatcher, whose father Andrew Hatcher, worked as a press officer for John F. Kennedy.

https://dailyentertainmentnews.com/...ry-jacobs-judge-sheila-abdus-salaams-husband/

(Why would Sheila be hailed as the country's first female Muslim judge, if she had never converted to islamism?)

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

(snipped)
An autopsy performed on her body revealed that she had water in her lungs, which suggests that she was alive when she went into the Hudson River.
While there was slight bruising on her neck, there was no bleeding in her eyes, which is normally consistent with strangulation.
Absent definitive evidence of a suicide, police are now asking the public to come forward with any information - just in case.
Investigators are 'worried a video could pop up where a guy has her in headlock, or is dragging her, and it’s not a suicide,' a source told the Post.
'God forbid someone a year from now says, "I killed the judge and this is how I did it",' the source added.
'That’s why they’re sending out these notices. It’s to cover their bases.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ing-black-judge-suspicious.html#ixzz4ehsta9NS
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

(BBM)

Could slight bruising on the neck indicate a recent attempt at hanging oneself ...? When I was being treated for depression in a hospital a couple of years ago, I met a young man with an obvious bruise around his neck. He didn't say anything about it, and I didn't ask, but my assumption was that he had tried to hang himself but -fortunately- survived.

 

[deugirtni]

(BBM)

Could slight bruising on the neck indicate a recent attempt at hanging oneself ...? When I was being treated for depression in a hospital a couple of years ago, I met a young man with an obvious bruise around his neck. He didn't say anything about it, and I didn't ask, but my assumption was that he had tried to hang himself but -fortunately- survived.

If someone has severe thoughts of ending her life, and also has some medications accessible to them, wouldn't it be cleaner, simpler, less ghastly to consume all of the meds, rather than attempt to hang oneself, perhaps unsuccessfully, and then go out and drown oneself? It was reported that police discovered her meds in her home. (reference: "Authorities investigating the case said Thursday that they found her medications, as she did not leave behind a suicide note and there were no signs of foul play." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ing-black-judge-suspicious.html#ixzz4ehsta9NS)

Could slight bruising on her neck indicate a recent attempt at someone else having attempted to strangle her? Perhaps thinking she was dead, or close to dead, and then dumping her body in the water? And then she ended up taking in water and officially 'drowning'?

LE has not been able to find footage to track her last period of time alive: (reference: "Investigators have so far been unable to piece together bits of information about Abdus-Salaam's movements in the moments leading up to her death, according to the Post.Police have pored over hours of surveillance videos, but they say that so far they have yet to find any CCTV footage from either a convenience store or a mass transit location that would give clues as to her final whereabouts." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ing-black-judge-suspicious.html#ixzz4ehsta9NS)

As far as I know, it has not been said how long her body had been in the water/how long she had been deceased, before discovery. There is a span of time unaccounted for. The last time she was 'seen' alive, was on Monday evening when she left work. Investigators have been able to determine that she took a #6 train around 8pm. Then she phoned her office on Tuesday morning to say she wouldn't be in and was unwell. From Tuesday morning until 1:45pm on Wednesday, it seems that entire span of time is absent. How did she travel from her home to the water where she was found, without being seen on any video along the way?

If a husband and wife live in separate residences, and on Tuesday, the wife calls her work to say she wouldn't be in due to illness, and then on Wednesday morning the wife fails to show up at work again, and so the office texts the husband to let him know... what would be the first thing one might expect the husband to do? Call 911? Or go to his wife's residence to see what's up?

Afterall, he had to have known that she had called in the day before, due to feeling unwell. It isn't that uncommon for a person to feel unwell for 2 days in a row, and perhaps even to not bother calling in on the second morning, since the office already knew she wasn't well. Would it be considered an emergency worthy of a 911 call, to have not shown up for work on Wednesday morning after being ill on Tuesday?

 

[deugirtni]

It seems that 'people' are saying that LE *has* seen video of the judge on Tuesday evening (although I haven't seen anything from police saying same?):

The night before her body was discovered, video cameras recorded Judge Abdus-Salaam, a widely respected New York State Court of Appeals jurist, walking around for hours in Riverbank State Park in Upper Manhattan, according to several people briefed on the investigation into her death.
Surveillance footage shows the judge leaving her home in Harlem on the evening of April 11, wearing the same clothes that she wore when she was found the next day, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a continuing investigation. Judge Abdus-Salaam then made her way to the park; the cameras last captured her standing near the water’s edge.
....

An autopsy uncovered bruises on the judge’s neck, and found water in her lungs, suggesting that she was alive when she went into the river, a police official said. One possibility, the official said, was that she had been choked sometime — even days earlier — before going into the river.
Investigators indicated it was possible the marks could stem from bruising incurred during her body’s retrieval.
....
Law enforcement officials acknowledged on Friday that they had erroneous information regarding the death of the judge’s mother.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/21/nyregion/appeals-court-judge-death-hudson-river.html?_r=0

 

[deugirtni]

There is apparently video showing the judge dressed as she was found, walking alone, up to past midnight on the Tuesday evening, before she was found dead the next day.

What is known is that Sheila Abdus-Salaam, 65, a judge on the state’s highest court, went for a walk alone on the evening of April 11, locking the door to her Harlem brownstone, leaving her phone and wallet at home.

She had called in sick that day and hadn’t gone to work. Surveillance videos spaced over several hours showed the judge walking briskly alone toward the river wearing sweat pants and white sneakers as though she were perhaps exercising.

The last video of her walking was captured after midnight. The next afternoon, her body, dressed in the same clothing, was found at the edge of the river in an area popular with joggers and bicycle riders.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-new-york-judge-20170420-story.html

http://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs...-exclusive-video-night-before-found-dead.html

 

[deugirtni]

NY1 exclusively obtained surveillance video of the judge walking on West 145th St., headed in the direction of Riverbank State Park, where police officers say they have video of her.


Harlem leaders say the judge walking the streets at night is baffling.


"Not only not clears the air and trying to reach some type of conclusive, but makes it far more mysterious and complex," former Congressman Charles Rangel said.

....

Police say they have video of the judge leaving her 131st St. brownstone around 8:50 and walking west to 7th Ave. and then traveling north.

She's also spotted at 135th and 145th St., and on three videos in the waterfront park.

....

Detectives tell me they believe the judge walked around Riverbank State Park by herself for several hours.


They spotted her on video in the park after midnight, but they haven't found any footage that shows her being attacked or jumping into the water.

http://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs...-exclusive-video-night-before-found-dead.html

 

[deugirtni]

Judge Sheila Abdus-Salaam's movements were last captured on three surveillance videos in Riverbank State Park along the Hudson River just after midnight on April 12. Her body was found in the water at 1:30 that afternoon..

"We have her about about 12:20 in the morning at three different locations in the park walking around," said Christopher McCormack, deputy chief of Manhattan North Detectives.

In addition to the three park videos, police say they have spotted the judge on footage from four other surveillance cameras in Harlem, one of them near the judge's brownstone on West 131st St. It shows her leaving her home shortly after 9 p.m. that night.

"The video shows her walking by herself, walking westbound on 131st Street, and then walking northbound on Eighth Avenue and Across 145 street. So we have her in different spots, always walking by herself, nobody behind her," McCormack said.
....
Because she was alone in each video, the images support suggestions that Abdus-Salaam took her own life and was not murdered. But police are not yet classifying her death as a suicide as they continue to look for clues. Their focus is now the three hours that span the videos.
....

Sources tell NY1 the judge had a lot of water in her lungs when her body was pulled from the Hudson River. They say that strongly suggests she was alive when she went into the water.

Her body was discovered floating several feet from the riverbank. There were no signs of trauma. She was wearing the same clothes as in the videos.

The medical examiner is working with police to determine the cause of death.

http://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs...es-in-death-of-one-of-state-s-top-judges.html

 

[deugirtni]

A tweet showing the judge walking alone in Harlem on Tuesday evening:

https://twitter.com/NY1/status/855229575634313216/video/1

 

[deugirtni]

The statement released by Sheila's family: https://judgeabdussalaam.org/2017/04/19/test-post-2/

The statement released by Sheila's husband: https://judgeabdussalaam.org/2017/04/19/the-rev-canon-gregory-a-jacobs-statement-april-19/

The statement released by Sheila's husband's family: https://judgeabdussalaam.org/2017/04/13/test-post/
(This one says Sheila was a devoted stepmother, did Sheila's current husband have children?)

 

[deugirtni]

[h=1]Memorial Service on May 26[/h] A public memorial service for Judge Shelia Abdus-Salaam will be held on Friday, May 26 at 11 a.m. at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Avenue, New York City. Directions and parking information are available on the cathedral’s website.

https://judgeabdussalaam.org/2017/04/19/memorial-service-on-may-26/

 

[SmartSassyBBW]

Up thread there was a mention of the possibility that the bruising on her neck may have happened during the body's retrieval. Hmm. I know I have watched too many Law and Order but I thought that bruising couldn't happen post mortem?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[J. J. in Phila]

The tape is amazing. She was walking around the area and not under duress. She wasn't being followed. That makes suicide very likely.

 

[deugirtni]

Up thread there was a mention of the possibility that the bruising on her neck may have happened during the body's retrieval. Hmm. I know I have watched too many Law and Order but I thought that bruising couldn't happen post mortem?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good point. I'm certainly no expert, but I can't see how handling by rescuers hours after death could cause bruising. I could perhaps believe it if the body had been recovered within say an hour after death, or minutes. Apparently the ME should be able to determine if the bruising occurred before or after death.

Another item, perhaps of note, is that Sheila was an avid swimmer. Someone (a friend and neighbour of Sheila's) mentioned that it's not so easy to drown oneself. I would imagine this would be magnified in a person who loves swimming and is like a fish in water.

Although Abdus-Salaam didn’t often open up about her private life, one thing people knew about her was that she loved to swim.

“She was like a fish in water,” Audate said. “She told my wife how much she loved the beach and pools when she was a girl.”


“This whole story seems so unlikely. I don’t think it is so easy to kill yourself by drowning,” said Todd Millner, 47, a film editor who lives a few doors away.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-new-york-judge-20170420-story.html

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Good point. I'm certainly no expert, but I can't see how handling by rescuers hours after death could cause bruising. I could perhaps believe it if the body had been recovered within say an hour after death, or minutes. Apparently the ME should be able to determine if the bruising occurred before or after death.

Another item, perhaps of note, is that Sheila was an avid swimmer. Someone (a friend and neighbour of Sheila's) mentioned that it's not so easy to drown oneself. I would imagine this would be magnified in a person who loves swimming and is like a fish in water.


http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-new-york-judge-20170420-story.html

Unless there were drugs in system, i.e. someone had drugged her, this looks very strongly like suicide.

She didn't leave her residence under duress, and there was no evidence she was being followed. If someone pushed or tossed her into the river, she could have swum.

The indicators are there.

 

[deugirtni]

Unless there were drugs in system, i.e. someone had drugged her, this looks very strongly like suicide.

She didn't leave her residence under duress, and there was no evidence she was being followed. If someone pushed or tossed her into the river, she could have swum.

The indicators are there.

I hope they are checking out her phones. Is it possible someone asked her to meet them? Is it possible someone tried to strangle her and then put her in the water? She had just spent the weekend at hubby's residence. Did everything go well?

 

[J. J. in Phila]

I hope they are checking out her phones. Is it possible someone asked her to meet them? Is it possible someone tried to strangle her and then put her in the water? She had just spent the weekend at hubby's residence. Did everything go well?

Phones should be checked.

I am thinking though, if she was a strong swimmer, and not impaired, even if she was tossed in the river, she probably could have swum to safety.

 

[deugirtni]

Phones should be checked.

I am thinking though, if she was a strong swimmer, and not impaired, even if she was tossed in the river, she probably could have swum to safety.

Yes, like her neighbour/friend said, it isn't all that easy to drown oneself, and that would be especially true if one was an avid swimmer. Also, she was found in shallow water. With bruising on her neck. Couldn't it seem a little too convenient to write it off as a suicide? I mean... after all she had accomplished and become, from where she had come from, and being an educated professional and and and.. I'm having a really difficult time accepting suicide. I haven't had a chance yet today to check the news to see if anything is new. I would just hate for something to be written off as a suicide without it being fully investigated for every other possibility. I think that happens too often. jmo.

 

[deugirtni]

Sheila's obit; seems odd, like it wasn't written by loved ones?:

ABDUS-SALAAM--Sheila.

We join the entire legal and non-profit communities in mourning the passing of our dearly beloved alumna, Sheila Abdus-Salaam. An incredibly wonderful, bright, caring, upbeat lawyer, judge and human being, she was a blessing to us and our clients in the first years of her legal career that she served with us defending the rights of Brooklyn's low income East New York tenants. Her loss is both shocking and irreplaceable. All our love and condolences to her husband, family and the huge community, of which we are a part, that so appreciated and cared about her! Marty Needelman and Paul Acinapura, personally and on behalf of the entire Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A ("Brooklyn A") Family

Published in The New York Times on Apr. 24, 2017

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=sheila-abdus-salaam&pid=185184522

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Sheila's obit; seems odd, like it wasn't written by loved ones?:


http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=sheila-abdus-salaam&pid=185184522

It looks like a statement from former colleagues, a mark of professional respect. It definitely was not written by family.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Yes, like her neighbour/friend said, it isn't all that easy to drown oneself, and that would be especially true if one was an avid swimmer. Also, she was found in shallow water. With bruising on her neck. Couldn't it seem a little too convenient to write it off as a suicide? I mean... after all she had accomplished and become, from where she had come from, and being an educated professional and and and.. I'm having a really difficult time accepting suicide. I haven't had a chance yet today to check the news to see if anything is new. I would just hate for something to be written off as a suicide without it being fully investigated for every other possibility. I think that happens too often. jmo.

All unexplained deaths should be investigated.

As for accomplishments, Ernest Hemingway had a Pulitzer Prize, and was a Nobel Laureate. He killed himself with a shotgun blast to his head. Robin Williams had two Emmy Awards, a Grammy, and an Oscar for best supporting actor. He hung himself.

The judge was accomplished beyond question, but that does not make her immuned to suicide.