The-Leader_1989-08-10

              Freeport • Baldwin
LEADER SSfliYcjr. No. 32Fre«pon,N.Y. 11520 Officijl newspipet of Uie Village of Ftccpon-Fretpon and B»!dwm School Disiricis Thursday, August 10.1989 25<
Conviction in death
of Baldwin woman
by Andrew S. Ripps
A man suspcacd of murdcnng
3 Baldv.-in, woman in a Fretport
bar on February 6. 1988 x^-as
sentenced to the maximum term
of 25 years to life imprisonment
for the crime in Nassau County
Court on August I. according to
Nassau County Assistant Diitrict
Attorney Daniel Cotter.
^Bradford Applegate. 30. a car­penter
formerly of Maisapequa.
*-ai con\Scied in the slaying of
Jane Verity Stutzbach. 22. after
three hours ordelibcration by the
jury. Ms. Stutzbach had been
listed as nussing by police (or
three months after her dbappcar-ance
until Mr. Applegatc was
aiTcited. He was ukcn into cus­tody
after his return to the county
from Phoenix, Arizona on May
y, 1988. Mr. Applegate had been
appTcheaded by the Pima
County Sheriff^ OfTtcc on a Nas­sau
County indiament warrant
sc\-cral days earlier.
Authorities took legal action
against Mr. Applegate after a
badly decomposed body, dii-co\-
ered on May 3 of the same
year floating in the Hudson Ri^xr
near Manhattan, u-as idenUried
through denul records as thai of
Ms.Stut2b3ch. Mr. Applegate
was indiaed by Distnct Attorney
Dcms Dillon after a murder
investigation was concluded by
Mr. Cotter and Nassau County
Homicide Squad Detective
Joseph Volpe.
The dcferwianl. however, had
maintained throughout the trial
ihat the victim's death had been
an accidental one stemming from
a confrontation between him and
Mi.Stuizbach.
Defense assertions
According to Defense Attor­ney
Salvatore Mannello. Mr.
Applegate claimed that Ms.
Stuubach had threatened him
with a knife while they i*trc
together on the day of the
murder. This, he assened. led to
Mr. Apptcgatc's pushing the vic­tim
into a uble. causing a fatal
head injury.
It was at this-point. Mr. Man­nello
continued, that Mr. Apple-gate
and two acquaintances
decided to "put the body in his
trunk and dispose of the body."
No charges were filed against the
other two men, who acted as
prosecution witnesses during the
trial.
Mr. Applegate entered the
courtroom upon his return from
county jail, where he was being
held without bail, to face a
packed gallery, A large portion of
thoic in attendance were friends
(cocanutd on paQ« 8)
THE FIFTH ANNUAL FREEPORT GRAND PRIX of o«-»hor»
poww boat racir»g was h*id rw^ntty outskto of JortM InJ«i.
FfftY-thr»« •ntrants from sU ovw th« Ewtwn SMboard com-
P«tKl for prtzM in eight diffttr*ni CUSSM. FrMpon was weD
'•pr»»«rt»d In ih» gnm ptix as tS« **»v<J«>hol«t'' shown
•bow. r«c«d towards th« finith Bn* to captur* fim p(*c« In th«
Sportsman Class " D . " The boat was driven by Fr««port»f DouQ
Carman.
p^o1r> tyKai^vtnOlun
DUCKLINGS stick togathv by Cammann's PoncL
County duek pond dredging delayed
The lovely potuls along Mer­rick
Road where ducks and geese
and other waterfowl congregate
are not so lovely these days.
Residents and those visitors
who come regularly to observe
and feed the walcr fowj are
offended at the ugly scum which
covers part of the ponds, and the
bad odor from rotting vTgetation.
We called Nassau County
Parks Department to ask what is
going to be done about this, since
sonu of our readers had com­plained
about the condition.
Roger Bogsted, community ser­vice
representative for the parks,
admitted that these "beauty spots
haic had a skin eruption." The
proaem affects Milbum Park in
Baldwin. Catnmaan^ Pond in
Merrick. Tackapausha in Sea-ford,
and Mill Poods, on the Bell-more-
Wanugh border.
The problem has been locen-tuated
this year by an abnormai
high water level, since these
ponds receive water from run­offs
running souih to the canals
and bay, as welt as from tidal flow
back along the canals they lead
into.
.Mr. Bogsied noted, .Nassau
County Executive Gulotta was
prepared to dredge local poixls in
an effort to restore their beauty,
Howc^-er, the DEC (Department
of Environmcnial Conservation)
changed its position, and man­dated
funher testing
According to George Hatn-manh
of DEC, i*ho is working
on these pond applications, the
DEC nevrr agreed to the dredg­ing
in the Tint place because "the
applications were not adequate."
He added, "We have require­ments
for sediment testing, but it
never even got ihat far." ' "'
Mr Hammarth said the
county surtcd in 1987 with appli-catioM
10 dredge the ponds, but
not until spring 1989 did the
county and the DEC meet to
straighten out the requirements.
"Getting approval is a tedious
process." Mr, Bogsted said
"They are concerned about pesti­cides
or any other toxic matter in
these ponds, and about preserva­tion
of small fish vwhich may be
spawning there, Wc think that
any fuh would have a hard time
sur\iving under that stuff ~
Mr, Bopted maintains ihat,
"the onU solution li lo drcdgt
these fKjnds, and ue ha^c an
allotment in the budget to do so *"
Meanwhile, the Nassau
County Parks Department has
engaged a consultant to work
with the DEC to set up the crite­ria.
Mr. Bogsted said. "W'c even
offered to put m a bulkhead to
keep the area cleaner "
Mr Hammanh explained that
the consultant will probabU have
to give priority to one or two of
the ponds "to '.ackle f\r^t" m
order to focus his concentration
Murder suspect arrested after chase
A Roo««velt man was
arrested by Freeport police
Monday morning and impli­cated
in the July 26 robbery
and murder of Warren von
der Esch of 110 Brooklyn
Avenue, police said.
The suspect, Richard
W'illiamt, 18, has nnce been
remanded without bail by
Nassau County Court Judge
Richard Rosen t h ^ .
According to Sergeant
Denis Barry of the Nassau
County HctnJcid* Squad, Mr,
\%'injams wa* taken into cus­tody
following a Toot purrJit'
through tne streets of
Freeport bnd Roosevelt.
He was charged with
Intentional Murder, Felony
Murder Predicated on a Rob­bery,
and Rcsiiting Arrest
Sergeant Barry explained
that two plain clothes oHi-ccrs,
upon observing who
they believed to be Mr.
WiDianis in the back seat of a
car at 'Monk's Comer," the
intersection of Leonard
Aver.ue ar.d .Ma;n Street ;r.
Freeport. pulled the vehicle
over fcr funher investigation.
As soon as the car had
iu»pped, however, the rjspoet
aJlege<3y jumped out and fled
the scene.
^\''hal followed was a pur-
•uit by a "ngnificar.t" num­ber
of police officer*, both :n
cars and on foot. Sergeant
Barry said.
Once :n Roosevelt, he con­tinued.
Mr. Williams broke
Cxr.VuM on p«o* ' r.