09/05/08 The Raw Greenwich News Feed For Friday

Companies Using IPOs To Fix Balance Sheets

InformationWeek

... "Some of the deal killers have been insiders wanting to get huge cash-outs," said Linda Killian, a principal with Greenwich, Connecticut-based firm Renaissance Capital. A case in point, she said, was the planned IPO in August of Kentucky coal ...

Greenwich homicide victim named

Hartford Courant

Greenwich police have identified a woman who was shot and stabbed to death Thursday and say the incident appears to have stemmed from a property dispute.

Treasuries Drop on Speculation Treasury Poised to Rescue Freddie, Fannie

Bloomberg

... of Treasuries off of this because it creates a safer environment,'' said Glen Capelo , a Treasury trader at RBS Greenwich Capital in Greenwich, Connecticut, one of 19 primary dealers required to bid at government debt sales. The yield on the ...


Property dispute leads to murder

WTNH

Police in Greenwich say a man shot and stabbed a woman to death and it all stemmed from a dispute over property.

New Group Explores Ways to Find Your Calling

Norwalk Citizen News

... an intern for us while she was finishing her master's degree and she recently led a similar group at a church in Greenwich and it went very well there," explained Constance Lawrence, director of the Christian Counseling Center, which is located at 3 ...

Greenwich Diva Reports:

Investigation into Palin Now on Fast Track

UPDATE REP. JAY RAMRAS JUST SAID THAT ISSUING A SUBPOENA FOR A VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE “WOULD BE DISRESPECTFUL….. INAPPROPRIATE CONDUCT….. AND BAD ...

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04/02/08 - News Links From The Greenwich Time

The Greenwich Time RSS FEED

Fuhrman theorizes on Kissel conspiracy With two men in custody for a conspiracy to murder Andrew Kissel, police and prosecutors will now try to coax the real estate developer's former driver and another suspect to see if they identify other conspirators in a wider plot, former Los Angeles police detective Mark Fuhrman said. Full Story Group looks at how animal abuse relates to other types of violence The discovery of six beheaded chickens in the parking lot of a Mason Street bank two weeks ago concerns a new legislative task force considering tougher penalties on animal abuse and cruelty. Full Story Ham Ave. gets education award For a day, Hamilton Avenue School Principal Damaris Rau put aside the problems her school has faced with the closing of its modular building and the dispersal of students to other schools across the district. Full Story Tax credit for poor passes committee HARTFORD -- Despite opposition from lower Fairfield County Republicans and their colleagues, a proposal to create a state earned-income tax credit for the working poor yesterday passed the legislature's Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee. Full Story Tax appeals worth it for some Just over half the property owners who appealed their tax assessments this year have received reductions from the town, for a total of $30 million. ================================= Please send comments to GreenwichRoundup@gmail.com Fact Of The Day Fact of the Day - a new fascinating fact every day of the year.

03/24/08 - Media Frenzy - Lindy Urso said he believes his client has been charged because he was “the easiest suspect.”

Carlos Trujillo is escorted into a courtroom in handcuffs, Monday March 24, 2008 at Stamford Superior Court, in Stamford, Conn., to appear at his arraignment hearing in connection to the 2006 Greenwich, Conn., murder of Andrew Kissell.
(Photo/George Rhul)

The Kissel Murder Mystery

Was pressure used to get false statements?

What was the motive?

Where is the weapon?

Can the police follow the money?

Has Greenwich Police Chief David Ridberg dotted all the i's and crossed all the t's?

Driver arrested, pleads not guilty to Kissel murder

Greenwich Post, CT

Bridgeport resident Carlos Trujillo has pleaded not guilty to the murder of backcountry resident Andrew Kissel and is now being held in jail on a $1 million ...

Investigation continues

At a press conference today, Greenwich Chief of Police David Ridberg said the investigation remains open. The warrants in the case remain sealed for now and Chief Ridberg said when the information is revealed, it will be “a good story.”

“There’s still information to be developed and we still need to discern some fact patterns,” Chief Ridberg said at the press conference. “We need to look and find if anyone else was involved in this case.”

No specifics of the case were revealed at the press conference. Chief Ridberg said the case could end with just the two men arrested, but there could also be more to come.

“If there’s some information developed that shows us that someone else was involved in the crime we will act on it,” he said.

In the early stages of the investigation, Chief Ridberg said police determined that Carlos Trujillo was the last person to see Mr. Kissel alive. He later added that Leonard Trujillo’s name became a part of the investigation “not immediately but not late.”

Mr. Urso said he didn’t think his client knew his cousin “all that well” and added he was looking forward to reading through the warrant, which he received a copy of on Monday, to see why police determined the crime took place. Mr. Urso contends his client and Mr. Kissel had a close relationship and that he had no motive for killing him.

Chief Ridberg said he wouldn’t comment on what motive police believe the two men had for murder. Because Mr. Kissel was in financial distress at the time of his death and was scheduled to plead guilty to both a local bank fraud charge and in an unrelated New York fraud case, some who heard of the case speculated Mr. Kissel might have hired someone to kill him so his children would receive insurance payments from his death.

Chief Ridberg neither dismissed nor accepted that possibility, but confirmed the police investigated that view. He said the department’s research showed there had been only two cases nationwide where such a scenario had happened and called it “an extremely rare form of homicide.”

“We never said that we believed that it was [suicide for hire] and we never said that we didn’t believe,” Chief Ridberg said. “It’s been promulgated by people outside the police department and not us. If it ends up being the case, that’s fine. If it ends up not being the case, that’s fine too. We’re more into discerning the facts of the case.”...

...

Two years since murder

The Trujillos’ arrests come close to the two-year anniversary of the discovery of Mr. Kissel’s body by movers coming to take furniture out of his home. No time of death has been released by the police, but Chief Ridberg said they think it took place during the weekend.

Chief Ridberg said the investigation was conducted incrementally with information coming in that led to other information and ultimately to the arrests, a process he compared to building blocks.

“There was no ‘Ah hah moment’ that led to the arrests,” Chief Ridberg said, adding that the information had to be corroborated to the point where the State’s Attorney’s Office would be comfortable signing an arrest warrant.

Mr. Urso repeated claims on Monday that the police had been pressuring his client’s family and threatening it with deportation unless members said “what they wanted to hear.” He maintained he wasn’t criticizing the investigation or calling it improperly done but said that his client’s nephew has already been deported and said others have been “strong armed.”

During the press conference, Chief Ridberg specifically mentioned Mr. Urso and his past comments.

“He makes it sound as if we snatched a 5-year-old boy off the streets and tossed him over to immigration and customs and had him deported,” Chief Ridberg said. “That’s not the case. The person that was deported was a verified gangster in New York City with a group that specialized in home invasions. He’s a convicted felon. Deporting him was not a case of the government preying on the weak.”

Chief Ridberg said he didn’t want to get “into a mud slinging contest” with Mr. Urso and that he understands he has a job to do as Mr. Trujillo’s attorney, but he firmly rejected any idea that the police department improperly obtained information from its interviews.

Chief Ridberg said various law enforcement agencies assisted in the investigation, including the New York Police Department, the Connecticut and Massachusetts Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the federal Department of Homeland Security, military police from Fort Jackson, S.C., and police departments from as far away as Philadelphia, Pa. and Miramar, Fla. He added that the Worcester Police Department and the Stamford State’s Attorney’s Office “helped us the most.”

It was not revealed why the DEA, which was present at the time of Carlos Trujillo’s arrest, was involved, but Chief Ridberg said Mr. Kissel had been a drug user at the time of his death.

According to Chief Ridberg, so many other agencies were involved because of all the information that needed to be gathered and all the people that needed to be interviewed in the case. He estimated police had interviewed hundreds of people in connection with the case and credited the work of the Greenwich Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division....

More Reports....

Chauffeur: I Didn't Kill Conn. Developer

The Associated Press

GREENWICH, Conn. (AP) — A chauffeur charged with conspiracy to commit murder says he didn't kill a Greenwich, Conn., developer who had been days away from ...

...Trujillo was being led out of police headquarters Monday when a reporter asked the 47-year-old if he killed Kissel. "No I didn't," he replied.

Trujillo pleaded not guilty later Monday and is being held in lieu of $1 million bond.

His 21-year-old cousin Leonard Trujillo was arrested Saturday in Worcester...

Kissel murder suspect charged

Stamford Advocate, CT

By Martin B. Cassidy

Very shortly after Andrew M. Kissel was stabbed to death, police felt Carlos Trujillo, Kissel¹s long time chaffeur and assistant was a ...

.... Ridberg said police continue to investigate the case, but would not say how many more arrests might stem from the bloody killing.

'This is far from over and there is still a lot of information which we need to determine,' Ridberg said. Greenwich Police arrested Trujillo, 47, at 9:45 p.m. Friday night in Stratford on a conspiracy to commit murder charge, with Greenwich and Stratford police along with federal drug agents intercepting Trujillo¹s livery car on a street off of Route 1.

At 8 a.m. Saturday, Leonard Trujillo, 21, was arrested by Worcester Police Department detectives at his home and charged with one count each of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, police said. The arrest warrants are sealed, Ridberg said....

KISSEL MURDER POSSIBLY A SUICIDE-FOR-HIRE

New York Post, NY

Greenwich cops today left open the possibility that millionaire real estate mogul Andrew Kissel paid his assistant and another man to kill him - leaving a ...

...real estate mogul Andrew Kissel paid his assistant and another man to kill him - leaving a $15 million life insurance policy to his family.

"If it ends up being the case, that's fine," said Police Chief David Ridberg, referring to the theory that was first reported by The Post shortly after the April 2006 murder.

"If it doesn't end up being the case, that's fine too.

"We won't talk about motive," he added. "There was no particular 'aha!' moment that led to the arrest."

Kissel was about to plead guilty to federal real estate fraud charges when he was found beaten and stabbed to death in his Greenwich mansion. He was also in the midst of a bitter split with his wife, Hayley.

Carlos Trujillo, 47, Kissel's assistant and driver, was long considered a suspect, but wasn't arrested until this past weekend.

He was to be arraigned later today at Stamford Superior Court on conspiracy charges in the brutal 2006 beating and stabbing death of Kissel in his Greenwich mansion.

His cousin, Leonard Trujillo, 21, who is charged with actual murder, waived extradition in a hearing in Worcester, Mass.

He turned to his wife and mouthed the words, "I love you," as he was led from the courtroom.

He will be transported back to Connecticut after a second court appearance tomorrow.

"This obviously was an important case, and as I've said, its not finished yet," Ridberg said....

ALSO PLEASE SEE....

03/22/08 - Greenwich News Wire - Murder Arrest - Police Say It Was The Driver And Another Person (Multiple Articles)

03/23/08 - More On The High Profile Greenwich Murder Mystery - Many Questions Unanswered

03/24/08 - Detectives never seemed to have enough for an arrest, said his Greenwich lawyer Lindy Urso.

03/24/08 - His former clients include infamous Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel, who was convicted of the 1975 murder of Greenwich, CT teen Martha Moxley

'How Can You Defend Those People?'

ABC News - USA

In exclusive excerpts of his upcoming book "How Can You Defend These People?" Connecticut criminal defense attorney Mickey Sherman tackles the questions so many Americans have for defense attorneys who handle high-profile cases:

How Can You Defend Someone When You Know That They're Guilty?

Aren't You Afraid To Deal With 'Those People?'

Are There Cases Or Clients You Won't Take?

In these excerpts, Sherman takes a sometimes light-hearted, ultimately revealing look behind the scenes of a criminal case before it gets into the headlines.

For the last question, Sherman contacted some of the nation's top defense attorneys, including Gerald Shargel, Ben Brafman, David Chesnoff and Dick DeGuerin, to ask them. Their answers may surprise you.

Sherman has years of experience in the media spotlight, and has led the defense of some of the most notorious criminal cases in recent memory, not always successfully......

03/24/08 - Detectives never seemed to have enough for an arrest, said his Greenwich lawyer Lindy Urso.

ATTORNEY LINDY URSO SAYS GREENWICH POLICE DEPARTMENT MAY HAVE GOTTEN CARLOS TRUJILLO'S 21 YEAR OLD COUSIN TO TESTIFY FALSELY.

Lawyer questions Kissel evidence

By Hoa Nguyen
Greenwich Time - Staff Writer

As two cousins sat jailed in two different municipalities awaiting their first hearing in court today on charges of murder, a lawyer representing one of them said he wants to know what evidence has led police to make the arrests now, nearly two years after the murder took place.

Days after Andrew Kissel was stabbed to death in the basement of his Dairy Road mansion, detectives had already identified one of the men as a suspect. Police had interviewed Carlos Trujillo, 47, who was Kissel's long-time chauffeur and assistant, several times, but detectives never seemed to have enough for an arrest, said his Greenwich lawyer Lindy Urso....

"It may well be that in Leonard they finally found someone who could be compromised, who had enough of his own problems that he was willing to testify falsely against Carlos. We'll have to wait and see."

...Urso was reacting to comments Leonard Trujillo's wife made to the New York Post, telling the tabloid that her husband said Carlos Trujillo had been "trying to use him to give him some money to do something." Brenda Trujillo could not be reached for comment yesterday....

More News Reports From The Greenwich Time....

Easter draws believers to beach

On a frigid morning, church music rang from the Greenwich Point Park beach as the last of the Easter worshipers arrived, toting their beach chairs and blankets yesterday.

Avenue proposals a tough fit
The expansion proposals for the new senior center could be a tough fit in the present facility on Greenwich Avenue, according to Sam Deibler, director of the town Commission on Aging.

YMCA gets state grant for child-care program
Another child-care facility will soon open in downtown Greenwich.

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03/22/08 - Greenwich News Wire - Murder Arrest - Police Say It Was The Driver And Another Person

ONE MILLION DOLLAR BAIL IMPOSED

Greenwich News Reports: Kissel Murder Arrests

Arrests Made In Connection With Slaying Of Greenwich Businessman

WNBC - New York,NY,USA

NEW YORK -- Police in Greenwich Conn., say they have made two arrests in connection with the death of a wealthy Greenwich real estate developer who was ...

...Police have also arrested his 21-year-old cousin Leonard Trujillo, of Worcester, Massachusetts, on charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder.Police said Kissel, 46, appeared to have been stabbed several times.Before moving to Greenwich, Andrew Kissel and his wife, Hayley Wolff Kissel, lived in a a co-op building on 74th Street near Third Avenue.His death came just three years after his brother, Robert, a successful investment banker with Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong, was bludgeoned to death by his wife, Nancy. In that case, police said Nancy had one of her children give him a milkshake laced with sedatives. The killing was called the "milkshake murder" in the Hong Kong press.

More Reports ...

2 Are Charged in 2006 Killing of a Connecticut Developer
New York Times, United States - Mar 22, 2008

By AP HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Two men have been arrested and charged in connection with the 2006 stabbing death of the Greenwich real estate developer Andrew ...

...Mr. Kissel, 46, was found tied up and stabbed to death in his home on April 3, 2006, days before he was to plead guilty in a real estate fraud case.

The police said at the time that there was no sign of forced entry into Mr. Kissel’s home, but would not discuss a possible motive or suspects. They said from the start that they did not believe the killing was a random act.

A lawyer for Carlos Trujillo said he had cooperated with the investigation, providing DNA samples, fingerprints and documents, and denied any involvement in Mr. Kissel’s death.

It was unclear Saturday whether Leonard Trujillo had a lawyer.

Chief David Ridberg of the Greenwich police said on Saturday that warrants for the arrests were sealed, and that more information would be released Monday.

Mr. Kissel’s brother, Robert, was a wealthy investment banker who was killed in Hong Kong in November 2003. In September 2005, Robert Kissel’s wife, accused of feeding him a milkshake laced with drugs and then beating him, was convicted of murder in his death.

Andrew Kissel and his estranged wife, Hayley, had cared for Robert Kissel’s three children until they were handed over to the custody of the Kissels’ sister, who lived near Seattle. Andrew and Hayley Kissel had two children of their own.

Andrew Kissel had criminal cases pending in federal and state courts in New York at the time of his death. The federal case charged him with real estate fraud, and state prosecutors charged him with grand larceny, alleging he stole nearly $4 million from his Manhattan apartment cooperative.

Greenwich police say 2 men under arrest in Andrew Kissel homicide
WHDH-TV, MA - Mar 22, 2008

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Greenwich, Connecticut police say two men are under arrest in the 2006 murder of slain real estate developer Andrew Kissel. ...

...He's charged with conspiracy to commit murder. His cousin, 21-year-old Worcester, Massachusetts resident Leonard Trujillo, is charged with murder and conspiracy.

Greenwich police say they'll release more details Monday.

Kissel was found stabbed to death in his Greenwich mansion in April 2006, just days before he was to plead guilty in a multimillion-dollar real estate fraud case.

Leonard Trujillo is being held without bond at the Worcester police station, while Carlos Trujillo is held on $1 million bond...

TWO ARRESTED IN ANDREW KISSEL MURDER
New York Post, NY - Mar 22, 2008

By TOM LIDDY Two men were arrested yesterday for the murder of Connecticut real estate mogul Andrew Kissel, cops said. Kissel's chauffeur, Carlos Trujillo, ...

...Carlos Trujillo, 47, of Bridgeport, was picked up Friday night in Stratford after a nearly two year investigation into the brutal stabbing death at the businessman's Greenwich estate, and charged with conspiracy to commit murder.

Detectives - along with DEA agents - caught up with Trujillo as he was driving on a highway just before 10 p.m. He was taken into custody without incident, authorities said.

He is being held on $1 million bond in Greenwich. If he doesn't make bond, he will appear in Stamford court on Monday.

Also arrested was another man, Leonard Trujillo, 21, of Worcester, Ma, who was charged with murder and conspiracy, cops said.

It was not immediately clear how or if the men are related.

Leonard Trujillo is being held without bond in Worcester and is scheduled to appear in court on Monday.

"While I am proud of the hard work done by my detectives in this investigation, it is far from over," said Greenwich Police Chief David Ridberg. "There is still a lot of information to be gathered and facts to be discerned."

Police did not say what led to the break in the investigation or what the motive might be.

Kissel was found stabbed to death in April 2006 by moving company workers at his home.

Greenwich police say 2 men under arrest in Andrew Kissel homicide
Boston Globe, United States - Mar 22, 2008

GREENWICH, Conn.—Greenwich police say the driver of slain real estate developer Andrew Kissel and another man have been charged in his 2006 murder. ...

...Police say 21-year-old Leonard Trujillo of Worcester, Mass., is charged with murder and conspiracy and that his cousin, 47-year-old Carlos Trujillo of Bridgeport, is charged with conspiracy to commit murder.Carlos Trujillo was a driver for Kissel, who was found stabbed to death in his Greenwich mansion in April 2006. His death occurred just days before he was to plead guilty in a multimillion-dollar real estate fraud case.

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02/21/08 - NY Civil Liberties Union and Moxley Murder Blogger Files Lawsuit Against The New York Police Department

Former 'Newsday' Cops Reporter Levitt Suing NYPD On Denied Press Pass

By Joe Strupp - Editor And Publisher

NEW YORK The New York Civil Liberties Union and a longtime former Newsday police reporter have filed suit against the New York City Police Department seeking information related to the denial of a press pass for the reporter. Leonard Levitt, who claims he held a police press pass for 24 years as a reporter at Newsday, the New York Post, and Associated Press, contends he was wrongly denied a renewal in 2007. Although he left Newsday in 2005, Levitt has been reporting on police department issues at his Web site, NYPDConfidential.com, according to a press release.

Levitt also drew attention in the 1990's for breaking new ground in the famed Martha Moxley murder case in Greenwich, Conn. That case stemmed from the 1975 death of Moxley, a 15-year-old whose murder remained unsolved until the 2002 conviction of her neighbor, Michael Skakel, a nephew of Ethel Kennedy and a longtime suspect. Levitt also wrote a 2005 book about the case titled: "Conviction: Solving the Moxley Murder" (Regan Books).

"In May 2007, following the NYPD’s sudden revocation of…Levitt’s press pass, the NYCLU served the NYPD with a formal request under the state’s Freedom of Information Law to disclose relevant information about the Department’s policy to issue or deny press passes," the release stated. "It also requested information specifically related to the decision to revoke Levitt’s pass. Over the past nine months, the NYPD has ignored the NYCLU’s request, violated statutory deadlines for responding to such requests, and denied an administrative appeal asking for a timely response."....

....“We want to ensure that the NYPD is applying its press pass policy uniformly and fairly,” NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman stated in the release. “New Yorkers are entitled to know if the NYPD is stifling investigate reporting aimed at uncovering inappropriate, illicit or illegal behavior within the Department.” The plaintiffs claim that the revocation of Levitt's pass is in retaliation for his reporting, stating: "Through his site, Levitt has reported on the NYPD’s failure to pay its bills on time, the arrest of an NYPD narcotics officer who was involved in drug-smuggling, and police brutality." “I think we’re going to find that this was strictly retaliatory,” Levitt added. “The police department has issued press passes to all kinds of people who they shouldn’t have according to their policy, but not to those who are in need and deserving of a pass....