12/24/09 Greenwich Police Department Press Release - Assault robbery in Byram

Please see attached press release.

I will be out of the office after 12 noon, so Merry Christmas and Happy
Holidays to everyone.

Lieutenant Daniel Allen
Greenwich Police Department
Public Information Officer
11Bruce Place
Greenwich, CT 06830
Tel. 203-618-8819
Fax 203-618-8852

PRESS RELEASE:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 24, 2009

Contact: Lt. Mark Marino
Phone: (203) 622-3395

Greenwich Police Department Incident #09-102969

On December 22, 2009 members of the Criminal Investigations Division arrested the
following subjects under the authority of arrest warrants issued by the Stamford Superior
Court for the charges listed:

Kevin Ashford B/M, Age 28, DOB-6/30/1981
136 Pearl Street
Port Chester, NY

CGS 53a-134 Robbery 1st Degree
CGS 53a-135 Robbery 2nd Degree
CGS 53a-60 Assault 2nd Degree
CGS 53a-125b Larceny 6th Degree
CGS 53a-62 Threatening 2nd Degree
CGS 53a-181 Breach of Peace

Ashford was held in custody in lieu of a court-set $100,000 Cash bond. Ashford will be
arraigned at the Stamford Superior Court on 12/23/2009.

Rocco Morabito W/M, Age 27, DOB- 9/16/1982
255 Glen Avenue
Port Chester, NY

CGS 53a-134 Robbery 1st Degree
CGS 53a-135 Robbery 2nd Degree
CGS 53a-60 Assault 2nd Degree
CGS 53a-125b Larceny 6th Degree
CGS 53a-181 Breach of Peace
CGS 53a-155 Tampering/Fabricating Evidence

Morabito posted a $100,000 Surety bond and was released to appear at Stamford Superior
Court on 12/29/2009.

On that December 16, 2009 at approximately 12:02 A.M., members of the Uniformed Services
Division responded to the Greenwich Lobster House restaurant at #2 S. Water Street,
Greenwich, CT. When officers arrived, they found a 31 year old male victim with serious
head injuries sitting in the parking lot.

The victim reported he had been assaulted and robbed of his cellular telephone by two
unknown males.

Members of the Criminal Investigations Division were able to identify witnesses who were
previously unknown to the victim. With the assistance of surrounding police departments,
suspects were identified and interviewed, and evidence was gathered.

The investigation revealed that the victim was speaking with a female known to Ashford in
the parking lot of the restaurant. When Ashford and Morabito appeared at that location, the
attack started almost immediately, with the victim being pushed to the ground, held down,
and beaten in the head and face with a metal flashlight. During the attack, the victim's
cellular telephone was stolen and has not been recovered.

A passerby who observed the attack overheard Ashford yelling that he was going to kill the
victim. Ashford and Morabito fled the area, along with the female.

During the course of the investigation, it was learned that Morabito had disposed of a piece of
the flashlight used in the attack.

The Greenwich Police Department would like to extend it's thanks to the Port Chester, NY
Police Department and the City of Rye, NY Police Department for their assistance which
provided essential information in locating witnesses to this incident.

02/24/02 Forget About The Greenwich Time: Independant Journalist Kevin F. McMurray Says There Is A Possible Break In The Margolis Case?

A source in the Port Chester Police Department (PCPD) revealed that a retired detective from the department will be speaking with detectives of the Greenwich Police Department (GPD) on Monday, February 25th, regarding an arrest of a former PCPD officer on charges of pedophilia in Texas.

The former officer in custody of Texas authorities had links to the unsolved 1984 murder of 13-year old Matthew Margolies in the Glenville section of Greenwich. The retired PCPD detective who will be meeting with GPD detectives was involved in the case almost 18 years ago.

The arrested pedophile, Roger Bates, was a close family friend and neighbor of a juvenile who was questioned by GPD about his whereabouts and knowledge of the events of Labor Day weekend 1984 when the Margolies boy disappeared from near his home in the Pemberwick section of town. Matthew Margolies’s body was found less than a mile from where he was last seen on a wooded hill overlooking Pemberwick Road five days later. Although never officially acknowledged the Margolies boy’s murder has long been considered sexual driven in nature. The juvenile suspect had a police record and was known to frequent and fish in the area of the Byram River where Matthew Margolies lived. The suspect was also a known acquaintance of the victim and of other juveniles questioned in the disappearance and murder of the Margolies boy.

Bates, a PCPD officer at the time, was an obstacle in the questioning of the Port Chester suspect. Allegedly, it was Bates who convinced the suspect and his family from having him submit to a polygraph given by the GPD whose focus was the Margolies murder. It has been suspected that Bates has knowledge that could be useful in the pursuit of an arrest of a suspect in the crime.

Speculation is that the current GPD detectives in charge of the long dormant Margolies case will travel to Texas to interview the former Port Chester police officer. Conceivably, in exchange for information on the Margolies case, some leniency might be extended to Bates on his Texas charges. Bates is looking at a long sentence in the Texas penal system as a pedophile.