No, watch - the headline will read "Neighbor of Bush supporter"
Just damn.
If you want on the list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...
Posted on 03/13/2004 9:48:18 PM PST by fella
Today: March 13, 2004 at 15:15:43 PST
Police Question Boston Man in Beheadings
By MARTIN FINUCANE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOSTON (AP) - A man charged with killing and beheading a prostitute has reportedly confessed to another beheading death in the Boston area, and authorities from as far as Miami are looking for connections to other killings.
Police say Eugene McCollom, 39, told them he strangled the prostitute on Nov. 11, 2000, after arguing with her over money. He later described beheading and mutilating her body in his room at a YMCA in Lynn, a few miles north of Boston.
"I really have no idea. I was just experimenting with the knife," he said in a written statement transcribed by an investigator.
Authorities have not been able to identify the woman, whose headless remains were found two days later in the city of Chelsea, which is next to Boston.
McCollom has also claimed responsibility for the slaying of John "Jackie" Leyden, according to a law enforcement source who requested anonymity and an attorney for the man originally charged with the crime.
Leyden's beheaded body was found March 19, 2001, in his apartment in the East Boston neighborhood.
Authorities have not yet charged McCollom in that slaying, but prosecutors this week dropped charges against their initial suspect, Leyden's brother, William, citing "newly discovered, exculpatory evidence" and a "Defendant X" who had stepped forward to claim responsibility.
William Leyden's defense attorney, Roger Witkin, said McCollom is "Defendant X" and is now the suspect in Jackie Leyden's death. Witkin has argued that McCollom and Jackie Leyden knew each other from Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and had been enemies.
"I think he's got to be checked out on these kinds of killings," said Witkin.
McCollom was arrested for the Lynn slaying in August 2001. He testified at a court hearing last year that he was a high school graduate who worked various jobs. He said he had suffered psychological problems after his brother was fatally stabbed in 1996 at a tavern.
McCollom appears to have made little impression on those who were acquainted with him.
"He was one of those guys who kind of came and went and paid his rent," said Bruce Macdonald, chief executive of the YMCA branch, describing McCollom as a "pretty well-groomed, pretty well-tanned" man who was a former high school baseball player and seemed to be a typical "local guy."
McCollom's defense attorney did not return messages seeking comment. But attorney Cathy Marino issued a statement on behalf of McCollom's family, saying they were "both saddened and shocked by events surrounding Gene."
"They are hopeful that his anticipated admissions of guilt will bring the matter to a close for everyone who has been affected by these tragic events," the statement said.
Authorities are also reviewing whether McCollom has any links to the slaying of a woman whose remains were found Oct. 22, 2001, on a beach in Sandwich, Mass., about 50 miles southeast of Boston.
Massachusetts authorities are not the only ones interested in McCollom. Miami-Dade Detective Jim McColman has told newspapers that Florida investigators want to explore a possible connection between McCollom and a prostitute slain in 1995.
McCollom testified that he was upset when police arrested and questioned him about unsolved cases. "When I first got to the jail, I just about tried to hurt myself because I was so despondent about being labeled a serial killer," he said.
But in the same hearing, McCollom acknowledged lying when he initially told police he had been simply dumping trash at a building where a surveillance camera allegedly recorded him dumping the body of the strangled prostitute.
"You dumped something else up there, didn't you, Mr. McCollom?" asked Essex County prosecutor Kathe Tuttman.
"It turns out I did," McCollom said.
Sam Malone ping*
No, watch - the headline will read "Neighbor of Bush supporter"
Just damn.
If you want on the list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...
Experimenting??????
:blinks: reads it again :shakes head:
These guys became enemies at AA meetings? Did one favor rum and the other favor beer?
... and tasty donuts!! (too bad Mrs. Foster's burned). Kane's bump!
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