Rockin Robin
01-30-2003, 08:59 AM
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-libone0130,0,6050148.story?coll=ny%2Dlinews%2Dhead lines
Teens Make Grave Error
Cops say trio stole, partied with bodies
By Samuel Bruchey and Andrew Smith
Staff Writers
January 30, 2003
They're not goths, their friends say, nor members of some satanic cult. But on a night in November, three Patchogue teenagers with mischief on their minds brought shovels to Cedar Grove Cemetery, Suffolk police say.
Two of the teens chose a trio of grave sites at random, pried off the stone casket lids and put the skeletal remains in the trunk of the car their friend was driving. Later that night, the two brought the remains to a party at a friend's house nearby, police and friends of the three said.
"They just wanted to know what dead people looked like,” said Jessica Wess, 17, who was throwing the party, and said she did not appreciate the unexpected guests.
"I obviously didn't want anything to do with it,” Wess said.
Apparently none of the teens at the party told their parents or teachers, officials said. But after a few weeks one of the youths, Michael Herz, 18, had trouble keeping the secret, said Suffolk Det. Lt. Edward Reilly, commanding officer of the Fifth Squad in Patchogue.
"He was talking about it in school, and a teacher took notice,” Reilly said. "The teacher asked him about it, and he told her.”
Police contacted Herz, who admitted what had been done and led detectives on Dec. 13 to a plastic bag in a drainage conduit under Sunrise Highway in Patchogue, where the bodies had been disposed. Police arrested Herz, Michael Sossi, 17, and Patrick O'Rourke, 19.
Herz and Sossi are each charged with cemetery desecration, body stealing and opening graves, according to the Suffolk district attorney's office. All are felonies. They face a maximum of 11/3 to 4 years in prison if convicted.
O'Rourke, who allegedly drove the skeletons from the cemetery, is charged with receiving a stolen body, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison.
O'Rourke -- a college student who works part time as a veterinarian's assistant -- was not with Herz and Sossi when they showed up uninvited with two skulls and a partial skeleton at Wess' house in Patchogue.
"It's a sick thing; you just don't do things like that,” said Wess' mother, Rose Wess.
One classmate of Herz told police the teens had covered a skull with a Darth Vader mask. Police said they found no photographs and could not confirm that the parts were dressed during the party. The skeletons, which were buried in 1897, 1926 and 1933, were examined by forensic pathologists and returned to their proper graves.
Herz is free on $20,000 bail and Sossi is free on $2,500. O'Rourke is free on a desk appearance ticket.
Herz's father, Robert Herz, said he had no idea why his son did any of it. "It was probably a stupid prank, but I don't know because he won't tell me. He said ‘I didn't do it'. I said, ‘Michael, yes you did.'”
Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.
Teens Make Grave Error
Cops say trio stole, partied with bodies
By Samuel Bruchey and Andrew Smith
Staff Writers
January 30, 2003
They're not goths, their friends say, nor members of some satanic cult. But on a night in November, three Patchogue teenagers with mischief on their minds brought shovels to Cedar Grove Cemetery, Suffolk police say.
Two of the teens chose a trio of grave sites at random, pried off the stone casket lids and put the skeletal remains in the trunk of the car their friend was driving. Later that night, the two brought the remains to a party at a friend's house nearby, police and friends of the three said.
"They just wanted to know what dead people looked like,” said Jessica Wess, 17, who was throwing the party, and said she did not appreciate the unexpected guests.
"I obviously didn't want anything to do with it,” Wess said.
Apparently none of the teens at the party told their parents or teachers, officials said. But after a few weeks one of the youths, Michael Herz, 18, had trouble keeping the secret, said Suffolk Det. Lt. Edward Reilly, commanding officer of the Fifth Squad in Patchogue.
"He was talking about it in school, and a teacher took notice,” Reilly said. "The teacher asked him about it, and he told her.”
Police contacted Herz, who admitted what had been done and led detectives on Dec. 13 to a plastic bag in a drainage conduit under Sunrise Highway in Patchogue, where the bodies had been disposed. Police arrested Herz, Michael Sossi, 17, and Patrick O'Rourke, 19.
Herz and Sossi are each charged with cemetery desecration, body stealing and opening graves, according to the Suffolk district attorney's office. All are felonies. They face a maximum of 11/3 to 4 years in prison if convicted.
O'Rourke, who allegedly drove the skeletons from the cemetery, is charged with receiving a stolen body, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison.
O'Rourke -- a college student who works part time as a veterinarian's assistant -- was not with Herz and Sossi when they showed up uninvited with two skulls and a partial skeleton at Wess' house in Patchogue.
"It's a sick thing; you just don't do things like that,” said Wess' mother, Rose Wess.
One classmate of Herz told police the teens had covered a skull with a Darth Vader mask. Police said they found no photographs and could not confirm that the parts were dressed during the party. The skeletons, which were buried in 1897, 1926 and 1933, were examined by forensic pathologists and returned to their proper graves.
Herz is free on $20,000 bail and Sossi is free on $2,500. O'Rourke is free on a desk appearance ticket.
Herz's father, Robert Herz, said he had no idea why his son did any of it. "It was probably a stupid prank, but I don't know because he won't tell me. He said ‘I didn't do it'. I said, ‘Michael, yes you did.'”
Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.