State police have released little information in the case of Cairo police chief Christopher Sprague, who was arrested last Wednesday on felony charges of evidence tampering. But a couple of enterprising reporters at the Albany Times-Union have turned to court records and anonymous insider sources to dig up some more detail on the case.
According to a story published in the Times Union on Saturday, Sprague is accused of wiping fingerprints off a .380 caliber handgun connected to a criminal investigation, and instructing a man who possessed the gun illegally and turned it in to lie about it: Read more
A 14-year-old student at the Rondout Valley High School was arrested Thursday for allegedly making a threat to bomb the Marbletown Elementary School, in a case police say is unrelated to previous threats made to the school.
Times Herald-Record reporter Pauline Liu reports that the threat was made with tinfoil at a lunch table:
Investigator James Charlonis said several students were writing messages during lunch Thursday on a Rondout Valley High School cafeteria table using tin foil.
One of those messages was deemed to be a bomb threat, he said. Read more
The chief of police in the Greene County town of Cairo has been arrested on felony charges, in what state police say is a case of evidence tampering.
A New York State Police statement has little specific information about the case, but states that 48-year-old Cairo police chief Christopher Sprague is charged with tampering with public records and tampering with physical evidence in the first degree, tampering with a witness in the fourth dgree, and falsely reporting an incident in the first degree.
From the statement:
The charges are the result of Sprague's improper handling of evidence and falsely reporting information to the State Police. Read more
Upstate New York's rural drug problem is growing, officials say. And as local police crack down on drugs, the problem is also generating a growing pile of lurid local news headlines. Read more
A sign on the door at 1884 South River Road in Walton, the former home of Debra and Randy Sundstrom. Photo by David J. Krajicek.
WALTON, N.Y.--When Randy Sundstrom disappeared three years ago, his wife had an explanation that prompted hugs of sympathy, not arched eyebrows of suspicion.
“He ran off with another woman,” Debra Sundstrom said. “Believe me, you didn’t know the real Randy. Good riddance.”
She repeated the story to friends, neighbors, coworkers and, eventually, even to the mother of her own new love interest. Sometimes she added more gasp-inducing details—that the new girlfriend was pregnant, for example, or that Randy beat her.
But Randy Sundstrom had not run off. He was dead -- at Debra’s hand, the authorities say. And for more than 1,000 days, his remains were hidden in plain sight, moldering inside a barrel 25 paces from the back door of the old farmhouse they renovated outside of Walton.
The murder came to light on February 19 -- curiously, the three-year anniversary of the date that Randy Sundstrom was last seen alive. Read more
A three-month investigation into cocaine sales in Delaware County netted three arrests in the Town of Middletown on Wednesday, state police say.
According to a statement from the New York State Police, three people were arrested at a home at 104 Frog Alley Road at 7:45pm on Wednesday: 57-year-old Victor Perez and his wife, 47-year-old Kris Perez, both residents of the Frog Alley Road home, and 53-year-old John D. Gilchrist of 2 Olga Drive in Margaretville.
Troopers searched the house and seized 46 packets of cocaine packaged for sale, with a street value of about $2,300, as well as packing materials and a 12-gauge shotgun with ammunition. Gilchrist, who was in the driveway of the home, was found in possession of cocaine.
Both Victor and Kris Perez are charged with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a class B felony. They were arraigned in the Town of Middletown Court and remanded to the Delaware County Jail in lieu of $15,000 bail. Read more
Parents of children at the school got two troubling voicemail messages from the school -- one Wednesday and one on Thursday -- announcing that threats had been made at the school.
A Denning man has been arrested and charged with manslaughter, after allegedly beating his girlfriend to death in the couple's home in a remote area near the Ulster/Sullivan County border.
According to a statement from the New York State Police, first responders from Mobil Medic responded on the morning of March 6 to a Sullivan County 911 call at 8 Woodfield Road in Denning, where they found 37-year-old Jamielynn Bleakley outside the house suffering from multiple injuries. Bleakley died of her injuries the next day at Westchester Medical Center. Read more
Delaware County sheriff's deputies have arrested three SUNY Delhi students on drug charges this week. One student faces only a minor charge of possession of marijuana, a violation under New York State law. Two others face more serious felony charges of selling or intending to sell drugs.
On Monday, county sheriff's deputies arrested 19-year-old Gregory J. Nielsen of Port Jefferson, New York, after executing a search warrant in the village of Delhi and finding cocaine, marijuana, digital scales and cash. Nielsen is accused of possessing cocaine with intent to sell, and faces a charge of third-degree possession of a controlled substance, a class B felony. Police say additional charges will be filed. Read more
SUNY Delhi received a bomb threat that locked down the tallest building on campus this morning, according to an alert sent out by the SUNY NY Alert system at 9:34am and a press release issued by the college at noon. Read more
Above: Gerald Babcock. Photo from New York State Police. Below: Jamielynn Bleakley. 
