Arrest In Yonkers Homicide Reveals Serial Killer

Serendipity can often help law enforcement crack cases that have to date been unsolved. This is one of those possible situations.

Police in Yonkers stumbled upon a murder scene when they sought a 63 year old man, Lucius Crawford, to question him about two other homicides.

Upon entering the apartment at 7-9 Beekman Avenue, the detectives discovered under a sheet on the suspect’s bed the body of a 41-year woman, who had been stabbed nine times in the chest. The suspect’s parole tracking ankle bracelet had been removed and was found in the apartment. The NYPD detectives notified the Mount Vernon police, and through joint efforts by the three police departments, local authorities captured the suspect, Lucius Crawford, M/B/60, three hours later at 4:05 p.m. at Hussey Road and East Grand Street in Mount Vernon.

Crawford subsequently confessed to detectives of three jurisdictions to the murders of the Mount Vernon woman; a Yonkers woman, Laronda Shealy, stabbed to death September 13, 1993; and to the October 20, 1993 murder of Nella West, 38, in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. She had been stabbed multiple times in the head, face, and torso, a sustained a broken eye socket and crushed skull. Crawford has been charged with murder by Westchester authorities.

This makes the guy a serial killer by any definition, but it's the MO that led the police to notify Long Island police authorities about his possible connection to the unsolved Gilgo Beach murders. At least 8 victims were recovered in the search for Shannon Gilbert and all appeared to be homicide victims.

Yet Suffolk County cops say that Crawford doesn't appear to have any involvement in the Gilgo Beach murders.

Three Designs For Tappan Zee Replacement Span Unveiled

The NYS Thruway Authority announced that the designs for the Tappan Zee bridge replacement span have been released. The release includes some key details, including costs and timeframe to complete.

I'm not particularly impressed with the designs, which all appear to be some form of a cable stayed span, but the second plan appears to have the best aesthetics. The Thruway Authority was looking for a signature span, and only the second design fits the bill. The first and third designs look derivative and far too busy.

Moreover, the third design would not only be the most expensive design at $4.059 billion, but would require more money to make it ready for mass transit capabilities down the road. The other two designs would be built for $3.142 billion and $3.99 billion respectively.

Thruway Bridge Design Presentation

At least all the designs are coming in at under the $5 billion that Gov. Cuomo and the Thruway Authority thought necessary to build out. Now, if the companies behind the plans can stick to their budgets and get it done in a timely fashion we'd have something to work with here.

Gov. Cuomo seems to be leaning towards option 1 - the $3.142 billion plan. It would also have the benefit of being the plan that has the quickest construction time and requires the least amount of dredging.