Prosecutor tells tale of Coram double murder
Shooting victims had never met before night they were dismembered
10 comments below
The cold-hearted confession that accused killer Darren Lynch allegedly made to police was chillingly recounted to jurors during opening statements this week in the Longwood graduate's murder trial.
Mr. Lynch, 29, faces first-degree murder charges, for allegedly killing Mr. Odierno, 35, of Miller Place and Mr. Santos, 22, of Manhattan and cutting up their bodies almost immediately after the murders in July 2008. Authorities said he told police that after a bad drug deal, he took the men to his Queens apartment and shot them both in the head at point-blank range.
Mr. Lynch's high school pal, James Wall, 30, of Coram helped abduct the victims and faces second-degree murder charges for his role in their deaths, prosecutors said. He is also a defendant in the double-murder trial.
During police questioning, Mr. Lynch demonstrated how he killed the men by pointing one finger to his temple and flexing his thumb as though he was releasing the safety, Ms. Kelly said. He also drew a map of the burial locations featuring a star with the letters "BP" for body parts, the prosecutor told jurors in the Riverhead courtroom.
[if "'As [the third man] ran for his life down those city streets, Joseph Odierno and Jairo Santos were losing their lives.' Kerriann Kelly, prosecutor" equals ""]
The four men met in Coram after Mr. Lynch contacted another former Longwood classmate looking to purchase a kilo of cocaine, Ms. Kelly said. The classmate, who like Mr. Lynch and Mr. Wall graduated in 1998, put the group in touch with Mr. Odierno.
Mr. Santos was then contacted by a friend of Mr. Odierno to help buy the drugs from dealers in New York City, Ms. Kelly said.
Mr. Santos, Mr. Odierno, and a third man who is cooperating with prosecutors and is expected to testify at the trial, then sold the drugs to Mr. Lynch and Mr. Wall for $30,000, Ms. Kelly said.
Mr. Lynch and Mr. Wall quickly discovered that the brick of cocaine they purchased was actually a block of generic white powder, Ms. Kelly said.
The two defendants then abducted the three men and forced Mr. Odierno to drive the group in his Cadillac Escalade to the city on a quest to find the men who sold them the powder, she said. The third man managed to escape as the group searched for the dealers, Ms. Kelly said.
That man eventually came forward to authorities and was able to help police link the disappearance of Mr. Odierno and Mr. Santos to Mr. Lynch, who buried their dismembered bodies in his parents' backyard on Summercress Lane in Coram and scattered some of their remains in a nearby sump, Ms. Kelly said.
The address of Mr. Lynch's parents' house was also programmed into a global positioning device in Mr. Odierno's SUV, which was parked a short distance from Mr. Lynch's apartment, she said.
The victims' remains were discovered by investigators days after the pair disappeared.
The prosecutor said investigators later found Mr. Lynch, Mr. Wall and Mr. Lynch's live-in girlfriend, Leah Reynolds, inside the apartment with "guns and drugs all over."
Ms. Reynolds, 22, the daughter of a Nassau County Police sergeant, had hidden the handguns used in the murders inside her family's Holtsville home, Ms. Kelly said. She was charged with first-degree hindering the prosecution and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, to which she recently pleaded guilty and is expected to be sentenced after the trial is over in December.
Just this past week, Ms. Reynolds pleaded not guilty to a second indictment in Queens County involving multiple weapons and drug charges stemming from last year's events. Her attorney, William Wexler of North Babylon, did not return a phone call seeking comment.
Mr. Lynch's attorney, Paul Barahal of Smithtown, said his client had used steroids and cocaine on the night of the murders and that his mental state made him incapable of intentional murder. He also argued that Mr. Lynch had suffered an "extreme emotional disturbance," the result of having lost his money.
Ms. Kelly described Mr. Wall as Mr. Lynch's "right hand" and his "driver."
"He wanted to be all Darren Lynch was," Ms. Kelly said.
Mr. Wall, who was led into the courtroom before Mr. Lynch, had a black eye, which Judge Robert Doyle told jurors was the result of a jail yard basketball game over the weekend.
Mr. Wall's attorney, Ira Weissman of Central Islip, pointed his finger at Mr. Lynch, while noting that his client faces the lesser charge. He also said the third man fabricated the story he told police to "deflect attention away from his own wrongdoing."
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10 comments found
: 4/18/2012
Jay was one sketchy kid. I knew him all of the half semester he lived in Post hall at post. he smoked pot regularly, held grudges for no reason, and spread rumors about people. a friend of mine who i liked, he told her some of the most ridiculous stories, and denied ever saying anything. none of this surprises me
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: 10/16/2011
I hope he rots in jail! he killed a very close and dear friend. He just needed one semester to graduate college. i knew jairo since grammar school and if there is a god i hope he gets a death penalty. after serving a life sentence.
Darren Lynch : 1/16/2010
Darren Lynch is a great guy who watched my back in jail. he was robbed and was on more than five drugs at the time. and theyu give him life. he was on steroids, herion, cocain, pot. and methadone. he was not able to think rationally. and he should have gotten, 25 years.
darren lynch : 11/2/2009
i hope they both they the needle
