One of the suspects in the Long Island body parts case was jailed after violating his parole by shoplifting — but the other three suspects remain at large thanks to lax bail laws At New York.
Amanda Wallace, 40, is one of four defendants charged with concealing a human corpse and tampering with evidence earlier this month.
The bodies were those of Malcolm Craig Brown, 53, and Donna Conneely, 59, found in Babylon Park earlier this month, a couple whose connection to the suspects remains unclear.
None of the four were charged with murder, and lax parole laws in New York state meant they were able to be released on parole.
Wallace, however, was returned to custody Friday after stealing nail polish and false eyelashes from a CVS.
Amanda Wallace, 40, was arrested Friday evening and charged with petit larceny Friday for stealing items from a CVS, and is expected back in court Friday.
Stephen Brown, 44, appeared in Suffolk County District Court on Monday and was subject to the same conditions of supervised release. He is due back in court on April 1.
Malcolm Craig Brown, 53, and Donna Conneely, 59, were murdered before their remains were butchered and scattered in Babylon Park, New York.
Jeffrey Mackey, 38, and Alexis Nieves, 33, were also arrested in connection with the brutal murders and are scheduled to appear in court Tuesday in Islip Central District Court in Suffolk.
All four were released back onto the streets thanks to state laws prohibiting bail, except for Wallace who was charged with petit larceny and is behind bars.
Suspects accused of mutilation and disposal of murdered corpses are no longer eligible for bail after New York reformed its bail laws in 2019.
Suffolk County DA-elect Raymond Tierney said the decision to release them with ankle tags was “absurd” and blamed the 2019 “bail reform” law for the ruling .
Wallace was attached to her GPS monitor at the time of the theft. A store employee called police around 10:50 p.m. Shortly after, she was arrested and charged with petit larceny, according to the Suffolk County Police Department.
Wallace, who admitted to the crime, told a police officer she “forgot” her money and “didn’t want to come back,” according to court documents. News day reported.
Wallace was remanded into custody Monday by Judge James McDonaugh in Suffolk District Court in Central Islip and handcuffed.
Amanda Wallace, 40, and Steven Brown, 44, walking with attorney Ira Weissman
Brown and Wallace enter the courthouse Monday
At one point, Wallace tries to hide his face with his hand.
Judge McDonaugh told Wallace: “At the bare minimum, under these circumstances, I think Ms. Wallace would be able to go nine days without being arrested again.
Prosecutor Dena Rizopoulos asked the judge that Wallace be held on $10,000 cash bail for the petit theft charge.
She told the judge that Wallace was wearing his GPS monitor during the robbery and called it “a complete disrespect to the court, people are going to ask for that bail when it resets.”
Wallace’s attorney, Keith O’Halloran, told the judge that pretrial detention and $10,000 bail were an outrageous request by the prosecutor’s office.
He said his client was “unable to post an exorbitant amount of bail.” He requested that a lower bail be set, which would not amount to automatic pretrial detention.
O’Halloran, has pleaded not guilty to the charge of petit larceny.
But Judge McDonaugh ordered Wallace held without bail in the body parts case for failing to comply with the conditions of her earlier release.
He also set bail for the petit theft charge at $5,000 cash, $10,000 surety or $50,000 partially secured bond.
Wallace and her boyfriend, Steven Brown, 44, Jeffrey Mackey, 38, and Alexis Nieves, 33, were all released without bail earlier this month after a severed head and arms were found in two parks in the Suffolk County.
On February 26 and March 5, police found the severed body parts in West Babylon and Babylon at Bethpage State Park.
The defendants were all charged with first-degree hindering prosecution, tampering with physical evidence by concealment or destruction, and concealment of a human corpse.
On Monday, defendant Steven Brown appeared in court with his attorney Ira Weismann.
Judge McDonaugh said he was extending his supervised release status and said the conditions remained the same, including wearing his supervised electronic monitoring device at all times and staying in Suffolk County.
Brown was summoned back to court on April 1.
After the hearing, Weismann told media that his client was cooperating with his parole demands.
Wallace is due back in court Friday.
After the hearing, Brown left the courtroom with his attorney. His eyes were fixed on the ground as he walked and did not answer any questions, particularly about how he felt leaving the courthouse without Wallace.
Wallace’s attorney briefed a group of reporters outside the courtroom and said:The prosecutor’s office filed new charges against his client.
“Based on these new charges, he requested that Wallace be held without bail,” O’Halloran said. “The judge granted this request.”
“Once again we must launch a new investigation. We have no documentation of new cases. We have no findings on the old case. ‘
“We are still looking for information that would link her to either of these two cases. We will have to verify whether the judge acted correctly in remanding her without bail.
He added: ‘The DA’s office has not provided us with any findings or evidence on the original case, so we have no knowledge of what the DA was talking about there.
O’Halloran confirmed that Brown and Wallace were a couple.
He said she had children, but it remains unclear exactly how many children Wallace has and whether Brown, who also lives in Amityville, is the father of any of those children.
He said he did not represent her in family court.