Two men have been indicted for the January 2002 murders of Arica Schneider and Samuel Holley.Bryan Berry and Terrence Battiste -- first identified as the suspected killers in a Times Union story in December 2005 -- are accused of killing Arica Lynn Schneider, 18, and Samuel ``Frost'' Holley, 27, in their Brunswick Road apartment in January 2002, according to an indictment unsealed today in Rensselaer County Court.
Berry and Battiste were pressured last year to admit to the murders or face the prospect of serving decades behind bars for a series of stick-ups, sources have told the Times Union. Both men are serving time in federal prison for unrelated crimes. The FBI has said they were part of a violent Troy-based crew called the reputed "Stick Men" that robbed drug dealers at gunpoint, at times pistol-whipping them.
This sounds like it could be a tough case to prove. By all accounts there is a paucity of direct evidence against the two men.
We'd like to thank the TPD for their work on this difficult case far. Special praise should go to John Riegert. His dogged determination and efforts were crucial in the success achieved so far.
Berry and Battiste may be innocent and should certainly be considered innocent until a jury determines their fate. That doesn't diminish the fact that the Troy Police Department refused to abandon a five year-old crime and two victims.
PEACE OFFERING
As we've done in the past, the Troy Polloi cordially invites all candidates to submit posts (as many as they want*) during the course of the campaign. If the posts are issue-oriented and stay clear of personal attacks,** they will be posted in full. Comments to those posts must also be issue-oriented and refrain from nasty, personal attacks, unless they're really, really good attacks. No one actually takes us up on these offers but we'll continue to make them.
We also offer*** similar services to the people of North Greenbush. This offer is open to anyone, be they ever so humble, who wants to set forth their views on the current state of North Greenbush politics. Here's your chance to be heard in a forum that has no stake in the outcome of anything in North Greenbush.
Let us come together and heal the hurt.
NEW BYLAWS VOTE
According to today's Record, County Chair Tom Wade will call a meeting of the County Committee to re-pass the re-vised bylaws. The initial passage of the revisions may have run afoul of the ten day notice requirement because amendments to the revisions were adopted at the meeting from the floor. Meaning, before the vote, committee members had approximately 25 seconds of notice for the actual revisions ultimately adopted.
In short, due to a procedural error, it's a 'Do-Over.' There's little question that the revisions will pass, with one caveat. Wade needs a quorum**** at the meeting so the vote can proceed.
* But no more than three.
** Fair criticism of an opponent's public record or statements does not constitute a personal attack.
****A quorum, for Wade's purposes, is more than a liter but less than a hectare of the Democrat Committee.
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