The Media Missing the Big Picture

As I have extensively followed on this blog, a New York Police Department officer named Fred Maselli murdered his girlfriend, Shirley Fontanez, and then killed himself in a selfish act that some have speculated was done to cover up a check-cashing scheme that he allegedly masterminded. The overwhelming moral of the story is the overall preventability of this tragedy. When Maselli and Fontanez began dating the girl was 16 years old to Maselli's 40. Fellow officers of the troubled cop were aware of the illicit relationship. Maselli had made plans to kill an earlier girlfriend and then himself, but could not muster up the cowardice needed to finish the act. Instead he jotted down some notes about killing the woman's other boyfriend at the time. Now the po-po are looking into whether any of the unsolved murders in the city are related to Maselli's former girlfriend. In other words, the 34th Precinct is a fucking mess.

Around the same time as this massive abuse of power and unbelievable ignorance of Washington Heights cops, an innocent family in Cheshire, Connecticut were murdered in a home invasion that ended with the arson of the house. Only the father, prominent endocrinologist (CNN's words, not mine) Dr. William Petit, Jr., 50, survived after suffering a beating from the two parolees who committed the heinous acts. It is a very sad story, as the wife of Dr. Petit was strangled by the men and his two daughters died of smoke inhalation from the fire the two ex-cons set. A sad story from top to bottom.

In case it wouldn't be painfully obvious to you which story has recieved more media attention, let me help you out. It is not the story involving a poor Latina from the Bronx who got mixed up with a deranged cop. It is the story involving the rich, white family from a well-to-do suburb in Connecticut. The problem with this is the fact that the story about Maselli and Fontanez could have easily been prevented (see my previous post on this topic). There were so many missed opportunities. The Connecticut story, while tragic, is about a random act of violence that had much less opportunity to be prevented. The only preventability of that story lies in Connecticut's failed parole system, but as I have written about in the past, this country's correctional system is in shambles. What this boils down to is the fact that the media, particularly CNN (and I'm using CNN as a sample here because it is what I read for national news, but from what I understand the other national media outlets are similar) has run some aspect of the Connecticut story six times between Monday July 23 and today, Friday July 27. It has not run any story mentioning the name "Maselli" once at all, not even just this week. This follows a trend that I have noticed in the news media: if the story involves minority/poor victims and the ill deeds of police officers or those in power in our society (minus heads of state), it will often recieve substantially less coverage than a story involving white/rich victims and the ill deeds of minorities or ex-convicts. This is just one example in a society laden with classism and racism that is further perpetuated by the media's direct or, in this case, indirect actions. Peace.

Photo - A stack of newspapers in my representation of mass media (1000cranes.com)

Blue Wall of Silence (UPDATED II)

Since early Sunday, according to authorities, the bodies of 40 year-old NYPD officer Fred Maselli and his 18 year-old girlfriend, Shirley Fontanez, have been lying in Maselli's apartment in the Bronx. Maselli, a 7-year veteran of the force, shot Fontanez 5 times before joining her in eternal rest with a bullet to his own brain. It appears that he used his own, private weapon and not his service weapon. While many people will raise their eyebrows at the fact that a 40 year-old father of two (by two different women) was dating an 18 year-old (accounts differ on the young mother's age [she has a 3 year-old child], so I am going with the New York Times), the history of the relationship is the shocking part. The pair have been dating for two years, meaning they have been together since Fontanez was 16 years old, a year below the legal age of consent in New York State. So it seems that Maselli was just good at keeping his relationships with underage girls a secret, right? Not so. According to Fontanez's mother, 40 year-old Maria Espinoza, Fontanez would go to the precinct with Maselli and everyone there knew about the illicit relationship. What is more mind-boggling is that Fontanez, again according to her mother, dated another cop from the same precinct before even meeting Maselli.

So here is my question: what the hell was Maselli doing with a 16 year-old girl? And even more important, what the hell was any ranking officer in the 34th Precinct doing when he would parade her through the halls? What's even more disturbing is the fact that Maselli allegedly physically abused the woman, as Espinoza said that her daughter would come back with bruises on her arms and back. What do you do in a situation like that? You think that the boys in blue over at the 34th Precinct are going to turn on their buddy if some girl he's been dating comes in to file a report? While it is unclear whether the mother provided any guidance to her daughter about her relationship, a friend of the victim's, identified as Monica Pinedu, had the sense to urge Fontanez to leave the cop, but Fontanez simply replied she could not, "Because he will kill me." A friend and neighbor of Maselli, Izzy Marcus, also 40, said that recently the stress of the job seemed to be getting to Maselli. Marcus, who seems to have a penchant to talk to the press as he is quoted differently in different articles, insinuates that Maselli might have had a thing for young girls. "'I thought he had a really good relationship with this one,' Marcus said." "This one"? How many were there?

So this seems to indicate a failure on many fronts for those in charge over at the Washington Heights' 34th Precinct. If, as Fontanez's mother alleges, her underage daughter was seen regularly at the precinct and that Maselli's colleagues knew of the illegal relationship - with one even having been in a relationship with the girl himself - then why was no action taken? It is third degree rape when "the perpetrator is over 21 years old and the victim is under 17." If any ranking officer knew about this relationship and did nothing about it, I hope they realize the gravity of their inaction. Additionally, if the stress of the job was getting to Maselli, as his oft-quoted friend Izzy Marcus alleges, then why was no counseling offered to him by the NYPD? If Maselli opened up to Marcus about it, then someone in the precinct must have known. There is no doubt that the Commanding Officer of Maselli's precinct, Deputy Inspector Andrew Capul, will have some difficult questions to answer. Peace.

UPDATE (7/25/07): Gothamist today pointed out that there is a new twist in the case involving the murder-suicide of Shirley Fontanez and her "boyfriend" (it's in quotes because apparently she had been trying to break up with the extremely jealous cop for weeks) cop Fred Maselli. It seems that the two were running a check-cashing scam at the Paterson, New Jersey Rivera Check Cashing store. Maselli apparently supplied Fontanez with stolen checks and she would cash them at her work. Well the gig was up, because after Fontanez and Maselli got up to $70,000 from their plan, Fontanez's manager caught the girl in the act on surveillance video and had her arrested and fired her. According to friends and family, Fontanez was going to turn state's evidence and accept a plea deal, all the while trying to break up with Maselli. So, again, kudos to those in charge of evidence over at the 34th Precinct who noticed $70,000 worth of stolen checks missing. One plea that I think will be repeated (hopefully) by many: Deputy Inspector Andrew Capul, please get your precinct house in order. Peace.

UPDATE (7/26/07): According to the New York Daily News, it is possible that this is not the first time that NYPD officer Fred Maselli has killed. According to an unnamed police source, detectives going through Maselli's apartment found a suicide note dated 2004 indicating that he was going to kill his then-girlfriend and then himself because he did not have the balls to go to prison for what he would have done. Apparently the note had ramblings about how he should have just killed the then-girlfriend's lover (I know, I don't know how someone could cheat on such a good boyfriend) instead of killing his then-girlfriend and himself. So now cops are looking into whether Maselli went through with his threat to kill the lover of the then-girlfriend. It's nice to know that the 34th Precinct was aware of what was going on and tried to get some help for an obviously deranged individual. Peace.

Photo - Shirley Fontanez (nydailynews.com)

Commenting

Just a quick post about commenting. Unfortunately there has been an issue with commenting on this blog. My most recent post ("Andre Bauer: Man of Mystery") has illicited a lot of comments. However, many of these comments have pretty much been spam comments; the same person has been commenting verbatim on this and other threads on the internet. This is a) annoying as hell to me as I have to sift through the verbal diarrhea to discern which comments are legit and b) damaging to your argument. As "notverybright" alluded to, no one is going to listen to you if you just make baseless comments that are not really related to the thread you commented in. I also have a hunch that many of the "legit" comments on the post about Bauer are coming from the same person. For this reason I have disabled anonymous comments and now the only way you can comment is if you sign in with your Google account or Blogger account. I did not want to do this, but some people are just immature and cannot handle productive conversation. I do want to thank everyone who has participated on this blog in a meaningful way and hope that you continue to do so in the future. I'm less than pleased that I had to do this, but I guess shit happens. Peace.

Standing Up for What You Believe In

Kudos to three assistant fire chiefs out in Coram, New York on Long Island. The three men, Second Assistant Chief Robert Kinahan, Third Assistant Chief Christopher Cacace, and Robert Kullak (position unkown) all resigned over the lack of disciplinary action towards a member of their fire department who told a black firefighter that, straight up, he "doesn't like black people." Another reason behind the resignations was the fact that Coram Fire Chief Ronald Curaba was suspended for two weeks following a highly disputed "assault" that Curaba and company say was merely a heated argument. It all went down on May 19 at a departmental installation dinner (whatever that is) when Sal Giarrizzo, who is an employee of Coram FD, not a firefighter, told Milton Forde, a black firefighter, that he was not a fan of members of the black race. When Curaba heard what Giarrizzo had said, he confronted him and the two got into a pretty heated argument, yelling at each other nose-to-nose. Some people claim that Curaba head-butted Giarrizzo, others say that never happened. So the Coram Fire Commission suspended Curaba for standing up for Forde while they told Giarrizzo that he really had done nothing wrong and to settle the matter personally with Forde. Giarrizzo said that he meant is as a joke to Forde. Hilarious. Forde wrote a letter to the department asking Giarrizzo to be punished harshly, so obviously he will not be endorsing Giarrizzo's stand-up comedy tour hitting your local Klan meeting this summer.

But the story does not end. Giarrizzo, according to the Newsday article, supervises secretarial and janitorial employees in Coram and apparently a number of them are black. So Van Johnson, the Coram Fire Commissioner, sees no problem with a white employee saying to a black firefighter's face that he does not like black people despite the fact that the same white person must supervise black employees? This may not be surprising when one considers Johnson's bizarre logic. Johnson claims that Giarrizzo's "joke" was not racially charged. He said that he was just stating a fact. Johnson asked a crowd of about 50 people at a departmental meeting that if he had stated he did not like Polish, Jewish, or Catholic people, would that be racist? Jews: yes, because technically they are a race. Polish and Catholics? No, but only because they are not races. It would just be highly prejudiced and bigoted. It also turns out that Sal Giarrizzo and Van Johnson are buddy-buddy and many are saying that this is the reason that Giarrizzo was not punished. Johnson says that this is not the case and that Curaba was violent and has been in the past. If this is so, then why a measly two week suspension for a repeat offense, and why hasn't Giarrizzo filed assault charges? Seems kind of week. Chief Ronald Curaba has threatened to resign from his post if Van Johnson and the remainder of the brain trust that is the Coram Fire Commission do not step down. Hopefully Sal Giarrizzo will be fired for his outright racist remarks, Van Johnson will step down from any occupation requiring simple logic, and all three assistant chiefs resume their duties with Curaba's suspension wiped off his record. Peace.

Photo - Coram Fire Department Badge (bfc500patches.com)

Giuliani Sure Knows How to Pick 'Em

I thought maybe that Giuliani's botched choice of South Carolina Treasurer Thomas Ravenel as state chairman for his presidential campaign was a fluke. Apparently not so. This time it is his southern regional chairman of his campaign, Senator David Vitter (R-Louisiana). Unlike Giuliani, who just cheated on his wife and broke up with her in a public press conference, Vitter is not quite the ladies' man Giuliani has proven to be. He has to pay for his women and to do this he turned to the DC Madam, aka Deborah Jeane Palfrey, who is on trial for money laundering and racketeering in connection to her "erotic fantasy service" Pamela Martin & Associates. Apparently Vitter is not the only high-profile Washington insider on the list, as the media have speculated about many influential folks being on the list, including a "Bush administration economist, the head of a conservative think tank, a prominent CEO, several lobbyists and a handful of military officials." Additionally, earlier this year in April, Randall Tobias, a top State Department official, resigned after being linked to the alleged prostitution operation. Tobias denied he did anything wrong, though, saying he just got massages from the "gals." Yeah, just like Reverend Ted Haggard just got a massage from a gigolo who also sold him meth.

So where does this leave Vitter in terms of Giuliani's campaign? Well, Rudy still employs Vitter in the campaign, saying that it's too early to tell whether or not Vitter will be asked to leave or resign from his post. But this seems to be a trend in Giuliani's political career. The (now) three most well-known cases start with Bernard Kerik. Kerik, the police commissioner of NYC from 2000 to 2001, was put into the post by Giuliani despite some extremely shady dealings that Kerik was involved in. Then, when Giuliani wholeheartedly advocated for his buddy for the top Homeland Security job in the Bush administration, he was embarrassed when Kerik repeatedly lied about a nanny he had hired who had a questionable immigration status as well as a penchant for not paying taxes. Then Ravenel in South Carolina, and now Senator Vitter. Vitter says that his past indiscretion(s) was a sin that he has personally resolved with his wife. Also, apparently Vitter can talk with God because he "asked for and received forgiveness" from him. Impressive. What is not impressive, however, is Vitter's reasoning for being staunchly anti-gay marriage. The Senator has said that it ruins the sanctity of marriage and he will be there defending that sanctity in the halls of the Senate. Unless, you know, he needs a quickie and gives the Madam a call - and a few bucks. Peace.

Photos - Top: Senator David Vitter, Republican from Louisiana (vitter.senate.gov), Middle: Rudy Giuliani (www.wikipedia.com), Bottom: DC Madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey (www.msnbc.com)

Define: Irony

First off, apologies for not posting anything for over a week. I was on vacation at the Kane Resort in lovely Newton, MA and got caught up with a bunch of other things to do anything for this blog. Now, onto the story.

In an ironic twist in a bizarre story a Long Island, New York couple accused of enslaving two housekeepers have been granted bail - essentially freeing them until their trial for charges of federal forced labor and harboring undocumented immigrants. According to news reports, the couple - Varsha Mahender Sabhnani, 35, of Indonesia and Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani, 51, of India - allegedly held two Indonesian women as housekeepers against their will paying them $100 a month that was sent to relatives abroad. The alleged enslavement lasted five years, from 2002 through 2007. But, it appears, the wealthy couple from Muttontown - a village of Nassau County whose median income is more than 3 times that of the rest of the nation - will be able to gain something that they held from these 2 women: freedom.

The best quote from the 1010WINS article today came from the couple's lawyer Stephen P. Scaring. "We're trying to get them out as soon as possible," he said. "They're excited to get home to their children." Something that the two Indonesian women that the couple held against their will could not do for 5 years. Looking more into Mr. Scaring reveals a past that many would call victorious. He defended Gerald Monter, who was accused of manslaughter, and won. He also won an acquittal for Walter Grabinowitz, a St. John's student accused of sexual assault. However, these two cases also show Scaring's choice of who to defend. Monter, a real estate developer on Long Island, had been convicted of bribing a witness prior to his manslaughter arrest. Then, he was involved in a semi-scandalous land deal in Suffolk County involving Canon USA and a property called The Pumpkin Farm. Grabinowitz was accused along with two other St. John's students, of sexually assaulting a woman at the college. Prosecutor Alice Vachss, who was the chief prosecutor of sex crimes in Queens at the time, said that the DA's office had botched the case. This seems pretty obvious as one of the six accused (it appears that there were several trials for different individuals) plead guilty to lesser charges and then agreed to testify against the others. I don't know if I would want to be in the same category as these two people, as the Sabhnani couple have placed themselves in by hiring Scaring. Besides, who quotes themselves on their own website? Peace.

Photos - Top: Varsha Mahender Sabhnani (www.nypost.com), Middle: Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani (www.nypost.com), Bottom: Stephen P. Scaring (www.stephenpscaring.com)