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)