Two killed at Long Island condo owned by Saints LB Jonathan Vilma

[myhousekey]

Pretty crazy.

 

http://blog.nola.com/saintsbeat/2009/03/tw...sland_cond.html

 

NEW YORK -- Police are investigating two execution-style slayings at a Long Island condo owned by New Orleans linebacker Jonathan Vilma, a former member of the New York Jets.

 

New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said Tuesday that New Orleans Saints player Jonathan Vilma was not there at the time of the slayings and is not believed to be involved.

 

The victims were shot in the head Thursday night in Woodbury, N.Y. One body was later dumped in Queens and the other in Brooklyn.

 

Police believe the killings involved a money dispute.

 

Vilma's agent Mitch Frankel told the New York Daily News that Vilma hadn't lived in the $900,000 condo since November 2007 and believed the place was empty, and there is no evidence that Vilma was involved in the crimes, according to the report.

 

Frankel said the condo is for sale, and neighbors confirmed that Vilma has not lived there since November '07. A police source, however, told the Daily News that a friend or relative of Vilma's with use of the condo may have been connected to the crimes.

 

Vilma, 26, was traded from the New York Jets to New Orleans in February 2008. He signed a new five-year, $34 million with the Saints last month.

 

He also ran into legal trouble earlier this year in Miami when he was arrested for reckless driving and resisting arrest following a traffic stop. But Vilma disputed the criminal charges, which were later dropped.

[Randall]

From NY

 

By SELIM ALGAR, KIERAN CROWLEY and LARRY CELONA

 

PROBE: Cops believe killings were in this gated community.

 

 

 

Cops are investigating whether two Bronx immigrants were executed in former Jet linebacker Jonathan Vilma's million-dollar Long Island condo before their bodies were dumped in Brooklyn and Queens, sources said yesterday.

 

Neighbors called cops Thursday night after hearing two shots fired in the unit -- part of the posh, gated Eagle Chase complex in Woodbury --after five men drove up in a car and a Ford F- 150 truck.

 

The men, including one who iden tified himself as Vilma's cousin, had everything they needed to enter the 99-unit luxury compound -- the password, the electronic gate opener and the keys to Vilma's home, said a condo-board member who asked to remain anonymous.

 

The men did not stay long, leav ing after backing the truck into the garage of the home, closing the ga rage door and apparently loading something into the trunk, the board member said.

 

Police are looking for the man who claimed to be Vilma's cousin.

 

Vilma, who now plays for the New Orleans Saints and is trying to sell the condo, is not believed to be a target of the investigation, but cops want to talk to him about who might have been using the home, according to law-enforcement sources.

 

Shortly after midnight Thursday, two men tossed the body of a man believed to be one of the victims, identified by police sources as Bronx cabby Sekou Sakor, 31, into Jamaica Bay from the Paerdegat Bridge in Canarsie. He had been shot once in the head.

 

Several hours later, cops found the body of a man thought to be the second victim, identified as Ansu Keita, 32, also of The Bronx, in a Josh Gordon-strewn lot in South Ozone Park. He, too, died of a single gunshot to the head.

 

Relatives said the men, immigrants from Liberia, were good friends. Law-enforcement sources said they may have been part of a an Internet money scam.

 

A resident of a condo that adjoins Vilma's said he heard two shots fired five seconds apart on Thursday night.

 

One bullet passed through the headboard in his mother's bedroom, he said.

 

"You just don't expect anything like this to happen in a place like this," he said. "This could have killed my mother."

 

Condos at the posh complex sell for $800,000 to $1.4 million. Vilma's home has been vacant for a year, the condo board's president said.

 

The linebacker could not be reached for comment.

 

Funeral services for Sakor, who leaves behind a 3-year-old son, Arrasane, were held yesterday.

 

"He was a hardworking guy. He loved his son dearly. I felt I was dead, too, when I found out," said Mawa Kamara, 27, who described herself as Sakor's best friend. She said he "never associated with the wrong" crowd.

 

His sister, Mariana Sakor, who lives in Philadelphia, said, "I'm in pain right now. I cannot talk."

 

Additional reporting by Brigitte Williams-James and Andy Geller

[myhousekey]

more info From PFT.com

 

NYPD: Internet Scam May Have Set Up Murders At Vilma’s Condo

 

Posted by Aaron Wilson on March 31, 2009, 3:48 p.m.

 

The double murder at a New York condominium unit owned by New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma could have been triggered by an elaborate Internet scam, according to a Newsday report that quotes New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.

 

Per Kelly, the two Liberian immigrants may have been targeted for a deadly dose of revenge because they allegedly orchestrated a “black paper scheme” fraud where people were bilked into buying a chemical that wipes ink off dollars.

 

According to police, Sekou Sajor and Ansu Keita’s bodies were dumped in separate New York boroughs after being shot in the head once apiece in a residence owned by Vilma, a former New York Jets player.

 

Although Vilma isn’t being described as a suspect in the murders and wasn’t present at the condo at the time, the police want to ask him questions about who had access to his condo.

 

“Victims are asked to give money so this special chemical can be purchased to take the ink off the money,” Kelly said. “The investigators’ premise is that these individuals [sakor and Keita] are involved in the scam, that they perpetrated this scheme … and that they were killed in retaliation for this. The whole thing is a scam.

 

“What they do is sort of wine and dine people, make them believe there is literally millions of dollars coming in, covered in this black ink. They actually show them some samples where [the money is] covered in black ink. They’ll take it off with the chemical and it’ll be a 100-dollar bill. When [victims] discovered they’ve been scammed, it turns out to be black construction paper.”

 

Vilma’s lawyer, Michael Tein, said Vilma “was as shocked as anyone,” to learn of the murders.

 

“Of course, he has absolutely nothing to do with this crime,” Tein said, “and will do everything possible to help the police solve it.”

Edited March 31, 2009 by myhousekey