Latest news with #Mazzuca
Daily Mirror
22-05-2025
- Daily Mirror
Killer mum's three chilling words after suffocating baby boy and burning body
Keri Mazzuca, 52, has been captured on newly released footage confessing to the harrowing murder of a child, who was found wrapped in a towel and burned back in 1997 This is the chilling moment a baby killer calmly confesses to police she suffocated and burned her baby son's body nearly 30 years ago. Keri Mazzuca, 52, was captured on newly released footage confessing to the death of the little boy, who was found wrapped in a towel and burned at the foot of a statue of Moses in Albany's Washington Park in 1997. She was interviewed by cops last year after she gave a sample using technology used to capture the Gilgo Beach killer, Rex Heuermann. Mazzuca was shown the horrific photo of the child's remains when she made a casual admission, according to footage released by the Albany County District Attorney's Office. 'I got pregnant. I had the baby. I gave birth in my bathtub; the baby died. I didn't know how to get rid of it,' she told officers. The suspect had previously claimed the baby died in the bathtub during childbirth and that she put the corpse in a bag and gave it to a "random person" at the park. However, police pressed her story and claimed the baby had not died of natural causes, and her story was inconsistent. 'I didn't know what to do. I set the baby on fire,' Mazzuca admitted calmly. 'It was dead," she insisted in a chilling statement. "I suffocated the child." She told officers the child was not alive when she set him on fire. Mazzuca pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge in February and was jailed for 25 years in April. Albany County District Attorney Lee Kindlon welcomed her sentence, she said: 'Now, 27 years later, we can look at this collective investigative effort combined with the emerging science and be reinvigorated that we can tackle even more cold cases going forward.' It comes after a drug-induced driver was jailed after his reckless actions behind the wheel killed a four-month-old baby. Craig Nunn, 40, was jailed for 14 years at Worcester Crown Court after causing death by dangerous driving. Little Harley Wilkinson was sadly killed in the incident just after midnight on October 26 last year, a horrific crash that also left the child's father Jake Wilkinson seriously injured. The court was told Nunn, of Sandy Lane in Stourport, was nearly two times the drug-drive limit in his Ford Focus when he smashed into a black Suzuki Vitara being driven by Harley's mother Imogen Bradley. Nunn was under the influence of amphetamines at the time, causing the crash in Worcestershire by running through a red light. Ms Bradley was driving home with her partner Mr Wilkinson after picking their son up from her sister's home when the collision occurred as she turned from Walter Nash Way West onto the A451 in the direction of Stourport.
NDTV
22-05-2025
- NDTV
On Camera, Chilling Moment Woman Admitted To Killing Her Baby 30 Years Ago
A New York woman calmly confessed to burning and strangling her baby boy in an Albany park about 30 years ago. A video, from the time of her interrogation in September 2024, shows the startling moment Keri Mazzuca, 52, confessed to killing her newborn son in 1997. She placed his body in a burnt cloth in a flowerbed close to the Moses statue in Albany, New York. A Freedom of Information Law request led to the release of the police interview. Mazzuca was charged with manslaughter in April 2025. The woman was interrogated last year over the death of "Baby Moses" after DNA testing on the baby's remains led investigators to her, News10 reported. Mazzuca provided a sample for the technology, which was reportedly used to apprehend Joseph James DeAngelo, the Golden State Killer, and Rex Heuermann, the alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer, The New York Post reported. According to the footage provided by the Albany County District Attorney's Office, Mazzuca confessed with apparent casual indifference after being shown a graphic image of the newborn's burned remains. She denied setting Baby Moses on fire, saying the infant had died in the bathtub during childbirth and that she had given the body to a "random person" at the park after placing it in a bag. Mazzuca calmly told the officer, "I did it," before trying to defend her horrible action when she was in her mid-twenties. "I got pregnant. I gave birth to the baby. The baby died after I gave birth in my bathtub. I was not sure of how to get rid of it," she told the cops, still not showing any remorse. Detectives told Mazzuca that her story did not add up and that an autopsy revealed Baby Moses had not died of natural causes. "I was unsure about what to do," Mazzuca calmly acknowledged, before adding, "I set the baby on fire. It was dead." Mazzuca was arrested in September 2024, 27 years after the child's death, based on DNA evidence. Judge Roger McDonough of Albany County Court sentenced Keri Mazzuca of Altamont to 25 years in jail for her role in the murder of her newborn entered a guilty plea in February. She also received a sentence for interfering with physical evidence, beginning simultaneously with the manslaughter accusation. After her release, she will also be on probation for five years.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Yahoo
NY mother sentenced for killing newborn, burying body in Albany park in 1997
An upstate New York woman was sentenced on Friday to 25 years in prison for the death of her newborn, whose body was found in an Albany park nearly 30 years ago. Keri Mazzuca, of Altamont, was arrested last year in connection with the cold case that was finally solved with the help of DNA evidence. The 53-year-old mother of two was arrested by Albany police on Sept. 14 and charged with second-degree murder and related crimes. Prosecutors accused Mazzuca of killing her newborn, whose remains were found under the statue of Moses in Albany's Washington Park on the morning of Sept. 7, 1997. The baby, still with his umbilical cord attached, was wrapped in charred cloth, officials said. He was later determined to have been born alive and healthy. Investigation into the shocking discovery, which became known as the 'Baby Moses' case, went cold due to a lack of evidence. However, in 2020, police reopened the case and partnered with the Cold Case Analysis Center at the College of Saint Rose in Albany. Using previously unavailable DNA technology, forensic specialists extracted a usable DNA profile from preserved evidence, which led them to Mazzuca. On Feb. 13, Mazzuca pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and tampering with physical evidence in Albany County Court. As part of the plea, she admitted to suffocating her newborn son to death and concealing his body. During her sentencing on Friday, Mazzuca addressed the court and apologized for her actions. 'I did a horrible, unimaginable thing. And I lived with remorse and regret,' Mazzuca said when asking for leniency. 'I'm a great mom. I've lived a law-abiding life. I do deserve a lengthy sentence, I just hope you use some discretion.' Albany County Judge Roger McDonough wasn't convinced. Calling her actions a 'tragedy beyond measure,' McDonough sentenced her to the statutory maximum of 25 years in prison.
CBC
19-03-2025
- Sport
- CBC
Future of Elliot Lake junior hockey team uncertain as arena continues to be closed for repairs
The Vikings' return for the 2025-2026 season depends on timely arena repairs The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) is in the process of finalizing its schedule for the 2025-2026 season, with one key question still unresolved: Will the Elliot Lake Vikings be able to play in their home arena next season? According to Robert Mazzuca, commissioner of the NOJHL, the Vikings, who were forced to take a leave of absence for the 2024-2025 season due to ongoing repairs to their local arena, are still in limbo. "It's not just the Vikings. We're talking about minor hockey, we're talking about figure skating, talking about public skating. A community centre in a community is a significant asset," he said. Elliot Lake's Centennial Arena— now renamed Rogers Arena after a $3 million donation— was suddenly shut down in September 2023 out of fears the roof could collapse and is still not ready to re-open. Mazzuca said he spoke to a representative of the City of Elliot Lake who said the renovations are expected to be complete by the end of July. However, several re-opening dates have come and gone, as the repairs to the 57-year-old arena have proved more complicated, despite the city raising millions to cover the costs, including $250,000 in prize money from the 2024 Kraft Hockeyville contest. "Timelines here for a wide variety of reasons, unfortunately, haven't been met and no fault to the town or the community or the facility," Mazzuca said. "Certain things have cropped up, and they've had to adjust and readjust the repairs that are required." The delay continues to create uncertainty for the Vikings, whose players were released from their contracts mid-season when the team took a leave of absence. "The vast majority of the players did find a place to play. So they're essentially, if they're going to plan on coming back, they're starting from scratch," Mazzuca said. He explained the team has a "tall order" and would have to complete full recruitment, scouting and development in July, a process typically completed a full year ahead of a season and made even more difficult with the uncertainty surrounding the team's future. "That's why it's important that we have some assurances and guarantees going forward, because it puts it puts the Elliot Lake Vikings at a significant disadvantage," Mazzuca said. While the expectation is that the Vikings' arena will be ready by July, Mazzuca explained that the league is preparing two scenarios: one with 12 teams and another with 11, in case Elliot Lake cannot field a team next season. Mazzuca added that a decision will likely be made by the end of April. CBC requested comment from the Vikings hockey club and the City of Elliot Lake and didn't get a response.
CBC
19-03-2025
- Sport
- CBC
Future of Elliot Lake junior hockey team uncertain as arena continues to be closed for repairs
The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) is in the process of finalizing its schedule for the 2025-2026 season, with one key question still unresolved: Will the Elliot Lake Vikings be able to play in their home arena next season? According to Robert Mazzuca, commissioner of the NOJHL, the Vikings, who were forced to take a leave of absence for the 2024-2025 season due to ongoing repairs to their local arena, are still in limbo. "It's not just the Vikings. We're talking about minor hockey, we're talking about figure skating, talking about public skating. A community centre in a community is a significant asset," he said. Elliot Lake's Centennial Arena— now renamed Rogers Arena after a $3 million donation— was suddenly shut down in September 2023 out of fears the roof could collapse and is still not ready to re-open. Mazzuca said he spoke to a representative of the City of Elliot Lake who said the renovations are expected to be complete by the end of July. However, several re-opening dates have come and gone, as the repairs to the 57-year-old arena have proved more complicated, despite the city raising millions to cover the costs, including $250,000 in prize money from the 2024 Kraft Hockeyville contest. "Timelines here for a wide variety of reasons, unfortunately, haven't been met and no fault to the town or the community or the facility," Mazzuca said. "Certain things have cropped up, and they've had to adjust and readjust the repairs that are required." The delay continues to create uncertainty for the Vikings, whose players were released from their contracts mid-season when the team took a leave of absence. "The vast majority of the players did find a place to play. So they're essentially, if they're going to plan on coming back, they're starting from scratch," Mazzuca said. He explained the team has a "tall order" and would have to complete full recruitment, scouting and development in July, a process typically completed a full year ahead of a season and made even more difficult with the uncertainty surrounding the team's future. "That's why it's important that we have some assurances and guarantees going forward, because it puts it puts the Elliot Lake Vikings at a significant disadvantage," Mazzuca said. While the expectation is that the Vikings' arena will be ready by July, Mazzuca explained that the league is preparing two scenarios: one with 12 teams and another with 11, in case Elliot Lake cannot field a team next season. Mazzuca added that a decision will likely be made by the end of April.
