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Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Elise Stefanik on whether she'll run for NY governor: What she said
Rep. Elise Stefanik is holding off for now on a decision about the 2026 governor's race, saying she'll announce her plans after New York's elections for county and local offices on Nov. 4. Stefanik, a Saratoga County Republican who has represented northeastern New York for more than a decade, gave that extended timeline after another Republican opted out of the governor's race on Wednesday, July 23. Rep. Mike Lawler of Rockland County had been weighing a challenge against Gov. Kathy Hochul since last year but announced he will seek re-election instead. His exit clears a path for now for Stefanik, who plans to keep up the suspense for more than three months. "As I have previously stated, I am focused on supporting strong Republican local and county candidates on the ballot this November to lay the groundwork with a strong team for next year," she said in a statement right after Lawler's decision was reported on Wednesday. "I will make a final decision and announcement after this year's November election which we are all focused on." Stefanik hinted at gov run earlier this year Stefanik, 41, emerged this spring as a potential rival for Lawler, revealing in April that she was considering the next governor's race. That came after another political ambition fell through — President Donald Trump withdrew her nomination to be United Nations ambassador out of concern Democrats might win her vacated House seat in a special election. Republicans hold a thin majority in the House and needed to retain every seat in case of close votes. Stefanik is a close Trump ally who represents New York's 21st Congressional District, a giant swath of upstate bordered on two sides by Vermont and Canada. She routinely bashes Hochul as "the worst governor in America" and she got a chance to grill her potential opponent in person last month, when Hochul and two other governors testified at a House hearing on sanctuary state policies. Her campaign announced this month she had raised a whopping $4 million from April to June and had more than $11 million in her House campaign accounts. Hochul gears up for campaign, faces familiar rival in Delgado Hochul, who took office in 2021 after Andrew Cuomo resigned as governor, won a full term in 2022 and plans to run for a second next year. Her own lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado, is her only declared challenger at this point, having launched a campaign in June to run against her in a Democratic primary in June 2026. Ambassador bid: Elise Stefanik's district, reelection: What to know about the NY congresswoman Hochul's campaign, meanwhile, reported a nearly $12 million haul since January for her own re-election account and the state Democratic Committee. In addition to Stefanik, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman is seen as a potential Republican candidate for governor in 2026. He's up for re-election as county executive this November and is unlikely to announce before then a decision on the governor's race. Chris McKenna covers government and politics for The Journal News and USA Today Network. Reach him at cmckenna@ This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Elise Stefanik on whether she'll run for NY governor: What she said Solve the daily Crossword
The Independent
5 days ago
- The Independent
Son of Sam victim says serial killer's friend told her ‘David didn't do this'
A woman who was shot by the "Son of Sam" killer almost 60 years ago had to revisit her terrifying experience this week when she was confronted by one of David Berkowitz's friends. On Wednesday, Wendy Savino was at the Valley Cottage Library in Rockland County, New York, when she was confronted by Frank DeGennaro, a friend of Berkowitz's who insisted the Son of Sam killer did not shoot her. Savino, 88, told the New York Post that when she left the library, she saw a man standing outside staring at her. 'So I try to walk around him and he says, 'You're Wendy Savino, aren't you? Well, I just want you to know David is very upset about what happened to you. David wants to talk to you," she said, quoting DeGennaro. "'David wants you to know he didn't do it.'" Savino was injured in 1976 when Berkowitz, now 72, shot her while she was sitting in her car in the Bronx. She said she tried to play dead after she realized the gunman was still outside her car, but Berkowitz fired twice more into her back. She managed to crawl down a street to a restaurant where the staff called for help. Last year, NYPD investigators announced that her shooting was the first victim of the Son of Sam, who went on to kill six victims and wound two others between 1976 and 1977. Berkowitz never faced charges for the shooting because the statute of limitations had expired. After DeGennaro told Savino that he was friends with Berkowitz, she asked him to write down his name. She then gave the name to her son, Jason, and they called the Clarkstown Police Department to report the encounter. 'He had me backed into a corner,' she said. 'He's just talking and talking about the same thing. 'David's a really good person.'' DeGennaro told the New York Post that he received a call from the police, but wasn't charged as he had committed no crime. He insisted he wasn't trying to scare Savino. He told the paper that he became friends with Berkowitz 30 years ago after writing him a letter from prison. He said the two men bonded over their shared Christian faith. DeGennaro said that he also happens to live in Clarkstown and visits the same library as Savino. He said he was surprised to run into her and added that he had not told her Berkowitz wanted to talk. 'I realize now that it was probably the wrong thing to do, to even talk to her,' he told the paper. 'This is getting blown out of proportion.' While the encounter was likely terrifying for Savino and perhaps sobering for DeGennaro, it's a great bit of unintentional marketing for Netflix, which is releasing a documentary about Berkowitz on July 30 titled "Conversations with a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes." The documentary focuses on recently discovered recorded interviews with Berkowitz. The Son of Sam killer confessed to his crimes in 1978, pleading guilty to six counts of second-degree murder and seven counts of attempted second-degree murder. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for each murder, and has been denied parole 12 times. Savino said the encounter left her "very nervous." 'I was always afraid someone would come to me and say 'I'll finish you off for David.''
Daily Mail
11-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Top cop's daughter, 20, accuses him and colleagues of 'ritualistic' rape and abuse in shocking lawsuit
The daughter of a New Jersey police chief shockingly claimed that he and a neighbor raped her and other children in the woods as part of a 'ritualistic' ring of satanists who also burned kids alive. Courtney Tamagny, 20, filed an explosive lawsuit against her father, Leonia Police Chief Scott Tamagny, and her neighbor, Keith Slevin, accusing them and other grown men of committing the horrific crimes. Both men have denied the claims and said the allegations have been investigated and proven unfounded by several authorities. Slevin has also countersued Courtney for defamation. In Courtney's suit, she claimed the abuse by her father began when she was just four years old at their home in northern New Jersey and also extended to an older and younger sister. She alleged that the assaults continued until she was 15. The lawsuit accused Chief Tamagny of threatening to beat the girls if they told anyone about the abuse, and also claims he threatened to kill the girls' mother, Jeanne Tamagny, if Courtney spoke out. The mother joined the lawsuit as a plaintiff and is in the process of divorcing Chief Tamagny. Some of the lawsuit's most chilling allegations describe how the police chief and Slevin took the sisters into the woods in Rockland County, New York, where 'there was what appeared to be other middle-aged men present with masks on their faces.' Courtney 'recalls there being fire and animals being burned, and they would chant as if ritualistic' while sexually abusing her and her younger sister, according to the lawsuit. Courtney explained in her complaint that she suppressed memories of the abuse for years as a survival tactic, only recalling them after a doctor's visit for vaginal pain prompted a question about sexual abuse, triggering terrifying flashbacks. Her therapist reported the abuse to authorities in 2022, the suit says. In April, Courtney appeared on the ' We're All Insane ' podcast to expand on the claims, saying that generations of her father's 'bloodline' were members of a 'satanic cult' that included other neighbors in their town. She claimed the cult raped her and her siblings, trafficked children, and even 'burned them alive in their local woods.' She also described on the podcast 'tunnels' used by the alleged cultists for 'taking kids' blood,' 'drum circles,' and all-night 'burnings' of animals, animal skins, and even humans, suggesting the violence was meant to terrify victims into silence. She further claimed the cult was part of a 'national cabal of satanists engaged in child trafficking' and described 'sick games' they played like 'Hunter and Gatherers,' where children were chased, incapacitated, and assaulted. Courtney did not respond to a request for comment. Her mother, Jeanne, could not be reached. The Daily Mail has also contacted Courtney's lawyers and is awaiting a response. In her lawsuit, Courtney accused the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office and the state Department of Children and Families of failing to protect her and her siblings, alleging their investigations of the claims were inadequate and that the agencies had a custom of suppressing child welfare reports and ignoring evidence of abuse. In April, Courtney Tamagny told the 'We're All Insane' podcast her father's 'bloodline' and neighbors were part of a multi-generational 'satanic cult' Chief Tamagny's attorney, Helen C. Herbert, called the allegations 'completely uncorroborated, false and defamatory' in a statement to the Daily Mail. She added that 'it is believed Courtney Tamagny suffers from significant mental health issues.' The lawyer noted that motions to dismiss the lawsuit are pending, and that the allegations were investigated three years ago by federal, state and local agencies. Slevin's attorney, Kevin C. Corriston, explained that probes by the Department of Homeland Security and the New Jersey Attorney General's Office found no evidence of Courtney's accusations. 'No rational person would believe that for the past 11 years there has been an inter-generational secret satanic child sex cult operating out of Riverdale, New Jersey which ritualistically rapes, trafficks and burns children alive somewhere in the woods in Rockland County, New York,' he said in a statement to the Daily Mail.
The Sun
11-07-2025
- The Sun
‘My police chief dad raped me for 11yrs as leader of twisted paedo sex cult whose members would chase me through woods'
THE daughter of a police chief claims her dad raped her for 11 years as part of a twisted paedo sex cult. Courtney Tamagny, 20, claims members of the alleged sex cult in New Jersey made children play sick "games," allowing them to run through the woods before subjecting them to abuse. 4 4 4 She has filed a lawsuit against her dad, New Jersey's Leonia Police Chief Scott Tamagny as well as a neighbor, Kevin Slevin. Dad Tamagny and neighbor Slevin say the claims were thoroughly investigated as high as the federal government and determined to be unfounded. Slevin has even countersued Courtney for defamation. But Courtney hasn't shied away from the legal chaos as she has taken her claims public, appearing on podcasts to describe the alleged sexual abuse. The 20-year-old claims her dad and Slevin abused her in their home, as well as "ritualistic" masked worshippers in the local woodland. Her dad also allegedly threatened to murder her mom if she ever spoke up, court documents revealed. The lawsuit claimed: "[Courtney was brought] into the woods in Rockland County New York, and there was what appeared to be other middle-aged men present with masks on their faces." Here, she allegedly recalls there "being fire and animals being burned, and they would chant as if ritualistic". It further claimed: "She was sexually assaulted in those woods by defendant Slevin, defendant father, and some of the other men present." The alleged heinous abuse began in 2009 when Courtney was around four years old, with the lawsuit claiming it continued until she was 15, in 2020. Both of Courtney's sisters are also allegedly victims of abuse, according to the lawsuit. YouTuber found guilty of wife's murder in shocking Bradford attack Their dad allegedly used drugs to sedate them before assaulting them while their mom was either away or asleep. Courtney's mom, Jeanne Tamagny, stood by her daughters side as a plaintiff on the lawsuit and is in the process of divorcing her husband. The 20-year-old also claims that, as a survival tactic, she suppressed memories of the abuse - with her only recalling the horrific ordeal after a visit to a doctor for genital pain. The doctor had asked Courtney if she had been sexually abuse, which caused her to have flashbacks, the suit claims. It was her therapist that eventually reported the abuse to authorities in 2022, court papers say. Courtney has described the alleged abuse on a podcast in April called 'We're All Insane'. Here she also claimed generation of her dad's "bloodline" had been in a satanic cult with neighbors in their North Jersey town. 4 She further alleged they ritualistically raped her and her siblings - and even trafficked children and burned them alive in the woods. Courtney claimed on the pod that the neighborhood cult members had underground "tunnels" which they would use to operate their rituals. This included allegedly "taking kids' blood," "drum circles" and "burnings" - which would last all night. Courtney said on the show: "Burnings of animals, animal skins, humans as well." She added: "What scared us the most is 'Ok, we're doing this to these people we've trafficked, why wouldn't we do this to you? Because we just did that to this young girl or this young boy." Courtney said the alleged cult was part of a national group of satanists that engaged in child trafficking. She also talked of the alleged "games" that would occur - but "were not games". One was allegedly called "Hunter and Gatherers" where more than 10 children were released into the woods and told to hide. Cult members would then allegedly find them before assaulting them. Courtney claimed on the pod: "They made it as if it was a game and you could win. "You weren't going to win, you were always going to be hit, they just wanted you to look terrified and run." Epstein prison CCTV is finally RELEASED 6yrs after paedo's 'suicide'…as probe 'reveals whether financier killed himself' Courtney also claimed her dad used his position of being in local law enforcement to trap her in the abuse, thwarting any opportunity for her to get help. The 20-year-old is suing her dad and neighbor Slevin, and has also named the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, the State of New Jersey, numerous state child protective services, among others. Tamagny and Slevin have both vehemently denied the claims. Slevin's attorney, Kevin Corriston, told The New York Post:"It's made up out of whole cloth. "This entire complaint was previously investigated by everybody from Homeland Security, to the Attorney General's Office in New Jersey, to the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, and they found no basis at all for these outrageous allegations. "Having got no satisfaction from law enforcement, she now decided to sue all the people who were involved in the investigation. "These claims are on their face unbelievable. There is no way in the world that there was some sort of secret satanic child sex cult operating out of Riverdale, New Jersey. "This is a fantasy made up in her mind." The countersuit filed by Slevin accuses Courtney of defamation and claims her allegations have "exposed [him] to public ridicule and held in disrepute". Courtney's claims have also caused him "extreme embarrassment and humiliation and severe mental distress". Tamagny's attorney, similar to Slevin's, called the allegations "completely false and defamatory". If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call RAINN (Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network) at 800-656-HOPE (4673).
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Yahoo
Spring Valley man sentenced to life in prison for murdering man in kitchen knife attack
SPRING VALLEY - A 30-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison this week for the stabbing murder of a man found lying in the street after leaving a bar in 2022. A Rockland County Court jury convicted Oscar Garcia-Garcia of second-degree murder in March following a three-week-long trial before County Court Judge Kevin Russo. Russo sentenced Garcia-Garcia to a prison term of 25 years to life on Wednesday, July 2. A jury found the prosecution's evidence proved that Garcia-Garcia was responsible for the death of Luis Pinduisaca-Villa, 54, on Dec. 29, 2022, the Rockland District Attorney's Office said in a statement on Wednesday, July 2. Prosecuted contended that Garcia-Garcia followed Pinduisaca-Villa after he left the bar at about 1 a.m. and stabbed him in the throat area with a large kitchen knife. A pedestrian found Pinduisaca-Villa's body lying in the middle of the road a short time after the stabbing. A Spring Valley police investigation with the Sheriff's Office Bureau of Criminal Investigation collected blood evidence, articles of clothing and a large kitchen knife. The investigation led the police to interview Garcia-Garcia on Dec. 29, 2022, when he admitted to stabbing Pinduisacra-Villa. No information on what led to the fatal stabbing has been released by the police or prosecutors. The case was prosecuted by First Assistant District Attorney Kathleen Devlin and Executive Assistant District Attorney Michael Peterson. Attorney Jeffrey Schonbrun represented Garcia-Garcia. Steve Lieberman covers government, breaking news, courts, police, and investigations. Reach him at slieberm@ Twitter: @lohudlegal. Read more articles and bio. Our local coverage is only possible with support from our readers. This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Spring Valley man sentenced to life for murdering man in knife attack
