Notorious Jefferson County Crime



A record of some of the more notorious and well-known crimes in the county. A chronology of crime, in Jefferson County Notorious robbery of state militia money during the War of 1812 (1818). Ax murder of some men, and first official execution in Jefferson County (1828) Many high-ranking local politicians implicated in a plot to silence a Mason (1831) The ransacking and burning of the British ship Sir Robert Peel during The Patriots' War (1838) Two women murdered in Sackets Harbor by a Madison Barracks soldier (1897) Murdered a woman and became the first woman to die in the electric chair in New York, second woman to be executed in the state, only one from Jefferson County (1908) Murder at an Interstate Route 81 rest-stop near Watertown (1964) Murdered at a rest stop on Wellesley Island, officer questioned (1968) Killed by David Kocyla and Wendell G. "Joe" Sweet (1983) Local Serial Killer (1972, 1988-1990) Two year old disappeared from his yard, may or may not be a crime (May 1984) He believed the boy was 'evil' (November 1985) Elderly brother and sister murdered on Gale Street by neighbor (January 1986) Murdered by a serial killer stationed at Fort Drum, body thrown into the Black River near Sackets Harbor (May 1987) Killed friend and ambushed and killed Dexter Police Chief Samuel Johnson, had shootout with police (September 1987) Guinta sodomized, beat and strangled her, claimed it as an "accident" during rough sex (November 1987) Killed by serial killer Gary Evans (1989) Strangled pregnant girlfriend Kathleen LaMarche (February 1990) Murdered his step-children and wife, set the house on fire in Felts Mills (June 1990) The murder and burning of a bartender by Daniel Dumas at Tanner's Fireside Inn [Rusted Route] (1994) While watching the movie "Colors" about gang violence (September 1994) Beaten with a blunt instrument by Adrian Rusho (1995) Body discovered many years later, estranged boyfriend Michael Foster arrested. (May 1996) Shot to death outside of her Geico Office in Black River by Provard Jones & accomplice Travis Paul (March 1998) Severely wounded his ex-girlfriend's friend and kidnapped her (December 2004) The double homicide of sisters Shannon St. Croix and Kelly Exford (2005) The death of a local Fort Drum soldier in mysterious circumstances (March 2007)
 * Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Whittlesey
 * Henry Evans
 * The Disappearance of William Morgan
 * Pirate Bill Johnston
 * The Crouch-Daly Murders
 * Mary Farmer
 * The Egan Triple Murder
 * The Unsolved Murder of Irene Izak
 * The Murder of Local Businessman John A. Petrus
 * Arthur Shawcross
 * The Unsolved Disappearance of Sean Evans
 * Boy kills his friend while playing Dungeons & Dragons
 * The Murder of Beatrice Percy and Paul Williams by Charles Fedora
 * The Murder of Patsy Vineyard
 * Stuart Moss
 * Susan Groff killed by boyfriend Philip Guinta
 * The murder of Doug Berry
 * Richard Torturica
 * Terry Carr
 * The unsolved murder of Tina Hosmer Smith (August 1990)
 * 14-year old Jackie Dacusin lured and murdered by friends on Fort Drum (1992)
 * The Stabbing and Burning of Christine Vaadi
 * Cherie Dobbin stabbed numerous times by "friends" Dustin Noftsier & Patrick McConnell
 * The Anna Petrus Murder in Adams
 * The Murder of Alicia Wasilewski
 * The Bonnie Hector Murder
 * Michael P. Mayhew commits double-murder suicide when he shoots his girlfriend Mary C. Monroy and Kevin Geer (2004)
 * Van Waldick Shooting of Ryan Dorr, Kidnapping of Jessica Quinta
 * Edundabira Ojo
 * Patrick Rust
 * EMS Worker Mark Bradley Davis Killed While Helping Suspect (January 30, 2009)

* More info needed (including dates, descriptions, and conviction info - but no Watertown Daily Times articles please!):
 * Murder of mentally handicapped girl in Brownville, during the 80's? Have names already, need confirmation, date and more info.
 * Holly Gilbert murder by McClusky
 * Murder of elderly Brownville resident by teenage "friend" and acquaintances *