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 *