Teh One Who Knocks
10-24-2012, 10:51 AM
By Beth Stebner - The Daily Mail
Two teenage brothers were charged with murdering 12-year-old Autumn Pasquale after luring her into their house so they could steal parts from her BMX bicycle, authorities said today.
Autumn, whose body was found stuffed in a household recycling bin late Monday night after she vanished over the weekend, was promised parts for her bike by the two, authorities said, but the teenagers were really plotting to steal parts from her model.
The stunning development in the case came after the boys' own mother turned them in when she noticed a suspicious posting on one of her son's Facebook pages, Gloucester County prosecutor Sean Dalton said at a news conference.
The brothers, aged 15 and 17, have been charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, disposing of a body, theft, as well as tampering with a body.
http://i.imgur.com/fo6sd.png
Police also revealed they believe Autumn was killed by strangulation, and there were no signs of sexual assault. Dalton added Autumn, who was riding her bike at the time she disappeared was lured to the boys' house, where belongings including her bicycle were found.
Three teenage brothers live at the home, neighbouring teens told the Associated Press. Neither of the two arrested were named by Dalton.
The house was a place where teens frequently hung out and had parties, some neighbors said, and one of the brothers often bought and sold BMX bicycle parts, the teenagers said.
Autumn's body was found around 10 p.m. Monday in the bin just blocks from her house and from Borough Hall, where thousands of people gathered earlier in the evening for a tearful candlelight vigil to pray for her safe return.
http://i.imgur.com/jl7uC.jpg
'The search for Autumn is over,' Dalton said Tuesday. He called Clayton a safe community but said parents should continue to keep close watch on their children.
An autopsy released today revealed that Autumn died from 'blunt force trauma, consistent with strangulation,' Dalton said.
Members of the town had spent long hours searching for Autumn. The girl's great-uncle, Paul Spadofora, thanked the community for its help in the search. The victim's parents did not attend the vigil.
'There's evil everywhere, even in the small town of Clayton,' Spadofora said.
Crime scene investigators arrived shortly before 9 a.m. in the neighborhood where the body was found.
But Tuesday was trash collection day, and many residents had dragged their trash cans and recycling bins to the curb the night before. The covered recycling bins are collected by an automated truck that picks them up and dumps the contents into the back.
Police barricaded the block, and friends and neighbors came by to see.
Some mothers said they were keeping their kids out of school for the day.
Even before the body was found, students reported that Spirit Week had been canceled because of the sorrow.
One young man rode a bike up, sat on a porch of a home and cried, then biked away.
Clayton Mayor Thomas Bianco walked to the scene, cried, hugged a police officer and gave a brief statement to the gathered reporters.
'You hear about it in other places but never think it would happen in our little town,' he said.
Howard Kowgill, 60, who lives in town and, like many, knows members of Autumn's family, said the discovery of the body changes the nature of the town.
'Until they find out who did it, you don't let your kids out,' he said.
Autumn was reported missing from her home on Saturday evening, and had been the subject of a large search over the last two days until her body was found last night.
An autopsy to further confirm the body's identity will be conducted this morning by the Gloucester County Medical Examiner's office.
Dalton said: 'This is a very sad day for the Pasquale family. Our hearts go out to the family and to all the residents of Clayton who stood together in support of this young girl.'
About 200 law enforcement officials and hundreds more volunteers searched for Autumn yesterday.
Dalton yesterday said that 75 people had been interviewed in connection with what-was-then a missing person case.
Just before 4pm yesterday, investigators entered a house behind a Franklin Township bar after a K-9 dog supposedly picked up a scent.
The owner told the Daily News he got a call from police at work in Mount Laurel and was asked to come home. 'They said they wanted to search my house,' the man said.
Though they left 20 minutes later with nothing, the man said he had nothing to hide but understood why he might be considered suspicious as his back window was recently broken and he is friends with a lot of young girls on Facebook because of his teenage sister.
At that point on Monday afternoon, Investigators did not have any suspects or a sure sense of whether Autumn was left on her own or was the victim of foul play.
Her parents - Anthony Pasquale and Jennifer Cornwell - did not speak at the news conference. Both wept during the evening vigil.
Autumn, whose 13th birthday would have been next Monday, was last seen around 12.30pm on Saturday pedaling her white bicycle away from the Clayton home where she lives with her father, her two siblings, her father's girlfriend and the girlfriend's children.
A friend, DeAnna Edwards-McMillen, 11, said Autumn was at her house on Friday night and they exchanged text messages on Saturday.
She said she received the last one at 1.22pm and didn't believe it was intended for her. She said it read, 'don't be like that'.
DeAnna said her friend was nice and easy to be around: 'She didn't hate people and people didn't hate her.' DeAnna's mother, Debi McMillen, said that Autumn was often at their house and that she always went home before her 8pm curfew.
The last known communication was in a text message she sent at around 2.30pm.
Mr Dalton would not say who received the message or what it contained, but he added that there was nothing alarming or unusual about it.
It wasn't until about 9.30pm that she was reported missing - 90 minutes past her 8pm curfew, said Paul Spadofora, a family spokesman, the uncle of Autumn's father and the girl's godfather.
Two teenage brothers were charged with murdering 12-year-old Autumn Pasquale after luring her into their house so they could steal parts from her BMX bicycle, authorities said today.
Autumn, whose body was found stuffed in a household recycling bin late Monday night after she vanished over the weekend, was promised parts for her bike by the two, authorities said, but the teenagers were really plotting to steal parts from her model.
The stunning development in the case came after the boys' own mother turned them in when she noticed a suspicious posting on one of her son's Facebook pages, Gloucester County prosecutor Sean Dalton said at a news conference.
The brothers, aged 15 and 17, have been charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, disposing of a body, theft, as well as tampering with a body.
http://i.imgur.com/fo6sd.png
Police also revealed they believe Autumn was killed by strangulation, and there were no signs of sexual assault. Dalton added Autumn, who was riding her bike at the time she disappeared was lured to the boys' house, where belongings including her bicycle were found.
Three teenage brothers live at the home, neighbouring teens told the Associated Press. Neither of the two arrested were named by Dalton.
The house was a place where teens frequently hung out and had parties, some neighbors said, and one of the brothers often bought and sold BMX bicycle parts, the teenagers said.
Autumn's body was found around 10 p.m. Monday in the bin just blocks from her house and from Borough Hall, where thousands of people gathered earlier in the evening for a tearful candlelight vigil to pray for her safe return.
http://i.imgur.com/jl7uC.jpg
'The search for Autumn is over,' Dalton said Tuesday. He called Clayton a safe community but said parents should continue to keep close watch on their children.
An autopsy released today revealed that Autumn died from 'blunt force trauma, consistent with strangulation,' Dalton said.
Members of the town had spent long hours searching for Autumn. The girl's great-uncle, Paul Spadofora, thanked the community for its help in the search. The victim's parents did not attend the vigil.
'There's evil everywhere, even in the small town of Clayton,' Spadofora said.
Crime scene investigators arrived shortly before 9 a.m. in the neighborhood where the body was found.
But Tuesday was trash collection day, and many residents had dragged their trash cans and recycling bins to the curb the night before. The covered recycling bins are collected by an automated truck that picks them up and dumps the contents into the back.
Police barricaded the block, and friends and neighbors came by to see.
Some mothers said they were keeping their kids out of school for the day.
Even before the body was found, students reported that Spirit Week had been canceled because of the sorrow.
One young man rode a bike up, sat on a porch of a home and cried, then biked away.
Clayton Mayor Thomas Bianco walked to the scene, cried, hugged a police officer and gave a brief statement to the gathered reporters.
'You hear about it in other places but never think it would happen in our little town,' he said.
Howard Kowgill, 60, who lives in town and, like many, knows members of Autumn's family, said the discovery of the body changes the nature of the town.
'Until they find out who did it, you don't let your kids out,' he said.
Autumn was reported missing from her home on Saturday evening, and had been the subject of a large search over the last two days until her body was found last night.
An autopsy to further confirm the body's identity will be conducted this morning by the Gloucester County Medical Examiner's office.
Dalton said: 'This is a very sad day for the Pasquale family. Our hearts go out to the family and to all the residents of Clayton who stood together in support of this young girl.'
About 200 law enforcement officials and hundreds more volunteers searched for Autumn yesterday.
Dalton yesterday said that 75 people had been interviewed in connection with what-was-then a missing person case.
Just before 4pm yesterday, investigators entered a house behind a Franklin Township bar after a K-9 dog supposedly picked up a scent.
The owner told the Daily News he got a call from police at work in Mount Laurel and was asked to come home. 'They said they wanted to search my house,' the man said.
Though they left 20 minutes later with nothing, the man said he had nothing to hide but understood why he might be considered suspicious as his back window was recently broken and he is friends with a lot of young girls on Facebook because of his teenage sister.
At that point on Monday afternoon, Investigators did not have any suspects or a sure sense of whether Autumn was left on her own or was the victim of foul play.
Her parents - Anthony Pasquale and Jennifer Cornwell - did not speak at the news conference. Both wept during the evening vigil.
Autumn, whose 13th birthday would have been next Monday, was last seen around 12.30pm on Saturday pedaling her white bicycle away from the Clayton home where she lives with her father, her two siblings, her father's girlfriend and the girlfriend's children.
A friend, DeAnna Edwards-McMillen, 11, said Autumn was at her house on Friday night and they exchanged text messages on Saturday.
She said she received the last one at 1.22pm and didn't believe it was intended for her. She said it read, 'don't be like that'.
DeAnna said her friend was nice and easy to be around: 'She didn't hate people and people didn't hate her.' DeAnna's mother, Debi McMillen, said that Autumn was often at their house and that she always went home before her 8pm curfew.
The last known communication was in a text message she sent at around 2.30pm.
Mr Dalton would not say who received the message or what it contained, but he added that there was nothing alarming or unusual about it.
It wasn't until about 9.30pm that she was reported missing - 90 minutes past her 8pm curfew, said Paul Spadofora, a family spokesman, the uncle of Autumn's father and the girl's godfather.