by tyler | Jan 17, 2024 | CNN, us
Here’s a look at the life of US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
Birth date: August 8, 1953
Birth place: Mobile, Alabama
Birth name: Lloyd James Austin III
Father: Lloyd James Austin Jr., postal worker
Mother: Aletia Taylor Austin, homemaker
Marriage: Charlene Denise (Banner) Austin (early 1980s-present)
Children: Reginald Hill (stepson); Christopher Hill (stepson)
Education: United States Military Academy, B.S., 1975; Auburn University, M.E., counselor education, 1986; Webster University, M.A., management and leadership, 1989; War Army College (1996-1997 attended)
Military service: US Army, 1975-2016, four-star general
Has achieved many firsts:
Awarded numerous decorations for his military service, including five Defense Distinguished Service Medals, the Silver Star for bravery in combat and two Legions of Merit.
Has served on a number of boards of directors including Nucor Corporation, Tenet Healthcare Corporation and United Technologies (now known as Raytheon Technologies Corporation following a 2020 merger).
Served on the board of trustees of Auburn University and Carnegie Corporation of New York.
An athlete in high school, he was captain of his varsity basketball team.
1975 – Austin is commissioned as a second lieutenant in the US Army upon graduation from West Point. Over the next 20 years, he holds a number of leadership positions and is stationed at bases in North Carolina, Indianapolis, New York, Germany and Panama.
1997-1999 – Commander, 3rd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
1999-2001 – Chief, Joint Operations Division, J-3, The Joint Staff, Washington, D.C.
2001-2003 – Assistant division commander, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Georgia, and Operation Iraqi Freedom, Iraq.
2003-2005 – Commanding general, 10th Mountain Division in Fort Drum, New York. Includes Operation Iraqi Freedom, Iraq.
2005-2006 – Chief of staff, US Central Command, Unified Combat Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.
2006-2009 – Commanding general, XVIII Airborne Corps and Commander, Multi-National Corps; Operation Iraqi Freedom.
2009-2010 – Office of the Director, Joint Chiefs of Staff, US Department of Defense, Washington, D.C.
2010 – He is promoted to four-star general.
2010-2011 – Commanding general, US Forces-Iraq, US Central Command, Operation New Dawn.
January 31, 2012-March 2013 – Vice Chief of Staff, US Army.
December 6, 2012 – Nominated by President Barack Obama to be the 12th commander of US Central Command.
March 2013-March 2016 – Commander, US Central Command.
April 5, 2016 – Retires from the military.
2016 – Founds the Austin Strategy Group, LLC., with Austin as owner and president. Later declares in a US Office of Government Ethics filing that the consulting business will remain dormant upon his 2021 confirmation as defense secretary.
September 2020-January 22, 2021 – Partner at investment firm Pine Island Capital Partners.
December 8, 2020 – President-elect Joe Biden names Austin as his nominee for secretary of defense, in an op-ed published by the Atlantic.
January 19, 2021 – The Senate Armed Services Committee hearing takes place. Austin addresses concerns about a retired general assuming the top civilian post at the Pentagon, “If confirmed, I will carry out the mission of the Department of Defense, always with the goal to deter war and ensure our nation’s security, and I will uphold the principle of civilian control of the military, as intended.” He also pledges to fight to rid the department of “racists and extremists.”
January 21, 2021 – Both chambers of Congress approve a waiver to permit Austin to serve as secretary of defense, as the law requires a defense secretary to wait seven years after active-duty service before taking the position. This is the second such waiver. The first was granted to James Mattis in 2017.
January 22, 2021 – In a 93-2 vote, the Senate confirms Austin to be the first African American defense secretary.
February 2, 2021 – Austin dismisses hundreds of members of 42 Pentagon advisory boards, as the Pentagon announces a review of the boards’ memberships. Those members, appointed by the Pentagon, include late appointments by the Donald Trump administration.
February 2, 2021 – Austin orders a staggered pause of operations across the US military so commanders can have “needed discussions” with service members about the issue of extremism over the next 60 days, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby announces.
February 16, 2021 – Writes a Washington Post op-ed to underline that, under the Biden Administration, the US is back in full support of NATO and the US’ traditional role in defense of Europe.
March 21, 2021 – Travels to Afghanistan on his first visit to the country as the United States’ top defense official, meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and other officials.
April 30, 2021 – In his first major policy speech, Austin stresses the importance of emerging technology and the rapid increases in computing power to push the military into the future, laying out a vision of warfare starkly different from how “the last of the old wars” of the past two decades were fought.
June 22, 2021 – Austin announces he will recommend to Biden a change in the military justice system to take the prosecution of sexual assaults out of the hands of commanders.
January 2, 2022 – According to a statement from Austin released by the Defense Department, he has tested positive for Covid-19 and is exhibiting “mild” symptoms.
April 24, 2022 – Austin and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken make an unannounced trip to Kyiv and meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
March 7, 2023 – Austin makes an unannounced trip to Iraq. He is the highest-ranking Cabinet official to visit the country since the start of the Biden administration.
January 5, 2024 – The Pentagon announces Austin was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on New Year’s Day for complications from a medical procedure. Austin faces criticism as it is revealed that senior officials, including President Biden, were left in the dark about his multiday hospital stay. On January 9, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center releases a statement revealing Austin is being treated for prostate cancer. The cancer was discovered in early December 2023. Austin is released from the hospital on January 15.
by tyler | Jan 17, 2024 | CNN, us
Here’s a look at the life of former House Speaker Paul Ryan.
Birth date: January 29, 1970
Birth place: Janesville, Wisconsin
Birth name: Paul Davis Ryan
Father: Paul M. Ryan, an attorney
Mother: Elizabeth “Betty” (Hutter) Ryan Douglas
Marriage: Janna (Little) Ryan (December 2, 2000-present)
Children: Liza, Charlie, Sam
Education: Miami University (Ohio), B.A., 1992
Religion: Roman Catholic
Ryan’s father died of a heart attack when Ryan was 16.
Double-majored in economics and political science at Miami University (Ohio).
Ryan is a fitness buff and enjoys bow hunting.
1992 – Legislative aide to Senator Robert Kasten of Wisconsin.
1993-1995 – Staff assistant and speechwriter for the Empower America think tank, which was co-founded by Rep. Jack Kemp (R-NY).
1995-1997 – Legislative director for Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas.
November 3, 1998 – Is elected to the US House of Representatives for the 1st District of Wisconsin. Ryan is reelected in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016.
2011-2014 – Chairman of the House Budget Committee.
March 29, 2012 – Ryan’s 2013 budget proposal is passed by the Republican controlled House, 228-191. The budget plan is later defeated in the Senate, 57-40.
August 11, 2012 – Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney announces Ryan as his choice for vice presidential running mate.
August 17, 2012 – Released tax documents show that Ryan and his wife earned $323,416 in 2011 and paid an effective tax rate of 20%.
November 6, 2012 – The Romney-Ryan ticket is defeated in the general election by the Obama-Biden ticket, but Ryan wins an eighth term representing Wisconsin’s 1st District.
October 8, 2013 – The Wall Street Journal publishes an op-ed by Ryan in the midst of the 16-day government shutdown, in which Ryan discusses the challenges of reaching a budget agreement.
December 2013 – Ryan and Senate Budget Chairman Patty Murray strike a budget deal that avoids a shutdown until 2015. It passes the House 332-94 and the Senate 64-36 and is signed by President Barack Obama.
July 24, 2014 – Ryan releases a 73-page plan to fight poverty, called “Expanding Opportunity in America.”
January 6, 2015-October 29, 2015 – Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means.
October 22, 2015 – Officially announces he is running for House speaker.
October 28, 2015 – House Republicans nominate Ryan for speaker of the House.
October 29, 2015 – Becomes the 54th speaker of the US House of Representatives.
April 12, 2016 – Ending speculation that he could be drafted as the Republican presidential nominee during the party’s summer convention in Cleveland, Ryan declares, “I do not want, nor will I accept the nomination…Count me out.”
November 8, 2016 – Ryan wins reelection to the House, defeating Democrat Ryan Solen 65% to 32%.
January 3, 2017 – Ryan is reelected as the speaker of the US House of Representatives.
December 22, 2017 – President Donald Trump signs into law an overhaul of the US tax code, an issue the speaker has long supported.
April 11, 2018 – Announces he is not seeking reelection.
January 3, 2019 – Retires from Congress.
March 2019 – Appointed to the board of Fox Corporation and serves as chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.
April 15, 2019 – The University of Notre Dame announces that Ryan will be a guest lecturer for political science and economics during the 2019-2020 academic year.
October 28, 2019 – Ryan announces the launch of the American Idea Foundation, a nonprofit organization aimed at fighting poverty.
February 2021 – Ryan joins the private-equity firm Solamere Capital as Partner and Chair of the Executive Partner Group.
by tyler | Jan 17, 2024 | CNN, us
Here’s a look at one of the most successful golfers in history, Tiger Woods.
Birth date: December 30, 1975
Birth place: Cypress, California
Birth name: Eldrick Tont Woods
Father: Earl Woods
Mother: Kultilda (Punsawad) Woods
Marriage: Elin Nordegren (October 5, 2004-August 23, 2010, divorced)
Children: Charlie Axel and Sam Alexis
Education: Attended Stanford University, 1994-1996
Won the Masters Tournament five times, the US Open three times, the PGA Championship four times and the British Open three times.
Woods is the PGA career money list leader.
With 82 PGA Tour wins, Woods is tied with Sam Snead for most all-time career victories.
His father nicknamed him “Tiger” after a South Vietnamese soldier with whom he fought alongside during the Vietnam War.
1978 – At the age of 2, wins a putting contest with Bob Hope. The match was staged for the “Mike Douglas Show.”
1980 – Appears on the TV show “That’s Incredible.”
1991 – Wins his first US Junior Amateur golf championship. At 15 years of age, Woods was the youngest champion in history until 14-year-old Jim Liu broke his record in 2010.
1992 – Wins his second US Junior Amateur golf championship.
February 27, 1992 – Competes in his first PGA tournament at the age of 16. He is given a sponsor’s exemption in order to play and is the youngest player ever to play in a PGA tournament at that time.
1993 – Wins his third US Junior Amateur golf championship.
1994-1996 – Wins three consecutive US Amateur golf championships.
August 27, 1996 – Turns professional.
August 1996 – Signs a five-year endorsement deal with Nike worth $40 million.
October 6, 1996 – Wins his first tournament as a professional at the Las Vegas Invitational.
1996 – Forms the Tiger Woods Foundation for the promotion of minority participation in golf and other sports. In February 2018, the charity is renamed TGR Foundation to reflect its growth and scope.
April 13, 1997 – Wins his first Masters Tournament.
May 19, 1997 – Signs an endorsement deal with American Express worth between $13 and $30 million.
June 1997 – Becomes the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world after his 42nd week on the PGA Tour. At 21 years, 24 weeks, he is the youngest player ever to hold the No. 1 spot.
August 15, 1999 – Wins his first PGA championship.
June 18, 2000 – Wins his first US Open by 15 strokes, the largest margin in US Open history.
July 23, 2000 – Wins his first British Open.
September 14, 2000 – Signs a five-year endorsement contract with Nike. It is worth an estimated $85 million, making it the richest endorsement contract in sports history, at the time.
June 16, 2002 – Wins his second US Open.
December 8, 2003 – Named PGA Player of the Year for the fifth straight year.
May 13, 2005 – Woods fails to make the cut at the Byron Nelson Championship in Irving, Texas. It is the first time since 1998 that Woods is eliminated from a tournament.
November 23, 2005 – Wins the PGA Grand Slam of Golf for a record-breaking sixth time.
February 10, 2006 – Opens the Tiger Woods Learning Center in Anaheim, California.
May 3, 2006 – Woods’ father, Earl Woods, dies of prostate cancer.
July 23, 2006 – Wins his third British Open.
August 20, 2006 – Wins his third PGA Championship.
August 12, 2007 – Wins his fourth PGA Championship.
April 15, 2008 – Undergoes arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. He had two prior surgeries on the same knee, first in 1994 to remove a benign tumor, and another arthroscopic surgery in December 2002.
June 16, 2008 – Wins the US Open in sudden death, defeating Rocco Mediate.
June 18, 2008 – Woods announces that he will undergo reconstructive anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery on his left knee and will miss the remainder of the PGA tour season.
February 26, 2009 – After an eight-month hiatus from golf due to knee surgery, Woods plays the second round of the World Golf Championships Match Play and loses to Tim Clark.
November 15, 2009 – Wins the Australian Masters.
November 27, 2009 – Is taken to a hospital after being injured in a car accident in front of his home in Florida. He is released later the same day.
December 2, 2009 – Woods apologizes for “transgressions” that let his family down – the same day a gossip magazine publishes a report alleging he had an affair. He does not admit to an affair and offers no details about the “transgressions” in his statement.
February 19, 2010 – Makes a televised statement apologizing for being unfaithful to his wife and letting down both fans and family. “I had affairs, I cheated. What I did was not acceptable, and I am the only person to blame,” he says. Responding to rumors, Woods says that his wife never hit him, as some media reported in connection with the car crash on November 27, 2009, and that there has “never been an episode of domestic violence” in his relationship with his wife. Woods also says that he entered a rehabilitation center for 45 days, from the end of December to early February, and that he will continue to receive treatment and therapy.
October 31, 2010 – After 281 straight weeks, the longest in Official World Golf Ranking history, Woods loses his No. 1 ranking to Lee Westwood.
2010 – Loses about $20 million from estimated endorsements after sponsors including Gatorade, AT&T and Accenture end ties. Other sponsors including Nike, Upper Deck and EA Sports remain with Woods.
June 7, 2011 – Announces he will miss the US Open due to knee and Achilles tendon injuries.
July 19, 2011 – Woods announces that after a 12-year relationship, he and caddie Steve Williams will no longer be working together.
August 4, 2011 – Returns to golf at the Bridgestone Invitational, after a nearly three-month break.
August 11, 2011 – Plays one of his worst first rounds of golf in a major championship. He fails to make the cut at the PGA Championship for the first time in his career.
October 3, 2011 – For the first time in 15 years, Woods does not make it onto golf’s top 50 players list, according to the official World Golf Ranking.
October 5, 2011 – Signs a new endorsement deal with Swiss watch-maker Rolex.
March 25, 2012 – Earns his first PGA Tour win since September 2009, in the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando.
June 3, 2012 – With his win at the Memorial Tournament, ties Jack Nicklaus with 73 PGA Tour victories.
July 2, 2012 – Beats Nicklaus’ PGA Tour record with the AT&T National win. Woods’ 74th PGA Tour win ranks him in second place on the all-time list.
September 3, 2012 – Becomes the first PGA tour participant to earn $100 million.
March 25, 2013 – Woods wins the Arnold Palmer Invitational for the eighth time, and regains the No. 1 spot.
March 31, 2014 – Woods undergoes back surgery for a pinched nerve.
August 23, 2015 – Posts a top 10 finish at his debut at the Wyndham Championships but ends his season as the 257th ranked player in the world. His finish was four shots off eventual winner Davis Love III. Woods has now missed the cut for three majors in a row.
December 1, 2015 – Announces that he underwent his third microdiscectomy surgery last month – a procedure to remove bone around a pinched nerve to allow space for it to heal – and admits he has no idea when he will be back on the course.
July 20, 2016 – It is announced that Woods will miss the PGA Championship due to his continued recovery from back surgery. This marks the first time in his career that he has missed all four major championships.
December 4, 2016 – Woods finishes 14 shots behind the winner in the Hero World Challenge, his first competitive event in more than a year.
May 29, 2017 – Woods is arrested on suspicion of DUI in Jupiter, Florida. He says in a statement that he had “an unexpected reaction to prescribed medications” and that alcohol was not involved.
June 19, 2017 – Woods announces that he is receiving professional help to manage medication for back pain and a sleep disorder.
July 3, 2017 – Announces that he has completed an intensive program for managing his medications.
October 27, 2017 – Woods pleads guilty to reckless driving. His 12-month probation is contingent on completing any recommended treatment including DUI school, 50 hours of community services and random drug and alcohol testing.
December 3, 2017 – Making his long-awaited return from a fourth back surgery – his first tournament for 301 days since pulling out of the Dubai Desert Classic in February – Woods finishes in a tie for ninth place in the Hero World Challenge tournament in the Bahamas.
September 23, 2018 – Wins the Tour Championship at Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Club, for his first PGA Tour victory since August 2013 and his 80th overall.
April 14, 2019 – Wins his fifth Masters and 15th major title.
May 6, 2019 – President Donald Trump presents Woods with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, during a White House ceremony.
October 27, 2019 – Wins his record-equaling 82nd PGA Tour title at the Zozo Championship in Chiba, Japan. Woods is tied with legendary golfer Sam Snead, who won 82 titles throughout his more than 50-year career.
May 24, 2020 – Woods and Peyton Manning defeat Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady by one stroke in “The Match: Champions for Charity” golf tournament at the Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Florida. The event raises over $20 million for coronavirus relief efforts and captures an average of 5.8 million viewers to become the most-watched golf telecast in the history of cable television.
February 23, 2021 – Woods is hospitalized after a serious one-car rollover accident in Los Angeles County, according to the LA County Sheriff’s Department. Wood’s agent Mark Steinberg said the golfer suffered “multiple leg injuries” and was in surgery following the accident. The next day, Woods is “awake, responsive, and recovering” in the hospital after emergency surgery on his lower right leg and ankle at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. The leg fractures were “comminuted,” meaning the bone was broken into more than two parts, and “open,” meaning the broken bone was exposed to open air, creating risk of an infection, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anish Mahajan says in the statement.
November 29, 2021 – In an exclusive interview published in Golf Digest, Tiger Woods speaks publicly about his golfing future for the first time since his car crash. “I think something that is realistic is playing the tour one day, never full time, ever again, but pick and choose, just like Mr. (Ben) Hogan did,” Woods tells interviewer Henni Koyack.
March 9, 2022 – Woods is inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame at the PGA Tour headquarters in Florida.
April 7, 2022 – Tees off in the first round of the Masters, his first tournament in 14 months, completing a remarkable comeback after sustaining serious leg injuries in his February 2021 car crash.
October 2022 – Erica Herman, a former girlfriend of Woods, files a complaint in Martin County, Florida after their six-year relationship comes to end. Herman alleges a trust owned by Woods violated the Florida Residential Landlord Tenant Act by breaking the oral tenancy agreement. On March 6, 2023, Herman files a second complaint aimed at nullifying the NDA she signed in 2017. On May 17, 2023, a Florida judge rules against Herman, calling her claims that the NDA is invalid and unenforceable “implausibly pled.” In June 2023, Herman drops her lawsuit alleging a trust owned by Woods violated the Florida Residential Landlord Tenant Act. In November 2023, Herman drops her appeal to nullify the NDA.
April 19, 2023 – Announces he has completed “successful” surgery on his ankle following his withdrawal from The Masters earlier this month.
January 8, 2024 – Woods ends his 27-year partnership with Nike.
by tyler | Jan 17, 2024 | CNN, us
Rex Heuermann has now been charged with killing four women whose bodies were discovered bound with belts or tape and wrapped in burlap along a stretch of Long Island’s Gilgo Beach in 2010.
A married father accused by authorities of leading a double life, Heuermann had faced three counts of first-degree murder for the killings of Melissa Barthelemy in 2009, and Megan Waterman and Amber Costello the following year, according to the Suffolk County district attorney. He has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail.
The 60-year-old New York architect also has been charged in the disappearance and killing of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, whose remains were found near the same spot, prosecutors said Tuesday. He had been identified as a prime suspect in the killing since his arrest in July.
Heuermann pleaded not guilty Tuesday morning to the superseding indictment charging him with murder in the second degree in the death of Brainard-Barnes.
Heuermann “has maintained his innocence from day one,” his defense attorney said after he was charged in the fourth killing.
“He said, ‘I’m not guilty of these charges,’” defense attorney Michael Brown said. “He’s looking forward to fight these charges and we’re doing that. We’re going to continue to prepare.”
Heuermann was first identified as a potential suspect in early 2022, shortly after a multi-agency task force was formed to examine cold cases involving nearly a dozen sets of human remains found along Long Island’s South Shore between 2010 and 2011, including the “Gilgo Four.”
“The grand jury investigation of the so-called Gilgo Four is over. It has been concluded,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said Tuesday, noting that the same panel will continue looking into other murder cases.
Gloria Allred, a victims’ rights attorney representing Barthelemy, Brainard-Barnes and Waterman family members, said it is “long overdue to provide justice for vulnerable women who are missing and murdered.”
Allred said it’s up to a jury “to decide if this defendant will be found guilty of the murder of Maureen and the murder of other women for whom the defendant has been indicted.”
Here’s what we know about the deaths of those four women:
Brainard-Barnes was 25 years old and believed to be a sex worker when she was last seen on July 9, 2007. She had called a friend in Connecticut, where she lived, and said she had an “out call,” according to Suffolk County police.
The young woman was reported missing by a friend to the Norwich Police Department in Connecticut on July 14. Her remains were found on December 13, 2010, on the north side of Ocean Parkway, near Gilgo Beach.
She is believed to be the first Gilgo Four victim.
Authorities identified Heuermann as a suspect in early 2022 using cell phone data, witness descriptions and other information, and obtained a sample of his DNA from leftover crust in a pizza box he threw out.
Investigators found the DNA of Heuermann’s wife on a leather belt that was used to restrain Brainard-Barnes, according to an indictment.
She had been restrained by three leather belts, one of which was used to tie her feet and ankle legs together, the indictment states.
Heuermann’s wife and her two children were in Atlantic City at the time of the killing of Brainard-Barnes, according to a bail application.
Tierney described victim Brainard-Barnes as an “intellectual” and “artistic.”
“She was a devoted sister, a devoted mother, a devoted daughter, and she’s sorely missed by those that loved her,” Tierney said.
Brainard-Barnes’s family called the latest indictment “an important chapter in the long pursuit of justice.”
“It has been 16 years since the last time I saw my sister, 16 years since I heard her voice, because 16 years ago, she was silenced,” Melissa Cann said after Tuesday’s court proceeding.
Cann, 39, described her sister as a loving mother, sister and friend.
“Maureen would never get the chance to show the world how talented she was,” her sister said, choking up. “My family will never get the chance to know who Maureen would be today because her life was tragically taken.”
Nicolette Brainard-Barnes was only 7 years old when her mother was killed. She said the loss changed the trajectory of her life.
“While the loss of my mom has been extremely painful for me, the indictment by the grand jury has brought hope for justice for my mom and my family,” said Nicolette Brainard-Barnes, now 24.
Cann told CNN in 2011 that she desperately tried to solve the mystery of her sibling’s disappearance, scouring her emails and phone records, and staying in touch with families of the other victims.
Cann said her sister worked a seasonal telemarketing job and turned to escort services in desperation when left unemployed and facing eviction.
Barthelemy was 24 years old when she was last seen on July 12, 2009, in the basement apartment where she lived in the Bronx, according to the Suffolk County police website on the Gilgo killings.
On the night she was last seen, Barthelemy, a sex worker, told a friend she was meeting a man and would be back in the morning, according to the police website.
Barthelemy’s mother reported her missing on July 18. Records for her cellphone showed activity in Manhattan as well as Freeport, Massapequa and Lindenhurst on Long Island.
In July and August 2009, according to a bail application for Heuermann, Barthelemy’s phone was used by a man to make taunting calls to the victim’s family.
Steve Cohen, who was an attorney for Barthelemy’s mother at the time, told CNN the caller said he killed her daughter.
“Do you think you’ll ever see her again?” the unidentified male caller asked Barthelemy’s sister on August 26, 2009, according to Cohen. “You won’t. I killed her,” he said and hung up.
In another phone call, just days after Barthelemy disappeared, Cohen said the unidentified male caller referred to the victim as a “whore” in a short conversation with her then-15-year-old sister.
In one call, the man described in graphic detail to the victim’s sister what he had done sexually to Barthelemy, according to Cohen.
Barthelemy’s remains were the first set of female remains found in bushes along an isolated strip of waterfront property. At the time, authorities were searching for another missing woman, Shannan Gilbert, a 23-year-old from Jersey City, New Jersey, who hadn’t been seen since May 2010.
“I still don’t sleep through the night thinking about all of it,” Lynn Barthelemy, the victim’s mother, told CNN in 2011.
She said she jotted down everything she learned about the case in a notebook and spoke regularly with families of other victims.
Investigators believe Barthelemy was the second of the women to be killed.
Waterman was 22 years old when she was last seen on June 6, 2010.
A resident of Maine, Waterman was last seen by her family boarding a Concord Trailways bus heading from Maine to New York, according to Suffolk County police.
She was a sex worker, police said. At 1:30 a.m. on June 6, she left the Holiday Inn Express on Long Island to meet a client, according to police.
Waterman was reported missing in Maine on June 8. Family members said it was unusual for her not to check on the daughter Waterman had left in their care.
Her body was found on December 13, 2010, near Gilgo Beach.
Waterman’s family at one time used funding from a nonprofit human rights organization to hire a team of private investigators to help search for her.
Dottie Laster, a member of that team, told CNN in 2011 Waterman sounded starstruck when she called her mother to boast that her clients included doctors, lawyers and law enforcement officers.
Costello was 27 years old and living on Long Island when she was last seen. She struggled with a heroin addiction and worked as an escort to help support her habit, according to Suffolk County police.
She was was last seen leaving her home on September 2, 2010, to meet a client. Her remains were found on December 13, 2010, near Gilgo Beach. She is believed to be the fourth victim.
Witnesses told investigators that the client she met the day she went missing had been at her home previously. They described the man as “a large, white male, approximately 6’4” to 6’6” in height” with “big oval style” glasses. A witness also said the man resembled an “ogre.” Heuermann’s bail application noted the description from these witnesses in 2010 matched Heuermann.
Costello’s sister, Kim Overstreet, told CNN in 2011 that she took out an ad hoping to catch the killer. The ad implored other women who work as escorts to call Overstreet. She wanted them to tell her if they ever encountered a client who was threatening or just didn’t feel right.
“What happened to Amber eats at me every day,” Overstreet said at the time. “Finding out who did this consumes me. I stay up all night doing research and trying to re-trace her last steps.”
Witnesses also said the man drove a first-generation Chevrolet Avalanche – a key clue that prosecutors said helped lead them to Heuermann.
This story has been updated with additional information.
by tyler | Jan 17, 2024 | CNN, us
Here’s a look at the life of John Reed, former Citigroup CEO.
Birth date: February 7, 1939
Birth place: Chicago, Illinois
Birth name: John Shepard Reed
Father: name not known publicly – plant manager for Armour & Company
Mother: name not known publicly
Marriage: Cynthia “Cindy” (McCarthy) Reed (September 1994-present); Sally (Foreman) Reed (divorced)
Children: with Sally (Foreman) Reed: Tenley, December 1974; Tefford, July 1971; Timothy, January 1968; Traci, March 1965
Education: Washington and Jefferson College, B.A., 1960; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, B.S. 1961 (dual degree program); Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management, Master of Science, 1965
Military service: US Army Corps of Engineers, 1962-1964, Lieutenant
Lived in Buenos Aires from ages 5 to 17 due to his father’s job with Armour & Company.
After retiring from Citigroup, Reed and his wife founded the John and Cindy Reed Foundation, which focuses on environmental and educational efforts.
Credited with advancing the adoption of the ATM across the United States.
Salary as chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, at his request, was $1.
1965 – Joins Citicorp.
1975-2003 – Member of Philip Morris/Altria board of directors.
June 19, 1984 – Reed is named CEO of Citicorp.
1998 – Citicorp merges with Travelers in a $37 billion deal to become Citigroup Inc.
November 9, 1999 – Reed testifies before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs regarding money laundering.
April 18, 2000 – Retires as co-chairman and co-chief executive of Citigroup Inc.
September 17, 2003 – New York Stock Exchange Chairman Richard Grasso resigns over criticism of his compensation package.
September 21, 2003 – Reed is named interim chairman of the New York Stock Exchange.
2004-2008 – Serves as a member of the Altria Group board of directors.
April 2005 – Steps down as chairman of the New York Stock Exchange.
February 4, 2010 – Testifies before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs regarding the financial crisis.
2010-2014 – Serves as chairman of the board at MIT. Reed remains a life member emeritus of the board of trustees.
2011-present – Member of CaixaBank’s board of directors.
February 16, 2016 – Is elected president of the board of Boston Athenaeum, an independent library and museum.
by tyler | Jan 16, 2024 | CNN, us
For more than a decade, a string of unsolved killings known as the Gilgo Beach murders terrorized residents and confounded authorities on Long Island’s South Shore after a woman’s 2010 disappearance led investigators to find 10 sets of human remains in addition to hers and launched the hunt for a possible serial killer.
Authorities announced a major breakthrough in the case last summer when they charged New York architect Rex Heuermann, 59, with murder in the killings of three of the four women who became known as the “Gilgo Four.”
On Tuesday, Heuermann was charged with second-degree murder in the fourth killing, that of Maureen Brainard-Barnes, according to an indictment. Brainard-Barnes was 25 years old when she was last seen in July 2007. Her remains were found along the Long Island shoreline in 2010.
Heuermann was taken into custody in July and indicted on one count of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder in each of the three killings of Melissa Barthelemy in 2009, and Megan Waterman and Amber Costello in 2010, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney.
Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to all charges and “has maintained his innocence since day one,” his attorney, Michael Brown, told reporters after the fourth charge was announced.
CNN has reached out to Heuermann’s attorney, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and the Suffolk County Police Department for comment.
Once Heuermann was identified as a suspect in early 2022, authorities said, they watched him and his family – getting DNA samples from items in their trash as they built a case.
Here is a timeline of the Gilgo Beach killings, how the investigation unfolded and what ultimately led to Heuermann’s arrest.
2010: Authorities find first remains in Gilgo Beach murders
Police discovered the first set of female remains in bushes along an isolated strip of waterfront property on Gilgo Beach while searching for another missing woman: Shannan Gilbert, a 23-year-old from Jersey City, New Jersey who hadn’t been seen since May 2010.
The remains of Melissa Barthelemy, 24, were the first to be discovered in the case during the search on December 11, 2010, according to Suffolk County officials. Two days later, investigators discovered the remains of three additional victims – Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Amber Costello and Megan Waterman – strewn across a half-mile stretch on Gilgo Beach.
The four women, who were wrapped in camouflaged burlap, worked as escorts who advertised on Craigslist and were last seen between July 2007 and September 2010, officials said.
After Barthelemy’s disappearance, authorities say her family received multiple taunting calls. In one of the calls, the suspect “admitted killing and sexually assaulting Ms. Barthelemy,” according to a bail application filed by the Suffolk County district attorney after Heuermann’s arrest.
Those calls, authorities say, would later help unravel the case.
2011: More remains found, including a toddler and her mother
Police said in January 2011 calls from Barthelemy’s cell phone had been traced to midtown Manhattan, with the two last calls made from around Madison Square Garden and Times Square. The caller hung up too quickly for authorities to pinpoint the exact locations of the calls, police said.
On March 29, 2011, the partial skeletal remains of another woman were found several miles east of where the bodies of the “Gilgo Four” were discovered.
The woman was first known as Jane Doe #5 before investigators identified her as Jessica Taylor, another escort whose partial remains were previously discovered in Manorville in 2003, police said.
The following month, on April 4, 2011, three more sets of remains were found on a stretch of Ocean Parkway in Suffolk County near the beach. They included a female toddler, an unidentified Asian male and a woman initially referred to as Jane Doe #6, investigators said.
One week later, two additional sets of human remains were found in Nassau County, about 40 miles east of New York City, one of which was identified as the mother of the toddler through DNA analysis. The mother’s partial remains were first discovered in 1997, officials said.
The other set of remains “genetically matched” with remains found in 1996 on Fire Island, “significantly expanding the timeline and geographic reach” of the investigation, officials said.
In mid-April of the same year, Steve Cohen, an attorney for Barthelemy’s mother, said a man using the victim’s cell phone made taunting calls and claimed he killed Barthelemy, CNN reported.
“Do you think you’ll ever see her again?,” the unidentified male caller asked Barthelemy’s sister on August 26, 2009, according to Cohen.
“You won’t. I killed her,” he added and hung up. The phone call ended after less than a minute, CNN reported at the time.
Another phone call was placed in July 2009 just days after Barthelemy disappeared. It was the first of seven calls he made from Barthelemy’s cell phone. Cohen said in the phone call, the unidentified male caller referred to Barthelemy as a “whore” in a short conversation with her then-15-year-old sister, Cohen told CNN at the time.
In the final call, the man described in graphic detail to the victim’s sister what he had done sexually to Barthelemy, Cohen said.
In December 2011, Gilbert’s body was found in the wooded marshes of Suffolk County’s Oak Beach. The beach is about 9 miles from where the 10 other sets of human remains were found.
Authorities later said they believed Gilbert’s death may have been accidental and not related to the Gilgo Beach slayings.
2020: Police release photos of a key clue and ID a victim
In January 2020, Suffolk County police released photos of what it said could be a significant piece of evidence: a black leather belt embossed with the letters “WH” or “HM.” The department also launched a website to collect new tips in the investigation.
“We believe the belt was handled by the suspect and did not belong to any of the victims,” former Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart told reporters at the time.
On May 28, 2020, New York’s Suffolk County Police Department identified “Jane Doe #6” as Valerie Mack, a 24-year-old Philadelphia mother who went missing two decades earlier.
The FBI helped identify Mack’s remains using advanced forensic DNA technology, officials said.
Using samples from her remains, Suffolk County investigators were able to find Mack’s biological relatives through genetic genealogy, which ultimately led to her adoptive family and son, Hart said to reporters at the time.
In February 2022, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison formed a multiagency task force to investigate the Gilgo Beach killings.
The task force included the Suffolk County Police Department, the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, the New York State Police and the FBI.
On March 14, 2022, Heuermann was first mentioned as a possible suspect in the Gilgo Beach murder case after a New York state investigator identified him in a database, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney.
Investigators then started surveilling him and his family and took pieces of garbage to obtain DNA samples – even discarded pizza crust.
As they closed in on Heuermann, investigators used cell tower records from thousands of possible individuals down to hundreds and then to a handful of people. Next, authorities focused on residents who also matched a physical description provided by a witness who had seen the suspected killer.
Authorities zeroed in on anyone with a connection to a green pickup truck a witness had seen the suspect driving, according to two law enforcement sources with knowledge of the case. Later, authorities learned Heuermann drove a green pickup truck registered to his brother, CNN reported.
Heuermann matched a witness’s physical description, lived close to the Long Island cell site and worked near the New York City cell sites where other calls were captured.
Personal cell phone and credit card billing records revealed numerous instances where Heuermann was in the general locations as burner phones, which authorities say he had with him at the killings. He used the phones to call the three victims and also used “Brainard-Barnes and Barthelemy’s cellphones when they were used to check voicemail and make taunting phone calls after the women disappeared,” Suffolk County prosecutors allege.
Authorities said a search of Heuermann’s computer revealed he had scoured the internet at least 200 times for details about the status of the investigation, Tierney said. Heuermann was also compulsively searching for photos of the victims and their relatives, and he was trying to track down relatives, the district attorney said.
In late 2022, detectives recovered a cup believed to have been discarded by Heuermann, but they could not get a good DNA sample from it, a law enforcement source close to the investigation told CNN.
In January 2023, investigators got a complete sample of Heuermann’s DNA from leftover crust in a pizza box he threw in the trash, a law enforcement source close to the investigation told CNN.
During the initial examination of one of the victims’ skeletal remains and materials discovered in the grave, the Suffolk County Crime Laboratory recovered a male hair from the “bottom of the burlap” the killer used to wrap her body, according to prosecutors. Analysis of the DNA found on the victim and the pizza thrown out by Heuermann showed the samples matched.
Additionally, hair believed to be from Heuermann’s wife was found on or near three of the murder victims, prosecutors allege in the bail application, citing DNA testing. The DNA came from 11 bottles inside a garbage can outside the Heuermann home, the court document says.
On July 13, 2023, a suspect connected to some of the Gilgo Beach murders was taken into custody in New York City, marking the first arrest in the case, according to Harrison. He was transported back to Suffolk County Police headquarters in the hamlet of Yaphank on Long Island, the police commissioner said.
A day later, authorities identified the suspect as Heuermann, a registered architect who has owned the New York City-based architecture and consulting firm, RH Consultants & Associates, since 1994, according to his company’s website.
The case against Heuermann came together over two years with the restart of the investigation, in which investigators used “the power of the grand jury,” including more than 300 subpoenas and search warrants, to collect evidence and tie Heuermann conclusively to the murders, Tierney said during a news conference.
