| CONTENTS:
ABSTACT
METHODS
CASE OVERVIEW
The Eye Witness
Accounts
The Forensic Evidence
The McGohan Statement
The Star Witness
The Mystery Caller
The Altered Police
Report
David Weinstein et al.
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES
ADDENDUM
Letter to James Vargeson, D.A.
The Komanecky Interview
The Bertonica Interview
Monserrate's Ruling
PUBLIC OPINION
MEDIA E-MAIL
POLITICAL E-MAIL
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The Mystery Caller
Very shortly after the jury reached a verdict, Auburn attorney,
David Weinstein, and Chief Assistant District Attorney, Dennis Sedor, told reporter
Michael Lopez that an anonymous caller had "pinpointed" the location of Julie
Monson’s body months before it was found in the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge.
This article appeared on the front page of the Auburn Citizen on March 13, 1986:
Mystery Caller Pinpointed Body Months
Earlier
By Michael Lopez
An Auburn attorney says an unidentified caller revealed to him the exact location of
Julie Monson’s remains three months before her body was found – information
prosecutors say might have proved Bianco was the murderer. The tip, however, was
inadmissible as trial evidence. (MC-1)
In the next paragraph:
Assistant District Attorney Dennis Sedor said Thomas Bianco – just
convicted of killing Monson – told a young woman of that location about 30 feet south
of the state thruway, off a dirt access road that runs through the Montezuma Refuge. (MC-2)
Attorney, David Weinstein said:
… that he received an anonymous call from that woman on January 4,
1983. Monson’s skeletal remains were found three months later by a student taking
soil samples …. (MC-3)
He went on to say that:
… she had a New York City accent and she had information about the
body’s location that she wanted him to convey to police. "She said the murderer
had shown her approximately where the body was." (MC-4)
David Weinstein did not identify who the caller named but, Assistant
District Attorney Dennis Sedor:
… confirmed that the information pinned Bianco as the killer. (MC-5)
Sedor:
… who was privy to that conversation said Bianco made that
disclosure to the woman while they were driving through the refuge. (MC-6)
Weinstein said that the anonymous caller was "very firm,"
the
… remains were in the refuge, near
markers "514 or 314 or 315." She also said the body could be seen from a nearby
tower. (MC-7)
In the tenth paragraph of this article, we are told that Mr.
Weinstein made arrangements to meet the caller "the following Saturday," but:
It was a date she never kept. (MC-8)
A college student taking soil samples found Monson’s remains near Thruway milepost
markers 314 and 315, not far from a floodgate with a tower.
We are also told in this same paragraph, that Mr. Weinstein was
contacted again by this anonymous caller on the following Sunday. During that telephone
conversation she repeated what she had told him before and then said that:
… she was leaving town. "She refused to identify herself and
she didn’t want to get involved personally. She was afraid." (MC-9)
Weinstein said that he thought the call was "very
strange," but immediately called then District Attorney Ross Tisci:
"I thought the authorities did everything they could with the
information they had." (MC-10)
Assistant District Attorney, Dennis Sedor said:
"… Tisci and Investigator Gary DiLallo handled it like any
other tip. At that point in time, nothing came of it." (MC-11)
On March 14, 1986 this article appeared on the front page of the
Auburn Citizen.
Bertonica Speaks Out on Phone Tip
By Michael Lopez
Assistant City Police Chief Carmen Bertonica said today the former
district attorney’s office gave him incomplete information about a tip that might
have helped find Julie Monson’s body sooner. A Thursday article in the Citizen
prompted Bertonica to speak out about the search for Monson. (MC-12)
Please read these next four paragraphs very carefully
. . . . . . . . .
Bertonica said he was not told the information came from
Weinstein … a factor he said would make for a more complete search of the general
area. (MC-13)
"… I was told it came from an anonymous call on the
arson hotline." (MC-14)
. . . . . . . . .
Bertonica said he does not know why the information was incomplete.
(MC-15)
Former District Attorney Ross Tisci said that:
… Weinstein’s name was not disclosed at
the time because "initially we were trying to protect the person [Weinstein] who gave
us the information, so we could keep the lines of communication open." (MC-16)
After Monson’s skeletal remains were found, Carmen Bertonica
and David Weinstein went to the site. Bertonica said that:
… based on the tip, "inside of 10 minutes, we figured out just
where she had been." (MC-17)
On May 2, 1986 this article appeared on the front page of the Auburn
Citizen:
Attorney Says Police Find Bianco Tipster
By Michael Lopez
An attorney who said he was tipped off about the location of Julie Monson’s body
months before it surfaced said the unnamed informant has told her story to police. (MC-18)
David B. Weinstein said a woman has come forward as the tipster who further
incriminates Thomas Bianco in Julie Monson’s murder. (MC-19)
Weinstein said that this latest development:
"… should hopefully put to rest rumors about the case and his
[Bianco’s] guilt." (MC-20)
Weinstein said that a witness:
… who heard the girl [the mystery caller] admit making the call,
read the news and came forward to police. That witness was backed by two others with the
same information. (MC-21)
The following paragraphs are from an article that appeared in the
Cayuga Seneca section of the Syracuse Post Standard on May 1, 1986.
Authorities Find ‘Mystery Caller’ in Bianco
Case
By William LaRue
AUBURN – Police have obtained a sworn statement from a woman who says convicted
murderer, Thomas G. Bianco once showed her a spot in the Montezuma Wildlife Refuge where
he said he "dumped" Julie Monson’s body, sources confirmed Wednesday. (MC-22)
. . . . . . . . .
The former girlfriend – one of several Bianco dated – did not testify at the
trial, but prosecutors could call her if Bianco’s attorneys win an appeal for a new
trial. (MC-23)
. . . . . . . . .
Three sources told the Post Standard that the former girlfriend
initially denied she telephoned Weinstein, but changed her story after learning police had
witnesses who heard her admit that she talked to Weinstein about Bianco. The witnesses
reportedly came forward after reading that police were looking for the woman.
(MC-24)
In 1991, defense attorneys filed a 100-page appeal. In that document
was a statement from Mary Katherine Wilson – the woman whom authorities identified as
the "mystery caller" in 1986. Below you will find the last six paragraphs of an
article that appeared in the Auburn Citizen on March 29, 1991:
Bianco Appeal Hits DA, Names 3
By Jackie Majerus
. . . . . . . . .
Mary Katherine Wilson – a woman who gave prosecutors a statement after the
trial claiming Bianco told her where Monson’s body was before it was found by police
– was brought to the district attorney’s office by police for questioning by
Carbonaro, Assistant District Attorney Dennis Sedor, and Brandstetter, the motion states. (MC-25)
After Wilson denied any knowledge about Bianco’s alleged involvement in
Monson’s disappearance and death, Carbonaro "became extremely abusive towards
Ms. Wilson," the Bianco attorneys wrote. (MC-26)
"The district attorney threatened Ms. Wilson by stating, "You do as we say or
you’ll go to jail and we’ll find a way for you to go to jail. We’ll make
sure you are found perjuring yourself. You’ll go to jail for seven years. (MC-27)
"Following such threats, Ms. Wilson was intimidated and frightened to the point
where she agreed to cooperate with her interrogators and swear falsely under oath." (MC-28)
Responding to an editorial written by Auburn resident Sylvia
Holland, former Assistant District Attorney Dennis Sedor made these statements about the
"mystery caller" in a letter to the editor published in the Auburn Citizen on
March 26, 1993:
Bianco-Monson Case: Just Stick to Facts, Evidence
. . . . . . . . .
You are correct that Bianco’s old "girlfriend" was terrified and moved
to New York City, but as her unsolicited and sworn affidavit to Investigator Brandstetter
executed on April 10, 1986, provides, Bianco had physically and sexually abused her and
she was in fear of the defendant, and moved to New York City, not to return until after
the trial was completed and the defendant was behind bars in prison. (MC-29)
. . . . . . . . .
This girlfriend just happened to know the exact thruway marker near the Montezuma
Wildlife Refuge where the body was found and relayed that information to her attorney, the
authorities and at least three separate individuals who gave statements to the police to
this effect, months before Julie’s body was uncovered. (MC-30)
In an interview with David Tobin that was published on the front
page of the Syracuse Post-Standard on September 18, 1998, David Weinstein gave this
account of why he and the "mystery caller" never met. Please read these
paragraphs very carefully.
In January 1983, 16 months after Monson disappeared, Weinstein received
a telephone call from a woman … who said she knew where the body had been dumped. She
made an appointment to meet Weinstein the following Saturday. (MC-31)
The night before the scheduled meeting, Weinstein was charged with
driving while intoxicated. He was angry with police for ticketing him and blew off [the]
appointment. The next day, Weinstein said he received a call from Cayuga County Court
Judge Peter Corning. (MC-32)
Corning told Weinstein he saw police pull him over. It appeared to
Corning that police had targeted Weinstein. Several cars had run a stop sign, only
Weinstein was pulled over. (MC-33)
Weinstein said he was surprised by Corning’s call: "It was
unusual." (MC-34)
Said Corning: "I was there and I saw this and so was my wife. It
was clear to me they picked him out." (MC-35)
Ultimately, Weinstein pleaded guilty and did not ask Corning to testify.
(MC-36)
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