Two
people
were
charged
with
murder
of
a
man
and
woman
whose
dismembered
remains
were
found
in
various
parks
and
wooded
areas
on
Long
Island
in
March,
as
prosecutors
shared
new
information
about
what
may
have
led
up
to
the
killings.
Prosecutors
alleged
Jeffrey
Mackey
and
girlfriend
Alexis
Nieves
committed
the
murders
of
Malcolm
Brown
and
Donna
Conneely
in
late
February
inside
a
home
in
Amityville.
Knives,
meat
cleavers
and
blood
were
all
found
at
the
home
on
Railroad
Avenue,
according
to
prosecutors.
The
39-year-old
Mackey
was
accused
of
stabbing
Brown
and
strangling
Conneely.
Nieves,
33,
allegedly
stabbed
Conneely
and
then
beat
her
with
a
meat
tenderizer.
The
bodies
were
then
chopped
up
in
the
home
Mackey,
Nieves
and
two
other
defendants
shared
with
victims.
Both
Mackey
and
Nieves
pleaded
not
guilty
at
their
arraignment
in
state
court
in
Riverhead
on
Monday.
“They
were
basically
living
together
and
just
engaging
in
all
sorts
of
activities
with
one
another,”
said
Suffolk
County
District
Attorney
Ray
Tierney.
Some
of
the
activities
Tierney
alluded
to
were
allegedly
criminal,
like
the
robbery
of
a
Copiague
gas
station
the
week
before
the
killings.
A
dispute
about
the
robbery
appears
to
have
prompted
the
killings,
prosecutors
said.
The
victims’
remains,
including
Conneely’s
head
and
arm
and
the
man’s
arms,
were
discovered
on
separate
days,
Feb.
29
and
March
5,
after
students
walking
to
school
spotted
an
arm
off
the
road
by
Southards
Pond
Park
in
Babylon.
The
investigation
expanded
to
West
Babylon
and
Bethpage
State
Park,
where
more
remains
linked
to
the
same
people
were
found.
Mackey,
Nieves
and
two
others
were
previously
charged
with concealing
a
human
corpse
and
tampering
with
evidence in
connection
with
the discovery
of
body
parts in
Suffolk
County.
When
asked
why
the
murder
charges
took
two
months
to
be
filed,
Tierney
said
investigations
like
this
take
time.
“Six
individuals
go
into
a
house,
four
come
out.
Now
it’s
left
to
law
enforcement
to
figure
out
what
happened
in
that
house,”
said
Tierney.
“Prosecution’s
witnesses
at
this
point…
likely
have
unclean
hands,”
said
John
Halverson,
Mackey’s
lawyer.
Christopher
Gioe,
an
attorney
for
Nieves,
said
she
maintains
her
innocence.
“From
the
very
beginning,
Alexis
has
maintained
she’s
not
guilty. She
has
denied
these
charges,”
said
Gioe,
while
also
casting
doubt
on
the
other
suspects
in
the
case.
Keith
O’Halloran,
an
attorney
for
Wallace,
said
he
was
pleased
that
his
client
has
not
been
charged
in
the
killings
and
that
he
looks
forward
to
defending
her
against
the
charges
she
does
face.
Brown
and
Wallace
are
expected
to
go
before
a
judge
on
Tuesday
and
are
likely
to
face
upgraded
charges
as
well
—
not
murder,
but
rather
conspiracy
and
tampering
with
evidence.
“While
the
case
involves
the
cutting
up
of
bodies
of
two
human
beings,
the
barbarity
of
those
acts
were
only
exceeded
by
the
brutality
of
the
murders
themselves,”
said
Assistant
Suffolk
County
District
Attorney
Frank
Schroeder.
NBC
New
York’s
Greg
Cergol
reports.