.:HSTuners::

Accord Man · 09-11-2003, 03:56 PM

Cops: Teens used sex to draw pal into deadly trap, all for $500
By JIM NOLAN, CATHERINE LUCEY & TRYMAINE LEE
Daily News staff writers

THEY CROUCHED in the woods with a brick, a hammer and a hatchet.

Waiting for their friend.

It was Friday evening. Jason Sweeney, 16, had just cashed his paycheck from the construction job he worked with his father.

And Justina Morley, an attractive, 15-year-old student at Holy Name of Jesus School whom Jason liked, was the bait.

Her job, according to police sources, was to promise Sweeney sex - and lead him into a death trap.

It was a plan, detectives said, that Morley had hatched the week before with Sweeney's other Fishtown pals: Nicholas Coia, 16, his brother Dominic, 17, and Edward Batzig Jr., 16, Sweeney's best friend since the fourth grade.

Sources said the boys prepared for the ambush at another home by listening to the Beatles song made famous by killer Charles Manson, "Helter Skelter."

Morley, meanwhile, met Sweeney and started walking him to "the trails" - an overgrown and desolate industrial wasteland off Beach Street - a popular spot for local teens to hang out and party.

For some unknown reason, sources said the couple failed to rendezvous with the killers, prompting an angry call from the boys to Morley's cell phone.

Morley, according to law enforcement sources, shot right back at her co-conspirators.

"What did you do, ***** out?" she allegedly asked.

The parties agreed to return to the trails. This time, police said, Morley delivered her suitor to the slaughter.

They walked down a black gravel road toward a junction of trees. Morley began to undress. Then Sweeney took off his shoes. That's as far as he got.

A blow came from a small-handled hatchet. It struck Sweeney on the head and knocked him to the ground.

Sources said it was followed by blows from a hammer and more blows from the hatchet as he tried to get up.

Another assailant used a brick. Later, one of the boys used what one detective described as a "boulder" type of rock to crush Sweeney's head.

Nearly all of the blows struck Sweeney on the head and face, according to a source familiar with the injuries.

As the grisly slaying unfolded, Morley stood off to the side and did not take part, according to sources.

When it was over, though, she allegedly shared in the blood money - $500 - divided four ways.

A total of $125 apiece, for murder.

"The motive was robbery," said Sgt. Kathleen McGowan of the homicide division. "They planned to rob him and use the money to get high."

Sweeney's head and face were so badly beaten that his body was nearly unidentifiable.

"He's going to have a closed casket for what they did to my son," the boy's distraught father, Paul Sweeney, said yesterday.

Even veteran homicide investigators, who deal with death on a daily basis, said they've rarely encountered a slaying of such callousness and brutality.

"It's as bad as you could ever imagine," said one detective.

The detective said the alleged perpetrators, the three who were arrested and charged with murder on Tuesday, appeared to express little remorse during their interrogation at police headquarters, asking indifferently, "When are we going home?"

Another investigator called the case "one of the most disturbing jobs I've ever seen. That kid is lying on a slab in a morgue still screaming in pain."

By last night, Jason Sweeney's body was in a closed casket at the McElvarr Funeral home on Susquehanna near Belgrade, a block from the house where he lived.

Pain was now etched on the faces of scores of anguished friends and family members who lined up to pay respects.

At the scene of the crime, a makeshift memorial sprang up in the wasteland featuring an American flag on a cross, a teddy bear, and a poem titled "Beautiful Dreamer."

Sweeney's funeral will be held this morning in Fishtown. But the investigation into his murder is far from over.

On the surface, police officials are saying Sweeney was a victim of murder for money, perhaps to fuel drug habits of some of his friends. At it's core, perhaps, are more complex breakdowns of friendship that opened a path to violence, contributing to what two investigators say may also have the elements of a "thrill" killing.

"If they just wanted to rob him, they could have gotten the money after the first blow," said another investigator, who is not completely satisfied with robbery as a full explanation for the crime.

"It appeared as though some anger was involved," acknowledged McGowan.

The teens all lived blocks from each other in the cramped section of Fishtown, a crosshatch of narrow streets lined with rowhouses where most families have lived for years.

Jason Sweeney and Ed Batzig Jr. had been friends for a long time. Both boys had even vacationed with each other's families.

"I just can't believe that my son would be party to this," Batzig's mother, Jeanette, told WCAU-TV (Channel 10) outside her Hewson Street home yesterday morning. "He knew Jason so well."

But recently Batzig became friends with the Coia brothers.

Many in the neighborhood said Dominic and Nicholas Coia, who had moved into the area only a couple of years ago, were known as bad news.

According to Keith Hunter, 29, "They robbed cars, broke windows."

Batzig had only started hanging out with the Coia brothers a couple of months ago, some friends said. They were all pretty quiet. Most of the time they just sat around on the stoop in front of the Coias' house on Columbia Avenue near Memphis Street.

Sweeney, on the other hand, had dropped out of high school, but began working for his father, who owns a small construction company.

"He was working, the other kids were not," said one law enforcement source familiar with the case. "They hung out during the day. They wanted to be in a band. They spent their nights partying and getting high."

By contrast, friends of Morley - a pretty, dark-haired girl who liked punk music - said they were shocked to hear of her alleged involvement in the crime.

Sources said detectives were investigating whether Morley had been romantically involved with one or more of her alleged co-conspirators.

Before her arrest Wednesday on murder charges, she had been scheduled to graduate the eighth grade at Holy Name of Jesus School. Yesterday, the school officially expelled her.

Her graduation date was next Wednesday. Now it is the date of her preliminary hearing in the murder of Jason Sweeney, along with Nicholas and Dominic Coia, and Ed Batzig Jr.

"He'll get what he deserves," Batzig's father said the other day.

Morley's lawyer, William J. Brennan, said his client "seemed like a good kid, a nice kid, who comes from a good family."

He said he has yet to see any documents offered by the commonwealth to demonstrate that Morley "played any role in this - as a lure or as a part" of the alleged planning of Sweeney's murder.

"At this point I haven't seen or been told or heard anything to substantiate that my client was in any way involved in this terrible crime," he said.

Prosecutors and police are expected to present their evidence, including statements taken from two of the alleged killers at the preliminary hearing.

Jason Sweeney gets buried today. His circle of friends is in jail, charged with killing him.

"You have four families ruined," said one investigator.

GT40FIED · 09-11-2003, 04:13 PM

And who says there are some people too young to be executed? Strap 'em down and pull the switch.

Wren57 · 09-11-2003, 04:21 PM

holy crap that is so friggin sad

I agree, kill the lil sons of bitches, but do it the same way they killed him, beat them to death...

Accord Man · 09-11-2003, 04:24 PM

I agree! Unless there is some crazy twist to this story, they all deserve to beaten down.. Including the *****!

Whiteclipse99 · 09-11-2003, 04:28 PM

There are some really demented people in this world.

Quote:

Originally posted by highlander
I agree, kill the lil sons of bitches, but do it the same way they killed him, beat them to death...

Yeah, but that doesn't make them look any better than the murderers.

GT40FIED · 09-11-2003, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Whiteclipse99
Yeah, but that doesn't make them look any better than the murderers.

I beg to disagree. Some people are too dimented to be allowed to live. A brutal beating for $125 to go get high is a perfect example. It's not a morality play...it's protection. If you're willing to kill for $125 what AREN'T you willing to kill for?

*ChrisCantSkate* · 09-11-2003, 05:36 PM

put them in with some real murders for 20 years... then execute them. teach them that what they did was serious and not to be taken lightly. they need to see what kind of people they are and know what it feels like to have everything you thought you had striped from you.

pimpinprelude · 09-11-2003, 06:26 PM

another reason NOT to do drugs.....

09-11-2003, 06:27 PM

no...

this will never happen but:

make them live in a cage outside(downtown, big cities, ec.,) for
the rest of their lives...

let everyone know what they did...

death ends their feelings in a second...

humiliation stays with them for the rest of their lives...

09-11-2003, 06:44 PM

they'll be plenty humiliated when they're turned into some big guy named bubba's b*tches in jail

09-11-2003, 07:16 PM

yeah, but that's just while in prison.

if they're out in the streets, ANYONE could come see them.

*AzCivic* · 09-11-2003, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by member
no...

this will never happen but:

make them live in a cage outside(downtown, big cities, ec.,) for
the rest of their lives...

let everyone know what they did...

death ends their feelings in a second...

humiliation stays with them for the rest of their lives...

they'd be dead in 5minutes or less...so it'd be over rather quickly, they need to suffer!

*AzCivic* · 09-11-2003, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by GT40FIED
And who says there are some people too young to be executed? Strap 'em down and pull the switch.

exactly! but it short bursts over like 4 hours then at the end one big ZZZZZAAAAP!

09-11-2003, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by AzCivic
they'd be dead in 5minutes or less...so it'd be over rather quickly, they need to suffer!

no contact will be allowed...

bullet proof glass and everything...

GT40FIED · 09-11-2003, 09:51 PM

If our country's judicial system has one flaw it's restraint. Not that that's always bad, but I love watching police in countries like Russia. They catch...say...a pedophile and they beat the living f@ck out of him and THEN arrest him. I'm sorry...but if you commit a violent or haenous crime you deserve to get the shit kicked out of you. I'm also a big fan of the aforementioned "kill them in the way they killed" thing. If you tortue or beat someone to death, you deserve the same. F@ck these kids...they'll go to jail for maybe 20 years probably then get a heardy "don't do it again" while this other kid's life is OVER. All for drugs and $125 a piece. Almost makes me sick.

09-11-2003, 03:56 PM	#1
Accord Man THE GENERAL Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Earth (usually) Age: 42 Posts: 5,698	500 bucks for someone's life! Long but intriguing.. Cops: Teens used sex to draw pal into deadly trap, all for $500 By JIM NOLAN, CATHERINE LUCEY & TRYMAINE LEE Daily News staff writers THEY CROUCHED in the woods with a brick, a hammer and a hatchet. Waiting for their friend. It was Friday evening. Jason Sweeney, 16, had just cashed his paycheck from the construction job he worked with his father. And Justina Morley, an attractive, 15-year-old student at Holy Name of Jesus School whom Jason liked, was the bait. Her job, according to police sources, was to promise Sweeney sex - and lead him into a death trap. It was a plan, detectives said, that Morley had hatched the week before with Sweeney's other Fishtown pals: Nicholas Coia, 16, his brother Dominic, 17, and Edward Batzig Jr., 16, Sweeney's best friend since the fourth grade. Sources said the boys prepared for the ambush at another home by listening to the Beatles song made famous by killer Charles Manson, "Helter Skelter." Morley, meanwhile, met Sweeney and started walking him to "the trails" - an overgrown and desolate industrial wasteland off Beach Street - a popular spot for local teens to hang out and party. For some unknown reason, sources said the couple failed to rendezvous with the killers, prompting an angry call from the boys to Morley's cell phone. Morley, according to law enforcement sources, shot right back at her co-conspirators. "What did you do, *** out?" she allegedly asked. The parties agreed to return to the trails. This time, police said, Morley delivered her suitor to the slaughter. They walked down a black gravel road toward a junction of trees. Morley began to undress. Then Sweeney took off his shoes. That's as far as he got. A blow came from a small-handled hatchet. It struck Sweeney on the head and knocked him to the ground. Sources said it was followed by blows from a hammer and more blows from the hatchet as he tried to get up. Another assailant used a brick. Later, one of the boys used what one detective described as a "boulder" type of rock to crush Sweeney's head. Nearly all of the blows struck Sweeney on the head and face, according to a source familiar with the injuries. As the grisly slaying unfolded, Morley stood off to the side and did not take part, according to sources. When it was over, though, she allegedly shared in the blood money - $500 - divided four ways. A total of $125 apiece, for murder. "The motive was robbery," said Sgt. Kathleen McGowan of the homicide division. "They planned to rob him and use the money to get high." Sweeney's head and face were so badly beaten that his body was nearly unidentifiable. "He's going to have a closed casket for what they did to my son," the boy's distraught father, Paul Sweeney, said yesterday. Even veteran homicide investigators, who deal with death on a daily basis, said they've rarely encountered a slaying of such callousness and brutality. "It's as bad as you could ever imagine," said one detective. The detective said the alleged perpetrators, the three who were arrested and charged with murder on Tuesday, appeared to express little remorse during their interrogation at police headquarters, asking indifferently, "When are we going home?" Another investigator called the case "one of the most disturbing jobs I've ever seen. That kid is lying on a slab in a morgue still screaming in pain." By last night, Jason Sweeney's body was in a closed casket at the McElvarr Funeral home on Susquehanna near Belgrade, a block from the house where he lived. Pain was now etched on the faces of scores of anguished friends and family members who lined up to pay respects. At the scene of the crime, a makeshift memorial sprang up in the wasteland featuring an American flag on a cross, a teddy bear, and a poem titled "Beautiful Dreamer." Sweeney's funeral will be held this morning in Fishtown. But the investigation into his murder is far from over. On the surface, police officials are saying Sweeney was a victim of murder for money, perhaps to fuel drug habits of some of his friends. At it's core, perhaps, are more complex breakdowns of friendship that opened a path to violence, contributing to what two investigators say may also have the elements of a "thrill" killing. "If they just wanted to rob him, they could have gotten the money after the first blow," said another investigator, who is not completely satisfied with robbery as a full explanation for the crime. "It appeared as though some anger was involved," acknowledged McGowan. The teens all lived blocks from each other in the cramped section of Fishtown, a crosshatch of narrow streets lined with rowhouses where most families have lived for years. Jason Sweeney and Ed Batzig Jr. had been friends for a long time. Both boys had even vacationed with each other's families. "I just can't believe that my son would be party to this," Batzig's mother, Jeanette, told WCAU-TV (Channel 10) outside her Hewson Street home yesterday morning. "He knew Jason so well." But recently Batzig became friends with the Coia brothers. Many in the neighborhood said Dominic and Nicholas Coia, who had moved into the area only a couple of years ago, were known as bad news. According to Keith Hunter, 29, "They robbed cars, broke windows." Batzig had only started hanging out with the Coia brothers a couple of months ago, some friends said. They were all pretty quiet. Most of the time they just sat around on the stoop in front of the Coias' house on Columbia Avenue near Memphis Street. Sweeney, on the other hand, had dropped out of high school, but began working for his father, who owns a small construction company. "He was working, the other kids were not," said one law enforcement source familiar with the case. "They hung out during the day. They wanted to be in a band. They spent their nights partying and getting high." By contrast, friends of Morley - a pretty, dark-haired girl who liked punk music - said they were shocked to hear of her alleged involvement in the crime. Sources said detectives were investigating whether Morley had been romantically involved with one or more of her alleged co-conspirators. Before her arrest Wednesday on murder charges, she had been scheduled to graduate the eighth grade at Holy Name of Jesus School. Yesterday, the school officially expelled her. Her graduation date was next Wednesday. Now it is the date of her preliminary hearing in the murder of Jason Sweeney, along with Nicholas and Dominic Coia, and Ed Batzig Jr. "He'll get what he deserves," Batzig's father said the other day. Morley's lawyer, William J. Brennan, said his client "seemed like a good kid, a nice kid, who comes from a good family." He said he has yet to see any documents offered by the commonwealth to demonstrate that Morley "played any role in this - as a lure or as a part" of the alleged planning of Sweeney's murder. "At this point I haven't seen or been told or heard anything to substantiate that my client was in any way involved in this terrible crime," he said. Prosecutors and police are expected to present their evidence, including statements taken from two of the alleged killers at the preliminary hearing. Jason Sweeney gets buried today. His circle of friends is in jail, charged with killing him. "You have four families ruined," said one investigator. __________________ HondaStyle.com Babysitter's Club Member #0 Soon to be >Dr Max Immuh<**

09-11-2003, 04:13 PM	#2
GT40FIED Best...mod...ever Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: At the end of the longest line Age: 43 Posts: 7,451	And who says there are some people too young to be executed? Strap 'em down and pull the switch. __________________ 1984 1/2 Mustang GT350 #842, Faster than you...nuff said Anna Fan Club President/Dictator Someday, in the event that mankind actually figures out what it is that this world actually revoles around, thousands of people are going to be shocked and perplexed that it was not them. Sometimes this includes me. "If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever." - George Orwell Welcome to the new Amerika

09-11-2003, 04:21 PM	#3
Wren57 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2002 Age: 39 Posts: 2,856	holy crap that is so friggin sad I agree, kill the lil sons of bitches, but do it the same way they killed him, beat them to death... __________________ yeah, its that big

09-11-2003, 04:24 PM	#4
Accord Man THE GENERAL Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Earth (usually) Age: 42 Posts: 5,698	I agree! Unless there is some crazy twist to this story, they all deserve to beaten down.. Including the ***! __________________ HondaStyle.com Babysitter's Club Member #0 Soon to be >Dr Max Immuh<**

09-11-2003, 05:36 PM	#7
ChrisCantSkate Thought Police Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: orlando florida Age: 40 Posts: 9,662	put them in with some real murders for 20 years... then execute them. teach them that what they did was serious and not to be taken lightly. they need to see what kind of people they are and know what it feels like to have everything you thought you had striped from you. __________________ Black Vtec Prelude-h22a power'd Many dreams come true, and some have silver linings. I live for my dreams and a pocket full of gold.

09-11-2003, 06:26 PM	#8
pimpinprelude Registered User Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Atlanta Age: 37 Posts: 1,325	another reason NOT to do drugs.....

09-11-2003, 06:27 PM	#9
member Posts: n/a	no... this will never happen but: make them live in a cage outside(downtown, big cities, ec.,) for the rest of their lives... let everyone know what they did... death ends their feelings in a second... humiliation stays with them for the rest of their lives...

09-11-2003, 06:44 PM	#10
DavidH Posts: n/a	they'll be plenty humiliated when they're turned into some big guy named bubba's b*tches in jail

09-11-2003, 07:16 PM	#11
member Posts: n/a	yeah, but that's just while in prison. if they're out in the streets, ANYONE could come see them.

09-11-2003, 09:51 PM	#15
GT40FIED Best...mod...ever Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: At the end of the longest line Age: 43 Posts: 7,451	If our country's judicial system has one flaw it's restraint. Not that that's always bad, but I love watching police in countries like Russia. They catch...say...a pedophile and they beat the living f@ck out of him and THEN arrest him. I'm sorry...but if you commit a violent or haenous crime you deserve to get the shit kicked out of you. I'm also a big fan of the aforementioned "kill them in the way they killed" thing. If you tortue or beat someone to death, you deserve the same. F@ck these kids...they'll go to jail for maybe 20 years probably then get a heardy "don't do it again" while this other kid's life is OVER. All for drugs and $125 a piece. Almost makes me sick. __________________ 1984 1/2 Mustang GT350 #842, Faster than you...nuff said Anna Fan Club President/Dictator Someday, in the event that mankind actually figures out what it is that this world actually revoles around, thousands of people are going to be shocked and perplexed that it was not them. Sometimes this includes me. "If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever." - George Orwell Welcome to the new Amerika

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