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William Upshaw:
Murdered
Police and Prosecutorial
malice
This is
a case of a coerced confession: Upshaw was first identified as
a "person of interest" that police wanted to question
because he had been seen in the area. When he presented himself
to police in order to clear himself, he was questioned for 12
hours and then charged. The media accepted police version of
events without question. William Upshaw, a young man with no
criminal record, was held for over a year awaiting a trial which
the prosecutors' knew was based on unreliable evidence. Upshaw,
on the other hand had a strong alibi and proved credible enough
in court to convince a jury of his innocence.
To the cops
and prosecutors, this case represents just a loss on the "win
some lose some collect a pay cheque either way" tally. To
Upshaw, it is a critical year stolen from his life.
Anatomy of a Frame-Up: in progress
The above picture and article
further down were published in the North
Country News May, 2002.
Peekskill man indicted in killing
By TERRY CORCORAN, THE JOURNAL
NEWS, August 7, 2003
A Westchester County grand
jury has indicted a 20-year-old Peekskill man whom police charged
with murder in the July 27 killing of a Yonkers resident.
A felony hearing for Jason
Tinsley of 696 Highland Ave. was scheduled to take place yesterday
morning at Peekskill City Court.
Instead, the Westchester County
District Attorney's Office notified the court that a grand jury
has indicted Tinsley in the killing of William "Coof"
Upshaw, a 19-year-old former Peekskill resident whose last known
address was Hawthorne Avenue in Yonkers. Details of the sealed
indictment were not available.
"We have filed with the
court a written certification that an indictment has been voted,"
District Attorney Jeanine Pirro said yesterday.
Peekskill police say Tinsley
shot and killed Upshaw in the early morning hours of July 27
on Hadden Street near Lepore Park. Upshaw was shot once in the
chest and died at the Hudson Valley Hospital Center.
Police arrested Tinsley within
three hours of the shooting and charged him with second-degree
murder and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, felonies.
Police have yet to recover the weapon.
Tinsley and Upshaw, who were
friends growing up in Peekskill, were both involved in a June
trial at which Upshaw was acquitted in the May 2002 slaying of
40-year-old Ecuadoran native German Marquinez. Tinsley and one
other man, Marcus Shelton, 23, of Peekskill, were convicted of
misdemeanor assault in that case for assaulting Marquinez before
he was fatally shot in an argument over a winning $40 lottery
ticket.
At trial, Shelton testified
that it was Tinsley, not Upshaw, who fired the shots that killed
Marquinez. But Upshaw insisted that he was at his girlfriend's
home in the Bronx when the shooting took place. Police have yet
to say whether they believe Upshaw's death, allegedly at the
hands of Tinsley, was related to the recent trial.
But Tinsley's mother said the
trial drove a wedge between her son and Upshaw, who were once
good friends. Doris Tinsley told The Journal News that her family
had notified police July 24 that Upshaw was in town and looking
for her son. Police confirmed that they received a complaint
from the Tinsley family regarding Upshaw, but could not act on
it because the alleged incident took place outside Peekskill.
At a hearing last week in Peekskill
Court, Tinsley's court-appointed lawyer requested the felony
hearing that was to take place yesterday morning. The attorney,
Richard Ferrante of White Plains, did not return a call seeking
comment yesterday.
Reach Terry Corcoran at tcorcora@thejournalnews.com
or 845-228-2275.
Peekskill
man not guilty in lottery slaying
By JONATHAN BANDLER , THE
JOURNAL NEWS , (Original publication: June 10, 2003)
WHITE PLAINS - A 19-year-old
Peekskill man was acquitted yesterday on all charges in the fatal
shooting of an Ecuadorean immigrant during a fight over a winning
lottery ticket.
The jury had the case for about
three hours before finding William Upshaw not guilty of second-degree
murder, first-degree manslaughter and second-degree criminal
possession of a weapon. He was scheduled to be released from
the Westchester County jail, where he had been held since his
extradition from Alabama in September.
Upshaw was accused of killing
German Marquinez, 40, a one-time boxer who did masonry and landscaping
work as a day laborer in the Peekskill area. Marquinez was shot
three times outside the M&M Market early on May 17, 2002,
after trying to cash the $40 lottery ticket.
The jury heard numerous accounts
of the fight. One witness identified Upshaw as the shooter, but
a fight participant, Marcus Shelton, claimed that the man who
started the fight, Jason Tinsley, actually shot Marquinez. Upshaw
testified that he had left the area about three hours earlier,
and he and his girlfriend testified that he was at her Bronx
apartment when the shooting occurred.
"The testimony in this
case raised more questions than it provided answers," defense
lawyer Barry Warhit said. "It was obvious the jury was left
guessing what happened."
Marquinez had gone to M&M
on Main Street about 3 a.m. to cash his lottery ticket. He expected
to get $40, but the clerk told him to return later in the morning
when the lottery machine would be operating. At that point, a
man in the deli, Tinsley, grabbed the ticket from Marquinez.
A fight ensued as Marquinez grabbed it back and punched Tinsley,
and the fight continued outside, where Tinsley and Shelton began
punching and kicking Marquinez. Someone then walked up to Marquinez
with a gun and fired at least three shots at him, killing him.
Detectives soon identified
Upshaw as a suspect but could not find him.
Upshaw turned himself in to
authorities and was arrested in Alabama five days later after
he went there to visit his family. Authorities contended he hid
in Peekskill and the Bronx before fleeing there, but Upshaw insisted
that it had been a planned trip and that he knew nothing of the
killing until he got there.
Shelton and Tinsley were charged
with felony assault in the case, but a jury convicted Shelton
only of misdemeanor assault. Tinsley then pleaded guilty to misdemeanor
assault and is awaiting sentencing. He testified that he saw
Upshaw holding a gun during the fight.
Assistant District Attorney
John O'Rourke called witnesses who testified that Shelton had
identified Upshaw as the killer hours after the shooting and
to a probation officer last month, and that Upshaw's girlfriend
did not seem certain whether he arrived at her apartment at 1
a.m. the morning of the shooting or the following morning.
Shelton insisted that he never
told detectives or the probation officer anything about Upshaw
and hadn't even seen him at the scene during or after the fight.
Upshaw could not be reached
for comment last night. Nor could his mother and grandmother,
who had traveled from Decatur, Ala., to attend the two-week trial.
Warhit said his client, who had faced up to 25 years to life
in prison if convicted, was relieved by the verdict.
The jury began deliberating
about 11 a.m. after getting legal instructions from Westchester
County Judge Lester Adler. About an hour later the jurors asked
to rehear the testimony of two witnesses and see letters that
Tinsley had sent to an investigator and his aunt.
One of the witnesses, Valerina
Johnson, testified that she saw Upshaw point what appeared to
be a gun at Marquinez and then heard several shots - but in previous
accounts she testified that several people blocked her view of
what happened.
Marquinez was known to send
money back to his wife and children in Ecuador and had spoken
of his desire to bring them to the United States. His wife's
brother and sister live in Peekskill. Neither could be reached
for comment last night.
This is
with regard to a case in Westchester County now. There
are so many holes in the prosecution but it doesn't seem to matter.
What am I supposed to do? This is a copy of an e-mail I
wrote to someone on a PI Group that submitted an excerpt from
your website for our consideration:
My case that I have written
about on the PI Group is dealing with this. I have read
and studied the Reid Technique and thought it was good but I
understand what you are saying. My client was 18 years
old. He was wanted in NY, advertised as armed and dangerous
and a reward was out although he was only wanted for questioning.
The client came to AL for Mothers' Day last year and was here
when this hit the news in NY. The family called me.
I went and picked up the client, notified the Alabama Bureau
of Investigations that I was bringing him in and two detectives
from NY flew down to meet us. They put him through two
hours of pure hell (I was sitting outside the room). At
2 a.m. they arrested and charged him with murder. One of
the detectives from NY said it was because he would not cooperate.
I asked, "How is that?" The detective said because
my client would not tell who committed the murder, he was going
down for it. I got an attorney to block extradition to
NY, hoping in the meantime to get representation for him which
I did not succeed in doing. Midnight of the last
night they could hold him in AL, they came from NY, got him,
took him back to NY and put him in a cell with two other "accomplices"
(one of whom is thought to be the one who did it). Allegedly,
they have pled to lesser sentences to testify against my client!
For six months my client has been in the same cell with them.
The trial started this past week. The prosecutor called
me and questioned me. I called the defense attorney appointed
to defend my client and he said it was my fault
the client had been charged. I asked him what he was talking
about and he said the LE had all signed statements saying I was
bringing the client in for murder instead of saying I was bringing
him in because he was innocent and since he was just wanted for
questioning, he wanted to come in...
I never said he confessed to
the murder - quite the opposite. The NY detectives never
even talked to me about me bringing him in...anyway, now, I am
to be there in NY the first week in June to testify on behalf
of the defense. I was SO MAD. The defense attorney
said my statement was behind everything. He is BSing me.
He said if the 18 year old boy went down for the murder that
the attorney did not believe he committed, I could consider myself
partially responsible.
What the h--- is he talking
about - I wasn't even there. I only met the boy when I
drove to another city in AL and picked him up - I brought him
to the Huntsville ABI because I trusted them - was I ever wrong!
They still have racial issues
in this area and I did not want to turn him in in his hometown
in AL.
The ABI guy is the one who
talked to the detectives. So, HE made the statement that
I said that? I can't believe they are turning this around
like they are. My client's family would be destroyed if
they heard what the defense attorney is saying I said.
No one would have faith in me or trust me. My client didn't
get to see an attorney for the entire time he was in AL because
he was a "fugitive" and did not have any rights in
Alabama.
The family has begged me to
come there next week. The trial is supposed to last four
weeks. Jury selection took three days. The defense
attorney said if he loses he is looking at 25 years to life.
He is trying to put the burden of turning the trial around on
me. He is trying to make me feel responsible for the future
of this 18 year old guy who in all probability is not guilty
and I certainly don't believe he is.
When the detectives arrested
him, they let him think he was being charged with capital murder.
The defense attorney said it wasn't capital murder but I stood
right there that night at 2 a.m. and heard them myself, heard
the way my client interpreted the charges and they didn't dispute
that. They had him scared to death. He had or has
no past record, not been in jail, to my knowledge never been
in trouble.
The client and family are Afro-American.
I am white. They have put all their faith and trust in
me.
What are they going to try
to do to me on the stand? I don't even know now who the
good guys are, if there are any. I am disgusted.
Thanks for the insight - it
certainly tells the story of what has happened so far.
They have nearly gotten my client to plea bargain to a crime
he didn't commit and the only thing preventing him from doing
so is his grandmother telling him to stick to the truth and not
confess to what he did not do. How's he going to feel if
he thinks I turned on him? Then again, we were together
the entire day and night and he heard anything I said so he knows
I never said he confessed.
It's enough to make me want
to quit the business...
Jurors hear summations
in Peekskill murder case
By TERRY CORCORAN , THE
JOURNAL NEWS, (Original publication: June 7, 2003)
A lack of physical evidence
in the murder case against Peekskill resident William Upshaw
means that jurors will have to decide on the credibility of several
witnesses who testified they saw Upshaw at the spot where a 40-year-old
man was killed last year, attorneys in the case said yesterday.
In his closing argument in
Westchester County Court, defense attorney Barry Warhit said
several people who testified against his 19-year-old client were
either out to protect themselves or had such questionable lifestyles
as to render their testimony incredible.
But Assistant District Attorney
John O'Rourke, in his summation, said while some of those people
might not be saints, they were the only witnesses available to
authorities. O'Rourke said the testimony of several people called
by the prosecution consistently placed Upshaw at the downtown
Peekskill intersection when German Marquinez, a day laborer from
Ecuador, was shot and killed in the early hours of May 17, 2002.
The 12-member jury is scheduled
to begin deliberations Monday after getting instructions from
Judge Lester Adler.
Upshaw, who took the stand
in his own defense and denied being at Main and Division streets
at the time Marquinez was killed, faces charges of second-degree
murder and criminal possession of a weapon. He has been held
at the county jail since his arrest last year.
Warhit, in professing his client's
innocence, noted that Upshaw had no criminal record before his
arrest. Warhit suggested that another man involved in a dispute
with Marquinez, Jason Tinsley, was responsible for his death.
Marquinez, a father of three
who was a prize fighter in Ecuador, came to Peekskill in 1999
to earn money doing masonry and landscaping work. He would send
money home to his wife and three children in Cuenca and had hoped
to save enough to one day bring them here.
Around 3 a.m. on March 17,
2002, Marquinez went to the M&M Market at Main and Division
streets to cash a winning $40 lottery ticket, police said. After
a cashier told Marquinez the lottery machine was down, someone
tried to steal the ticket. The fight that ensued carried out
onto the street, where Marquinez was shot three times.
Two men who police said assaulted
Marquinez before he was shot - Marcus Shelton and Tinsley - were
convicted in April of misdemeanor assault but acquitted of more
serious felony assault charges.
Upshaw, whom police identified
as the shooter, went to Alabama after the shooting - a trip he
said was planned in advance - but surrendered to authorities
there in what Warhit described as an act designed to prove his
innocence and protect his good name.
Warhit questioned the credibility
of several prosecution witnesses, noting that some had admitted
to selling or using drugs, while another had struck a deal with
prosecutors to testify in exchange for reduced or dismissed charges.
Taken as a whole, the testimony from prosecution witnesses should
put doubt in the minds of jurors, Warhit said.
"If you're not sure, at
the end of the day, what happened here, these doubts belong to
that young man," Warhit said, pointing to Upshaw.
O'Rourke said Upshaw's decision
to surrender to authorities had nothing to do with protecting
his reputation. O'Rourke said Upshaw surrendered because he was
tired of running.
"This was a surrender,
yes," O'Rourke said. "But it was also the end of his
running."
O'Rourke said several people
who had known Upshaw for years placed him at the shooting scene,
including one woman who testified she saw Upshaw's arm pointing
at Marquinez as gunshots rang out. Upshaw testified he was with
his girlfriend in the Bronx at the time of the shooting.
O'Rourke said that if jurors
don't believe Upshaw's testimony, "that is powerful evidence
of the defendant's guilt."
Witness says murder defendant
didn't shoot immigrant
By JONATHAN BANDLER , THE
JOURNAL NEWS , (Original publication: June 4, 2003)
A Peekskill man who helped
beat up an Ecuadorean immigrant moments before the victim was
fatally shot testified yesterday that the man on trial for murder,
William Upshaw, was not the shooter.
Instead, Marcus Shelton said
his friend and co-defendant in the beating, Jason Tinsley, was
the man who shot German Marquinez outside the M & M Market
on Main Street in Peekskill on May 17, 2002. Shelton said he
had punched Marquinez but was starting to walk away when he turned
around and saw Tinsley continue to kick the victim.
"(Tinsley) pulled out
a gun and shot him," said Shelton, who added that he never
saw Upshaw outside the deli that night.
Shelton was convicted of misdemeanor
assault in the case and is in the Westchester County jail awaiting
sentencing. On further questioning by defense lawyer Barry Warhit,
he said Tinsley had urged him not to testify. "He told me
to keep my mouth shut. He said, 'Let William hold the weight
for it,' " Shelton said of Tinsley.
Upshaw is charged with second-degree
murder in Marquinez's death. He was arrested five days after
the shooting when he turned himself in to law-enforcement authorities
in Alabama, where his mother and grandmother live, after learning
he was wanted by Peekskill police.
Another defense witness yesterday
was Kiyanda Austin, Upshaw's 18-year-old girlfriend, who testified
that Upshaw came to her home in the Bronx shortly after 1 on
the morning of the shooting and spent the weekend with her before
leaving for Alabama. Marquinez was killed about 3 a.m. after
arguing with Tinsley and Shelton over a lottery ticket he had
tried cashing and they allegedly wanted to steal.
When Peekskill detectives went
to Alabama to question Upshaw, he told them he had been with
his girlfriend. They notified their supervisor, Detective Sgt.
Mark O'Buck, in New York, and he called Austin that night to
verify it.
On cross-examination, Assistant
District Attorney John O'Rourke confronted Austin with a transcript
of her phone conversation with O'Buck, in which she is quoted
as saying she was uncertain whether Upshaw had come to her apartment
the morning of May 17, or the following morning. Austin reviewed
the transcript but said she she was certain she never said that
to O'Buck.
The sergeant is expected to
be called as a rebuttal witness Friday.
Shelton and Tinsley were charged
with felony assault in the beating that preceded the shooting.
Earlier this year, a jury convicted
Shelton of the lesser charge of third-degree assault. Tinsley
pleaded guilty to third-degree attempted assault, a misdemeanor.
Neither was charged in connection
with Marquinez's death. Tinsley, who is also awaiting sentencing,
testified last week that he saw Upshaw with a gun during the
fight but did not see him fire it.
Shelton said yesterday that
he never saw Upshaw there that night, and that he was standing
three feet away when Tinsley fired four shots at Marquinez.
Tinsley could not be reached
for comment yesterday. A lawyer representing him, Douglas Martino,
said he had no comment on Shelton's testimony, but that Tinsley's
account on the witness stand was consistent with his statements
to police and when he pleaded guilty.
The prosecution maintains that
Upshaw shot Marquinez and then hid out in Peekskill for a day
or so before leaving the area.
O'Rourke questioned Shelton
extensively about statements he purportedly gave a Peekskill
detective several hours after the shooting, including saying
Upshaw was the shooter.
Shelton yesterday denied that
he ever discussed details of the case with the detective and
did not implicate Upshaw. His comments were not in the form of
a signed statement but were included in the detective's report
on the case.
The trial before Westchester
County Judge Lester Adler will resume this morning.
Send e-mail to Jon
Witness: Peekskill murder
suspect fired gun
By JONATHAN BANDLER , THE
JOURNAL NEWS , (Original publication: May 28, 2003)
A woman identified William
Upshaw yesterday as the man who fatally shot a 40-year-old day
laborer following a fight over the victim's lottery ticket outside
a Peekskill delicatessen last year.
Valerina Johnson was among
the first witnesses at Upshaw's trial in Westchester County Court.
The 19-year-old defendant is charged with second-degree murder
and criminal possession of a weapon in the May 17, 2002, slaying
of German Marquinez. The victim had gone to the M&M Market
at Main and Division streets to cash a $40 winning lottery ticket.
When the cashier told him the machine was not working, someone
tried to steal the ticket. A fight then spilled out into the
street and Marquinez was shot three times.
Upshaw was identified as a
suspect almost immediately and was arrested several days later
in Alabama where he had gone to stay with relatives. His lawyer,
Barry Warhit, told the jury yesterday that Upshaw would testify
that he had been in front of the deli earlier but was with his
girlfriend in the Bronx at the time of the shooting.
Assistant District Attorney
John O'Rourke said that morning began lucky for Marquinez, but
that his luck soon turned ugly when Upshaw - also known as "Koof"
- shot him in an "unprovoked, brutal, senseless act of violence."
He said Upshaw's statements to detectives that he was not there
would be refuted by several witnesses.
Marquinez was a professional
boxer in Ecuador who did masonry and landscaping work in the
Peekskill area. He would send money to his wife and three children
and hoped to eventually bring them to the United States.
Two men who were accused of
beating up Marquinez before the shooting, Marcus Shelton and
Jason Tinsley, were convicted last month of misdemeanor assault
but acquitted of more serious felony assault charges. Johnson,
21, who testified at that trial as well, was getting some food,
when she made her way to the deli after hearing the argument.
She said she saw Tinsley punch
Marquinez in the face and Shelton repeatedly kick him. She said
she did not see Upshaw enter the fight until just before the
shots were fired. She said she saw the left side of Upshaw's
face and his arm pointing at Marquinez as three or four gunshots
rang out. She said she did not see a gun in his hand.
Warhit questioned Johnson extensively
about discrepancies between her testimony yesterday and the account
she gave at the previous trial. She said then that some of the
people in the crowd had blocked her view of the fight and that
Upshaw had his back to her when she heard the gunshots. Yesterday,
she insisted she had no doubt that Upshaw was the shooter.
Peekskill shooting leaves
one dead
Dispute over lottery ticket turns violent
by Brad King
A 40-year-old day laborer was
killed early last Saturday morning on a Peekskill street corner
after an argument over a $20 lottery ticket turned violent.
Police arrived at Main Street
and North Division Street and found German Marquinez on the sidewalk
suffering a single gunshot wound to the abdomen shortly after
3:30 a.m., said Peekskill Detective Sergeant Mark O'Buck.
O'Buck said several 911 calls
reported arguments and shouting that were followed by the gunshot.
Marquinez was rushed to Hudson
Valley Hospital Center where he was later pronounced dead.
Marquinez, no known address,
is survived by his wife, Elvira Lourdes Ayabaca, and their three
children, Mikaela, 6, Martin, 5, and Rosida, 4, all residing
in Marquinez's homeland of Ecuador.
Police are searching for William
K. Upshaw, 18, of Peekskill as a suspect in the shooting. He
is considered armed and dangerous.
Police would not reveal how
they learned that Upshaw might have been involved in the incident.
O'Buck said two Peekskill residents
were arrested over the weekend on second-degree assault charges,
a felony, in connection with an attack on Marquinez that proceeded
the shooting.
Marcus Shelton, 23, of Division
Street, and Jason Tinsley, 19, of Highland Avenue, are accused
of participating in the assault against Marquinez before he was
shot, O'Buck said.
Both men were arraigned Monday
in City Court and are due back next Tuesday for further proceedings.
They are being held at the Westchester County Jail in Valhalla.
Shelton is being held on $25,000 bail and Tinsley is being held
without bail.
"We don't have a lot of
homicides in Peekskill," O' Buck said.
A thorough investigation is
underway, he said.
Peekskill has averaged one
homicide a year in recent years, said O'Buck. This marks the
first murder of 2002.
According to David Algahiem,
owner of the 24-hour M & M Market and Deli on Main Street
and North Division Street, Marquinez entered the store after
3 a.m. trying to cash the lottery ticket.
Algahiem told Marquinez he
would have to return later that morning to collect his winnings.
Algahiem explained that two
men confronted Marquinez, apparently trying to rob him. An argument
ensued, which later spilled onto the street.
"I heard the shots and
called 911," Algahiem said.
Algahiem, who has owned the
deli for six years, explained that Marquinez was a regular customer
for at least a year and was simply a "nice guy."
"He always came in. A
regular customer," Algahiem said.
Algahiem said he no longer
feels safe operating his business around the clock.
"I was open 24 hours but
now I close at 2, 3 a.m.," he said. "It's too crazy.
"I lost a lot of business
and I feel unsafe in Peekskill now," Algahiem said, commenting
that he has never seen violence to this extent before in the
city.
As flyers were circulated,
local teens, who refused to be identified, looked at Upshaw's
picture in amazement saying, "No way, this is the guy that
did this."
A reward of up to $5,000 for
any information on the whereabouts of Upshaw can be forwarded
to the Peekskill Police Department's Crime Stoppers at 1-800
898 TIPS.
Man
shot to death in Peekskill
By TERRY CORCORAN, THE JOURNAL
NEWS, (Original publication: May 18, 2002)
PEEKSKILL, NEW YORK- A man
who was shot early yesterday after an apparent argument at Main
and North Division streets died shortly after being brought to
Hudson Valley Hospital Center, city police said.
Police had tentatively identified
the victim by late yesterday afternoon, but declined to release
his name because they had not yet notified his family. It was
the city's first murder of this year.
Detective Sgt. Mark O'Buck
said police received several 911 calls around 3:30 a.m. reporting
a loud argument followed by shots fired at Main and North Division.
When officers arrived, they found the victim lying in the roadway.
O'Buck identified him as a black male. He was taken by ambulance
to Hudson Valley Hospital Center in Cortlandt, where he was pronounced
dead shortly after arrival, police said.
City police, working with officers
from the Westchester County Department of Public Safety and investigators
with the District Attorney's Office, then cordoned off Main Street
between North Division Street and Nelson Avenue for about six
hours while searching for evidence and interviewing witnesses.
Police recovered some evidence
- they declined to say what it was - but had yet to find a weapon.
O'Buck said it was too early to say what type of gun may have
been used.
David Algahiem, owner of the
24-hour M & M Market and Deli on Main Street at North Division,
said the man he believed was the victim came into his store before
the shooting and tried to cash a winning lottery ticket. Algahiem
said he told the man to return during the day because the lottery
machine was shut down.
"I told him to come back
in the morning, but then I didn't see him again," he said.
Algahiem said he then heard
arguing outside and called 911. Before police arrived, Algahiem
said he heard two or three shots. At that point, he ran into
the back of the store, fearing for his safety. Police then swarmed
through the area.
Algahiem said he essentially
did no business for those six hours while police closed the street
in front of his store. Several other Main Street merchants also
said their business was slow during the morning, but none said
they knew anything about the shooting or saw anything.
Slain Ecuadorean had
dreams of better life
By TERRY CORCORAN , THE
JOURNAL NEWS , (Original publication: May 21, 2002)
PEEKSKILL - German Marquinez
came to the United States from Ecuador three years ago to build
a better life and had hopes of one day bringing his wife and
three young children north to live with him.
His dream ended on the street
outside a downtown bodega early Friday, when he was shot to death
after arguing with another man over a lottery ticket, police
said.
Yesterday, as Peekskill detectives
continued their investigation into Marquinez's death, his relatives
recalled a quiet, strong man who, though a professional boxer
in his homeland, was peaceful and enjoyed quiet times.
"He fought in the ring,
but he did not believe in guns," said Marquinez's brother-in-law,
Victor Ayabaca. "He worked in construction. He built a lot
of the sidewalks and driveways around here. He was a good man."
Alicia Torres, Ayabaca's sister,
said, "He worked very hard. He was a big, strong man. He'd
come back home tired. He would shower and then play his guitar."
Ayabaca and Torres, both of
Peekskill, said Marquinez's wife - their sister, Elvira Lourdes
Ayabaca - took the news of her husband's death particularly hard
in Ecuador.
"She is bad, real bad,"
Ayabaca said. The couple's three children are Mikaela, 6, Martin,
5, and Rosida, 4.
Yesterday, Torres held a folder
filled with newspaper clippings from Ecuador, showing Marquinez,
40, in his prime as a prizefighter. He was killed by a single
gunshot to the abdomen.
Marquinez had worked as a security
officer at a bank in Cuenca, Ecuador, where his wife and children
live. Yesterday, Ayabaca held up a stack of yellow papers, each
a receipt from when Marquinez would send money home to his family.
"Whenever he could, he
sent money home. One hundred, two hundred, whatever he could
afford, he would send it back to his wife and children,"
Ayabaca said.
Marquinez would stand every
morning with other day laborers outside a downtown deli hoping
to find work, in construction, landscaping or whatever was available.
But his strong hands and thick biceps made him a natural for
masonry work, Ayabaca said.
What he was doing at 3 a.m.
in front of the M&M Market and Deli on Main Street was unclear.
The police said yesterday that
they were continuing to investigate, but declined to say if they
had a suspect. Detective Sgt. Mark O'Buck said Marquinez was
shot with a handgun, which police had not recovered, adding that
police had interviewed several people.
Marquinez had a room in an
apartment he shared with a few other men at 1049 Main St. One
of them, Jose Reyes, remembered yesterday not only how well Marquinez
played the six-string acoustic guitar, but that he taught himself
how to play.
"He was a very nice guy.
He was very intelligent," Reyes said. "We were all
so surprised when the police showed us his picture and said he
was dead."
Despite their grief, his family
wants justice for Marquinez, Ayabaca said. "We want to take
this guy and put him in jail," Ayabaca said of his brother-in-law's
killer. "People fight. That happens. But using guns, that
is wrong. There's no place for guns."
Anyone with information about
the shooting is asked to call Peekskill detectives at 914-737-8000.
Send e-mail to Terry Corcoran
' Homicide is defined in Section
125 of the state penal code. It includes the following crimes:
·First degree murder
·Second degree murder
·First degree manslaughter
·Second degree manslaughter
·First degree vehicular manslaughter
·Second degree vehicular manslaughter
·Criminally negligent homicide
Man wanted in slaying
surrenders
By JORGE FITZ-GIBBON , THE
JOURNAL NEWS , (Original publication: May 24, 2002)
An 18-year-old Peekskill man
sought in last week's shooting death of Ecuadorean immigrant
German Marquinez has surrendered to police in Huntsville, Ala.,
and is expected to return to Westchester to face murder charges,
police said yesterday.
Peekskill Police Chief Eugene
Tumolo said William K. Upshaw was taken into custody Wednesday
morning after a collaborative effort between Crime Stoppers branches
in Westchester and Huntsville, where police had learned that
Upshaw had relatives.
"From the onset, there
were witnesses at the scene that we had to interview," the
chief said. "From the information that they were able to
provide, we were able to develop Upshaw as a suspect, and we
were able to gather enough information, substantiate enough facts,
to be able to obtain a warrant, which we ultimately lodged and
secured his arrest in Alabama."
Two other Peekskill men police
say were involved in the incident - Marcus Shelton, 23, and Jason
Tinsley, 19 - were arrested this week and charged with second-degree
assault.
Police said Marquinez, 41,
was killed at 3:30 a.m. outside the M&M Market and Deli,
a 24-hour store at Main and Division streets, after an altercation.
He had visited the store to cash a lottery ticket, but was told
to return later because the lottery machine was off- line.
After the shooting, police
responded to a 911 call and found Marquinez lying in the road
with a gunshot wound to the stomach. He was rushed to the hospital,
where he was pronounced dead.
Marquinez came to the United
States three years ago, leaving behind a wife and three children.
He was among the scores of Hispanic residents who work as day
laborers in construction, landscaping and other industries.
Yesterday, his sister-in-law,
Alicia Torres, expressed relief that Upshaw had been apprehended
and charged. She said Marquinez' wife, Elvira Lourdes Ayabaca,
who lives in Ecuador with the couple's children, had been devastated
by the news.
"I want him to get the
maximum penalty for what he did," Torres said. "I never
thought he would be captured. I have new confidence in the work
of the police."
Relatives now hope to plan
a vigil to be held at the scene of Marquinez' death.
Peekskill Mayor John Testa
said that, in the wake of the slaying and other recent incidents
targeting the city's day laborers, policing efforts would be
stepped up.
"Toward that end, the
police presence in downtown has been increased around the clock,"
Testa said. "Other initiatives are under way which will
target all unlawful, disorderly and abhorrent activities throughout
this area of the city."
Tumolo said day laborers are
particularly vulnerable to assault and robbery.
"A lot of these people
are very hard working. They carry a lot of money, and it's known,"
Tumolo said. "One of the things we're working toward is
to lessen the impact that crime might have on them and give them
some insight to how to avoid being a victim themselves."
|
Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell
