Wow the database still remains after the upgrade. Even the flotsam is still on the board.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-liwong0228,0,1382198.story?coll=ny-homepage-big-pix
Massapequa
Man guilty of '84 murder
Family friend convicted of killing Massapequa child in trial where jury relied heavily on testimony of man’s ex-girlfriends
BY CHAU LAM
STAFF WRITER
February 28, 2004
A jury on Friday found Manuel Pacheco guilty of murder, saying he intended to kill an 11-year-old Massapequa girl nearly two decades ago when he drowned her by using a log to pin her head under water.
After the verdict was announced, several jurors said Pacheco's confessions to three women -- two former girlfriends and an acquaintance -- were the most compelling pieces of evidence presented at trial and convinced them he had killed Angela Wong, a childhood friend, on July 17, 1984.
"Those are the big three," said juror Rick Fleischmann, 31, a hospital manager from Bethpage.
The jury's task was difficult because there was no forensic evidence, such as fingerprints, to consider, said juror Rona Most, 51, a school psychologist.
It took the jury about eight hours of deliberations over a two-day period before finding Pacheco guilty of second-degree intentional murder. Pacheco, 35, of Los Angeles, was 15 when Angela was killed and police said he tried to sexually assault her, then killed her when she resisted.
Pacheco was tried as a juvenile and he faces a maximum of 9 years to life in prison when Nassau County Court Judge Donald E. Belfi imposes sentencing on March 26 in Mineola.
Pacheco showed no visible reaction Friday as the verdict was read before a packed courtroom.
Angela's relatives and friends, many of whom came to court daily for the past four weeks to hear testimony, gave a collective sigh of relief after jury foreman Jean Raymond declared Pacheco guilty of intentional murder.
"Guilty was good enough for me," said Angela's mother, Toni Wong, 53, of Massapequa. "For me, my daughter can finally rest in peace. Thank God."
Angela disappeared late afternoon on July 17, 1984 after telling her brother, Angelo Wong Jr., she was going to the mall. Her body was found the next morning floating facedown in a shallow pond in a wooded area near her home. A log was placed on the back of her neck to keep it under water.
In a telephone interview, one of Pacheco's attorneys, Thomas Liotti of Garden City, said of Pacheco, "He's very disappointed and upset and feels that the jury didn't have the opportunity to hear all the evidence."
The defense plans to appeal the verdict and is considering whether to ask Belfi to set it aside.
Fleischmann and Most said they did not believe Pacheco's mother, sister, and brother Luis Pacheco, when the three testified that Manuel Pacheco was home at the time Assistant District Attorney Robert Hayden said Angela was murdered.
"The most compelling issues were his confessions to his girlfriends and the fact that we could not really rely on his family's testimony as to where he was," Most said.
Fleischmann and Most said the jurors took an informal poll early on and eight members voted to convict Pacheco, three were undecided and one voted to acquit. After the two days of deliberations, the jury came to a unanimous agreement.
"I am very satisfied that the detectives, with all their hard work, were able to bring closure to the family," Hayden said. "It's still a tragedy ... we can't bring her back to life."
Staff writer Keiko Morris contributed to this story.
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