Gloria Cadet Case: NYPD Gets Caught Hiding a Murder (Again)

 
“Gloria Cadet during her 85th birthday. (credit: Family Handout)”
 

"The 85-year-old woman was found dead inside this Jefferson Avenue apartment in Bed-Stuy. (credit: Sonia Rincon, 1010 WINS)"

By Nicholas Stix

That’s how you get that murder rate down! You don’t hide corpses, you just hide the real causes of death.

As for there being no forced entry, that has no bearing on whether someone was murdered. What it means is that if the person was murdered, she was likely murdered by someone she knew.

An elderly homeowner like Mrs. Cadet, who was either divorced or widowed, would usually have local people who did odd jobs for her, as well as ne’er-do-well relatives. Mrs. Cadet would likely have permitted a member of either group inside. It would also be possible for a member of either of the aforementioned groups to steal a house key, and let himself in.

We have had several such murders in recent years in New York City, in which an elderly lady living alone was victimized by someone she knew. In most of the cases that come to mind, the victim was a black lady. The killer, who was always much younger, would take advantage of the victim’s age and isolation.

Note that Bedford-Stuyvesant ("Bed-Stuy") is one of the three most violent black areas in Brooklyn, after neighboring East New York and Brownsville.

The story says that the murder wounds were hidden under the towel Mrs. Cadet kept around her throat, to keep the draft out. The question is, who put the towel back on her throat—the killer, or a crime scene investigator or medical examiner, in order to cover up her wounds? And if it was the killer, was this a case of affirmative action law enforcement personnel who are screamingly incompetent, or who just don’t want to know certain facts that would muck up their precious fakestats?

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Police: Woman, 85, Found Fatally Stabbed Inside Brooklyn Apartment
Family Says Victim Lived By Herself And Didn't Have Any Known Enemies
September 14, 2012 11:55 PM
CBS New York

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Police said an 85-year-old Brooklyn woman, who was found in her living room Friday morning, was stabbed multiple times in the neck and torso.

The body of Gloria Cadet was discovered by the victim’s cousin, who was coming by to have coffee with her as he does each morning. The tragedy of the woman’s death was compounded by police saying the death appeared to be accidental before it turned into a murder investigation.

Detectives spent much of the day at the Bedford-Stuyvesant residence on Jefferson Avenue. Family members said that when police arrived, they told them the woman had likely fallen and then suggested they call the funeral home.

“They think she bumped her head, then they cleared it and said ‘natural causes,’ signed off on death certificates, told us to call funeral parlor and everything and we did so,” Cadet’s granddaughter, Christina Oge, told 1010 WINS’ Sonia Rincon.

However, when mortician Walter Corey arrived to take the body to his funeral home, he was stunned at what he saw under the towel Cadet had wrapped around her neck to keep warm at night.

“There was about a three inch cut right below her chin and about three or four puncture wounds,” Corey told CBS 2′s Sean Hennessey.

The NYPD said officers on the scene spoke with the Medical Examiner’s office, which had spoken to Cadet’s doctor. Given the woman’s age, health, and there being no forced entry, police said the ME ruled the death wasn’t a homicide.

“I think the investigators that arrived prior to me should have done more investigating. This way, they would have discovered before I did,” Corey said.

Granddaughter Gloria Oge-Alexis recounted her conversation with the mortician to 1010 WINS’ Rincon.

“They said ‘You know what happened?’ I said ‘They told us she probably fell and hit her head’ and then [the mortician] goes ‘No, something is not right here,’” Oge-Alexis said.

Police sources were putting the blame squarely on the Medical Examiner’s office, which didn’t immediately comment. But the family still wondered why the authorities at the scene didn’t notice that their loved one was a victim of violence.

Detectives were called back to the apartment, which was being treated as a crime scene Friday night. An autopsy, which could come Saturday, will help make the determination of the cause of death.

The victim’s family said she lived by herself and didn’t have any known enemies. The home was not ransacked and there were no signs of forced entry, police said.