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Friday, August 15, 2008

NY- Sex offender found dead in Gloversville

8-15-2008 New York:

GLOVERSVILLE - Police think a convicted sex offender may have been murdered.

The body of 63-year-old Raymond Pike was found near his Gloversville apartment Friday morning.

Pike was found around 5 a.m. on what's known as the Rail Trail.

Pike's former roommates say he had become a marked man in the Montgomery Street neighborhood where he used to live. They say neighbors circulating petitions and called police frequently until Pike eventually relocated just a month before he was found dead.

Police say Pike was found dead along the Rail Trail near Foster Street between Eight and Tenth avenues. Nearby leather workers are said to have made the discovery.

Police won't say how Pike died until an autopsy is performed.

They also didn't mention that Pike was a Level 3 sex offender -- listed for the rest of his life after his 1990 sodomy committed on a 13-year-old boy. He served a two-to-six-year prison sentence.

Although that would appear to be an obvious motive to investigate, police are being tight-lipped.

Several residents voiced safety concerns about the Rail Trail, which is a paved linear park along the former F,J & G Railroad. Police say they don't think there is any increased level of danger there.

This was the first murder in Gloversville in about five years. ..News Source.. by

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Man arrested in Rail Trail slaying

GLOVERSVILLE - A city resident was arrested today in connection with the stabbing death of a registered sex offender, whose body was found on the F,J&G Rail Trail this morning.

Randy L. Green, 26, of 19 Wilson St., was arrested this afternoon by city police and charged in the murder of Raymond W. Pike.

Police said it appears Pike died of multiple stab wounds suffered around his upper torso.

After an autopsy is completed Saturday, an official cause of death will be determined and released, police said.

Police said Green and Pike knew each other and may have argued Thursday evening before seeing each other on the Rail Trail. Police said while the men were on the trail, another argument ensued and led to Green stabbing Pike several times. Green fled and left Pike's body on the trail near Foster Street, police said.

Green was being held tonight pending his arraignment at 9 a.m. Saturday in City Court.

Pike, 63, formerly of 51 Montgomery St., was found on the trail near Foster Street, Police Capt. Jim Lorenzoni said.

According to the state Sex Offender Registry Web site, Pike was arrested by Johnstown police in 1990 and later convicted of second-degree sodomy. Pike was sentenced to two to six years in state prison for the crime, which involved a 13-year-old male victim, according to the Web site.

The Web site says Pike's address, as of July 1, was 247 Bleecker St., Apartment 2. ..News Source.. by RODNEY MINOR, The Leader-Herald

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Child porn claim tied to slaying

8-20-2008 New York:

GLOVERSVILLE - The argument that ended in the death of Raymond W. Pike involved the alleged killer's suspicion the registered sex offender had child pornography, city police said.

Police Capt. Jim Lorenzoni said the man charged with murdering Pike, Randy L. Green, told investigators after his arrest that part of their argument was he suspected Pike had a stash of child pornography.

Green, 26, of Wilson Street, was arrested by police Friday and charged with second-degree murder after Pike's body, with multiple stab wounds, was discovered earlier in the day on the FJ & G Rail Trail between Eighth and 10th avenues.

Green subsequently pleaded innocent in City Court.

Lorenzoni said Green implicated his own involvement in the crime after being arrested. At this time, police expect to make no more arrests in the case, he said.

Police searched Pike's Bleecker Street apartment and seized materials that authorities will examine to verify or refute Green's claim, Lorenzoni said.

Police cannot confirm or deny the material is child pornography at this time, he said.

Robert Abdella, Green's attorney, said Pike's history will be an issue in his client's case.

"I do not believe [Pike's criminal past] to be as remote as some have stated," he said.

Pike was arrested by Johnstown police in 1990 and later convicted of second-degree sodomy. He was sentenced to two to six years in state prison.

Green has a criminal history as well.

In 2004, Green pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted assault and was sentenced to two to four years in state prison. Green stabbed a man during a street fight the year before.

Lorenzoni said Pike's killing occurred after some heavy drinking in Pike's apartment Thursday night. Pike, Green and an unidentified third person were in the apartment. Police are not revealing the third person's identity for security reasons, Lorenzoni said.

An argument started in the apartment, resulting in Green

hitting Pike with a board, Lorenzoni said.

Pike apparently was not seriously injured by the blow because the three decided to walk on the Rail Trail to the Price Chopper on North Main Street.

Lorenzoni said while walking on the trail, Green and Pike began arguing again, which police said ended with Green stabbing Pike.

Green returned to Pike's apartment, Lorenzoni said, before leaving with the unidentified third person in a taxi for a campsite at Vandenburgh Point on the Great Sacandaga Lake in Mayfield.

Lorenzoni said Green made a fire at the campsite and tried to burn his clothing and the knife used in the killing.

Green was unsuccessful in his alleged attempt to burn the knife because police were able to recover it. Lorenzoni described it as a hunting-style knife with a 4- to 6-inch blade.

Green was back in Gloversville the next morning when police interviewed him on the porch of Pike's apartment. Green must have realized he was not thorough enough in trying to dispose of the evidence, Lorenzoni said, because he rode a bicycle back to Vandenburgh Point to recover the murder weapon.

By that time, police had already received information about the fire and were at the scene when Green appeared, Lorenzoni said.

Green is being held in the Fulton County Jail without bail. ..News Source.. by RODNEY MINOR, The Leader-Herald

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NY- Upstate man arrested in sex offender's fatal stabbing

12-3-2008 New York:

JOHNSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) - An upstate man is charged with second-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of another man in Gloversville.

Registered sex offender Raymond Pike was found dead on a bridge on the Rail Trail on August 15th. He'd been stabbed multiple times.

Randy Green was arrested later. On Monday, he was indicted on six counts.

Police say Green, Pike and another man were walking on the trail when Green pulled out a hunting knife and stabbed Pike. The two had been arguing throughout the day and police say Green claims the argument was over a stash of child pornography Pike allegedly had. Investigators found no evidence of child porn in Pike's home.

After the stabbing, authorities say Green went to a camp on Great Sacandaga Lake and tried to burn his clothing and the hunting knife. ..News Source.. by WTEN TV

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