Year in Review: Hudson Valley Murder Investigations

In our Year in Review, we look back on the murders, tragedies, restaurant news, celebrity sightings and #SMH moments that impacted the Hudson Valley in 2017.

In this post, we take a look back at the murder investigations that rocked the Hudson Valley in 2017.

In September, in a shocking twist, police now believe that a man who was thought to have been murdered by a teen, who was on the run, was actually killed by the mother of his children.

The victim, 42-year-old Nakia Bruton of Hyde Park, was stabbed once in the chest, he later died at the hospital.

On Wednesday, 43-year-old of Marcena R. Edwards of Hyde Park, the mother of Bruton’s children, was charged with manslaughter. Edwards stabbed Bruton once in the chest during an argument, police say.

After a lengthy investigation into a missing person, 43-year-old Christopher Smith of Wallkill was accused of murder. Police say he killed his house guest and hide the dead man’s corpse in a planter for months.

In May, 19-year-old James N. Stevens was brutally murdered near Newburgh Free Academy. As of this writing, no one has been arrested.

Following an investigation, two Hudson Valley men were charged with murder after police found a dead man inside a Poughkeepsie home.  The victim, 28-year-old Frederick "Joey" Veitch III, of Shandaken, was tied up and beaten.

A high-risk sex offender, Wilfredo Mercado, allegedly killed Robert Munson in May inside the site of a former popular bar, Pineapple Larry's.

A husband and wife were found dead in their Ulster County home in what police believe was a murder-suicide. 

In June, Charles A. Curio of Monticello was charged with murder. The 59-year-old was arrested after a dead body was found behind a building. 

In March, Earl Edwards Jr. of Saugerties pleaded guilty to murder. Edwards admitted that he broke into the Village of Saugerties home of his estranged wife and stabbed 40-year-old Rameen Perry in the heart around 3:20 a.m. on May 26, 2016.

21-year-old Christian Walczyk of Lagrangeville was indicted on charges of manslaughter, criminal impersonation and criminal possession of a weapon, following a road-rage incident on the Taconic in October. 

Walczyk is accused of approaching Daniel Sino while holding a fake police badge and hiding a folding knife.

As the two stood face to face, Walczyk stabbed Sino twice in the chest, police say. Sino died on the way to the hospital.

Michael Heil, 27, of Middletown was sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison for murdering his 7-week-old infant son.

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Check out the Top 5 stories of 2017 from Hudson Valley Post.