Suspect charged in double homicide after couple found dead in their home: Officials
Police discovered Michael "Mickey" Harmon, 40, and Jordan Celotto, 37, dead in the basement of their Buffalo home on Tuesday, officials said.
Bryan Chiclana, 34, who police said was also in the home at the time of the discovery, has since been charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder, officials said.
MORE: Text messages shed light on timeline of Idaho college killings: Court documents
The suspect allegedly broke into the couple's home through a basement window early Tuesday morning and "intentionally struck both victims in their heads with a blunt object," Erie County District Attorney Michael Keane said during a press briefing on Friday.
Both victims died as a result of the blunt force trauma to their heads, he said.
"The nature of these crimes is truly horrific," Buffalo Mayor Chris Scanlon said during Friday's press briefing. "The senseless and violent nature of them is something that we cannot and will not stand for here in the city of Buffalo."
Police have evidence that Chiclana was in the area of the couple's home, located in the Allentown neighborhood, on Tuesday morning and had attempted or successfully broken into at least three residences, according to Buffalo Police Chief of Detectives Craig Macy. The suspect also tried to get into multiple vehicles, he said.
The deaths were discovered later Tuesday afternoon. A friend who went to the house after one of the victims didn't show up to work that day spotted the suspect with a knife and called police, authorities said.
The suspect began cutting himself once officers responded to the scene and he was transported to a hospital with a non-life-threatening injury to his neck, police said. He remained hospitalized under police supervision before being discharged earlier Friday, officials said.
Chiclana was immediately booked and then arraigned on Friday. He pleaded not guilty to all counts and was remanded without bail, online court records show. ABC News has reached out to his attorney for comment.
MORE: Missing woman found dead in suitcase, ex-boyfriend in custody
Harmon and Celotto were well-known and well-loved members of the Buffalo LGBTQ+ community, Scanlon said. There is no evidence that the suspect knew the victims or that this was a hate crime, he said.
"We want to make it clear that this was an isolated, non-targeted attack," the mayor said. "It was not rooted in a hate crime."
Fillmore District Council member Mitch Nowakowski, who was friends with the victims, said Harmon and Celotto had been partners for "quite some time."
"Why this has really sparked such an outpour is not only because of the love for Mickey and Jordan, is it's an example of an incident that is everyone's worst nightmare -- that someone breaks into your home and murders you," Nowakowski said during Friday's briefing. "And that is what people are really reeling with, because it's everyone's worst trauma and fear."
"Everybody wants to see justice for Mickey and Jordan," he added.
Nowakowski remembered the two as artists who worked to improve the Allentown community through their work and activism.
"I refuse to allow Mickey and Jordan's memory to be attached to these heinous crimes," he said during emotional remarks at a press briefing earlier this week. "I want everybody to know that these people were artists, were people of the Allentown community who made it better, who made things happen, who worked with me ever since I got into office."
"When you look and see Allentown -- its vibrancy, its festivals, its artwork -- think of them, because that is who they are," he said.
Suspect charged in double homicide after couple found dead in their home: Officials originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Chris Christie says deputy AG interviewing Maxwell was ‘highly unusual' and blasts Blanche for going alone
Chris Christie drew on his experience as a federal prosecutor Sunday as he questioned the seriousness of the Justice Department's sudden interest in Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned accomplice and girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein. Once considered by Trump as a potential candidate to serve as attorney general during his first presidency, Christie told ABC News' This Week that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche's direct involvement in interviewing Maxwell over the course of nine hours Thursday and Friday of last week was 'highly unusual.' He questioned whether Blanche, formerly a personal attorney for the president and a Trump loyalist, could be trusted to accurately convey what Maxwell said during their conversation. 'I have never seen this done, ever,' Christie said. 'The Deputy Attorney General runs the Department of Justice, they don't interview witnesses.' ' interviewing a witness, you bring at least one agent with you, if not two, so there are a number of people taking notes and there are witnesses there. We've heard nothing about whether Todd Blanche brought anyone with him to verify whatever he's going to report back, as a third independent source. This is highly unusual.' Christie also asserted that it wasn't clear whether Blanche had aides or other federal attorneys with him for the conversation with Maxwell, or whether the Trump administration was truly interested in pursuing charges against potential co-conspirators named by sex offender Maxwell. 'For building a case-- building a case for what? And against who? She's in jail for 20 years, and her co-conspirator is dead. So what exactly are they doing?' The Independent reached out to the Department of Justice for comment and clarification on whether Blanche met with Maxwell alone. Blanche has not commented publicly on the matter since Thursday, when he tweeted following his first meeting with Maxwell: 'Today, I met with Ghislaine Maxwell, and I will continue my interview of her tomorrow. The Department of Justice will share additional information about what we learned at the appropriate time.' Some have called Maxwell to testify publicly and suggested she could be given a pardon for sharing what she knows about the Epstein case. Donald Trump has denied that he is considering it. Maxwell was convicted of sexual abuse against minors and sex trafficking after Epstein died in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting a trial on similar charges. The House Oversight Committee voted this week to issue a subpoena for Maxwell after the Justice Department announced its own plans to speak with her. Speculation about Epstein's death and the so-called 'Client List' of his co-conspirators erupted in early July. The Justice Department and FBI published a joint memo explaining that future releases from the files would not take place, and that the list of Epstein's accomplices was not found. Epstein was rumored to have cultivated personal relationships with many powerful men. Critics of the president have alleged that a cover-up is in the works regarding the Epstein files. Democrats have hammered the president for his administration's reversal on releasing files from the investigation. A pair of scoops this month from the Wall Street Journal reported on the president's connections to Epstein, driving the accusations of the president's involvement in a cover-up into a frenzy. The newspaper reported the contents of a message allegedly penned by Trump to Epstein as part of a 50th birthday celebration in 2003, including allusions to a shared 'secret' between them. Trump firmly denied authoring the note, and sued the Journal and its reporters in response. A second article from the Journal days later reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi informed Trump in May that he was mentioned in the Epstein investigation multiple times, but it was not clear in what context. The White House called that story 'fake' and has repeatedly insinuated that Democrats including Joe Biden tampered with evidence while Trump was out of office. Being mentioned in the files does not guarantee wrongdoing, and hundreds of names are reportedly included. The White House responded to the growing uproar almost immediately with attempts to divert the focus of the president's MAGA base. On social media, Trump leveled threats against Rosie O'Donnell while his intelligence chief, Tulsi Gabbard, released a memo accusing former President Barack Obama and his team of altering the conclusions of intelligence assessments concerning Russian election interference in 2016. The latter issue has become the president's weapon of choice for parrying questions about the Epstein issue, after he and Gabbard accused the former president of treason and attempting a 'coup' — a telling charge given Trump's involvement in the January 6 attack on the Capitol and the Biden Justice Department's attempt to prosecute him for trying to illegally overturn the 2020 election. "People should really focus on how well the country is doing, or they should focus on the fact that Barack Hussein Obama led a coup,' Trump told a reporter on Friday when questioned about Blanche's marathon meeting with Maxwell.
Black America Web
a day ago
- Black America Web
President Trump Was Reportedly Told Months Ago He's In The Epstein Files Multiple Times, Social Media Reacts
Source: Tasos Katopodis / Getty For the past few weeks, the Trump administration has been desperately trying to divert America's attention away from the controversy surrounding the files of Jeffrey Epstein, which has President Donald Trump even losing the support of some of his dedicated MAGA minions. Well, if Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and the other GOP passengers of the roving clown car that has replaced the White House were hoping the Epstein debacle would simmer down anytime soon, they're probably pretty upset now that it has been revealed that Bondi told Trump in May that he was mentioned in the now-infamous files multiple times. According to the Wall Street Journal , Bondi and her deputy, Todd Blanche, dropped the big, beautiful bomb on Trump that his name comes up in Epstein-related files received by the FBI and the Department of Justice — which, if we're being honest, the p-ssy-grabber-in-chief likely already knew. In fact, not only was Trump informed of his name being in the files, but he was reportedly assured no additional documents would be released, because they contained child pornography and information about victims. (They probably didn't tell him, 'Oh, by the way, we also won't release anything else because none of the child porn captured your good side.') Of course, if all we know is that Trump's name and that of other high-profile individuals were mentioned in the files, we don't know that they're included in an incriminating context. Predictably, Trump and his people are clinging to that plausible deniability. From ABC News : The DOJ and FBI stated that their review 'did not uncover evidence' that could lead to further criminal charges. When asked by ABC News on July 15 what Bondi told Trump about the review — 'specifically, did she tell you at all that your name appeared in the files?' Trump responded: 'No, no, she's — she's given us just a very quick briefing,' before making baseless claims that the files were created by some of his political foes. Asked by ABC News following the publication of the Journal article if the president had been told his name is in the files, White House spokesperson Steven Cheung, said, 'The fact is that the President kicked him out of his club for being a creep. This is nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media, just like the Obama Russiagate scandal, which President Trump was right about.' Ah yes — the latest Obamagate 'scandal.' For those who missed it, last week, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released what she, Trump and the other cultists believe is some bombshell report, alleging that former President Barack Obama and his national security Cabinet members manufactured intelligence regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election to 'lay the groundwork for what was essentially a years-long coup against President Trump.' Trump, of course, has jumped all over this non-revelation, claiming that Obama 'cheated' and 'tried to rig' the 2016 election against him — an election he had already won. Even if Trump had been personally implicated in reports detailing attempts by Russian officials to influence the election, which he wasn't, Gabbard's claims still wouldn't make much sense, considering those reports came to light during Trump's first term, after Obama had been out of office for years, and some of those reports had Secretary of State Marco Rubio's name on them. From The Washington Post: But Gabbard has a problem. How can she discover new evidence that somehow eluded four previous investigations: a 2019 report released by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III; a 2019 Justice Department inspector general report; a bipartisan report by the Senate Intelligence Committee issued in 2020 by a GOP-controlled Senate; and a 2023 report released by special counsel John Durham, appointed in Trump's first term? All told, the previous reports add up to about 2,500 pages of dense prose, compared with the thin gruel of emails and meeting agendas released by Gabbard. Her report provides no indication that she has studied the earlier investigations. Yet she asserts there was 'direct intent to cover up the truth about what occurred.' If so, one of the co-conspirators would be current Secretary of State Marco Rubio. As a Republican senator from Florida serving on the Intelligence Committee, Rubio signed off on reports that scrutinized the creation of the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) about Russia's involvement in the 2016 campaign. One of the reports, Volume 4, devoted almost 160 pages to the development of the intelligence assessment attacked by Gabbard. In examining the ICA, senators held two hearings that included interviews with key players involved in the preparation of the document. 'The Committee found the ICA presents a coherent and well-constructed intelligence basis for the case of unprecedented Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election,' the report said. 'On the analytic lines of the ICA, the Committee concludes that all [redacted] analytic lines are supported with all-source intelligence, although with varying substantiation. The Committee did not discover any significant analytic tradecraft issues in the preparation or final presentation of the ICA.' Rubio embraced Volume 5 of the committee investigation report as well, which said Putin personally ordered the hack. 'Moscow's intent was to harm the Clinton Campaign, tarnish an expected Clinton presidential administration, help the Trump Campaign after Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee, and undermine the U.S. democratic process,' the report said. Oh, but don't worry, my MAGA friends — this random attack on the Obama administration is definitely not a transparent attempt to deflect from Epstein. Definitely not. See social media's reaction to the report below. President Trump Was Reportedly Told Months Ago He's In The Epstein Files Multiple Times, Social Media Reacts was originally published on
a day ago
USAID analysis finds no evidence of widespread aid diversion by Hamas in Gaza
An analysis compiled by USAID officials examining more than 150 reported incidents involving the theft or loss of U.S.-funded humanitarian aid in the war-torn Gaza Strip says it failed to find any evidence that Hamas -- the militant rulers of the Palestinian enclave -- engaged in widespread diversion of assistance, according to a presentation reviewed by ABC News. The findings of the report appear to undercut the Trump administration's repeated claims that Hamas has regularly interfered with aid distribution in the past -- assertions it has used to justify its support for the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and for measures undertaken by Israel to limit the flow of assistance to neighboring Gaza through other pathways. The GHF -- with Israel's approval and despite rejection from the United Nations -- took over most of the aid distribution system in Gaza on May 27, after an 11-week Israeli blockade on all supplies from entering the strip. Israel has long accused Hamas of stealing aid provided by the U.N. -- formerly the main distributor -- and others to fund its militant activity -- claims which Hamas denies. Israel has allowed a limited amount of supplies into Gaza since lifting the blockade and, according to an Israeli security official, is "coordinating future airdrops of aid" by foreign countries "that are expected to take place in the coming days." This comes after a coalition of more than 100 organizations warned this week that "mass starvation" is spreading in Gaza with "supplies now totally depleted." USAID officials behind the presentation say they analyzed alleged incidents of fraud, abuse and waste reported between October 2023, when the ongoing Israel-Hamas war began, and last May. It was compiled before the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) -- once the world's largest single donor of humanitarian aid -- officially ceased independent operations on July 1. The Trump administration canceled more than 80% of the agency's programs, while the remainder were absorbed by the U.S. Department of State. USAID officials say their findings indicate that in the majority of cases involving the loss of aid, the perpetrator could not be definitively identified. The Israel Defense Forces denied the report in a statement to ABC News, saying "not only does the report ignore clear and explicit evidence that Hamas exploits humanitarian aid to sustain its fighting capabilities, it goes so far as to criticize the IDF for routing decisions made specifically to protect humanitarian staff and shipments." The IDF added that when it "directs aid deliveries along specific routes, it is based on the operational reality and intelligence assessments, aimed at safeguarding both the aid and the humanitarian actors — precisely the issue the report claims is not being addressed." The State Department is also pushing back forcefully on the analysis, which was first reported by Reuters, as well as media coverage related to the matter. A State Department spokesperson called it "astonishing" that "the media is busy debating whether the masterminds of Oct. 7 are somehow too principled to loot." "There is endless video evidence of Hamas looting, not to mention members of the aid-industrial complex who have admitted that looting exists by reporting it as 'self-distribution,' in a poor attempt at an aid corruption coverup," the spokesperson said. "Available intelligence confirms what is reflected in open-source information: that a significant portion of non-GHF aid trucks have been diverted, looted, stolen, or 'self-distributed.'" Despite this, the Trump administration -- a staunch ally of Israel -- has provided no evidence of Hamas carrying out widespread aid diversion to date. The IDF said it is "making tremendous efforts to enable the safe distribution of humanitarian aid under complex operational conditions." The ongoing Gaza war erupted after Hamas led a surprise terror attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people there and taking 251 others hostage, according to figures from the Israeli government. Since then, Israeli forces have killed more than 59,000 people in Gaza, according to data released by the strip's Hamas-run Ministry of Health.
