November 25, 2025 • 29 mins
Old Orchard Beach, Maine, is usually a quiet little town. That's where Derek Rogers was murdered in 2002. One of the killers is now on the Bangor City Council.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Listen to Hudson Riverradio dot com. Don't make us come
and find you.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'm Linda Zimmerman.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
I'm Brian Harrowitz, and this.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Is Murder in the Hudson Valley on Hudson Riverradio dot Com.
Welcome everyone to another aggravating episode. Oh good, Well, it
was aggravating to me, so hopefully I can bring that
aggravation to the audience.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Yeah, this morning, as we were recording, the leaf blowers
in the neighborhood started at the butt crack at dawn
and I could feel the blood pressure going through there
and that was it. Being a night shift worker. That's it.
That just ruined your whole day.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
So you're in the mood too.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
I am in the mood to be aggravated. I'm already there,
so let's do it, all right.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
So this this goes back to two thousand and two,
but has a very current aspect, which is why I
wanted to jump this into the schedule. So we're going
back to two thousand and two to the beautiful coast
of Maine. I absolutely adore the coast of Maine. My
(01:12):
mother's family used to have property on the coast of
Actually they had a little island. I think it was
off of Bar Harbor, and when World War two began,
the government seized it and you know, house, dishes, linen,
(01:32):
They just nope, you can't, that's it, it's our And
then after the war they never gave it back.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Really, so you want to go get it?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Oh what would what would an island off the coast
of Maine go for today? I can only imagine with
a with a house and if.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
The dishes and everything are still there, you're good to go.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
I'm dust them off and I'm ready. Yeah, all right,
So I'm one line in and we've digressed. But I
love the coast of Maine. It's just gorgeous. We're going
to Ocean Park, which is about twenty miles south of Portland,
very low crime area. They didn't even sell alcohol and
(02:18):
cigarettes then, just quiet, laid back night and day. Difference
from Old Orchard Beach which is right there as well.
So this was the quiet, nice, peaceful aspect. They would
have about two hundred and fifty people who lived there
year round, which would swell to twenty five hundred during
(02:42):
the season. And even though it's low crime, you're bringing
over two thousand people in during the season. You don't
know who's yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Low doesn't mean no.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Right right, but it usually did mean murder. Early on
the morning of July thirty first, on the beach by
the Randall Street access, a fishermen discovered the body of
a man. He had been badly beaten, so the initial
(03:16):
assumption was that he had died of his severe beating,
particularly a rather nasty blow to the side of his head,
so quite a violent assault. The body was identified as
being forty seven year old Derreck Rogers of Russell, Ontario.
(03:41):
His family had been coming to Ocean Park since the
nineteen twenties. A lot of Canadians like to get out
of Canada even during the summer, and as chilly as
the coast of Maine is, it's probably better than Russell, Ontario.
So his family really was part of the community, so
(04:03):
he wasn't an outsider per se. He was married. He
was a sergeant sergeant in the Canadian military. He was
also a musician and he played the trombone in the
Central Command Military band. He also played for the Ocean
(04:27):
Park Band and the church on Sundays. He was also
very religious and very active in the Salvation Army, so
they loved their bands, or they used to in the
Salvation Army.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Right, Oh yeah, tis the season coming up? So yes.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
So there were no drugs and alcohol in his system,
which is important. There was no apparent motive, so had
it just been a random attack? People said sometimes he
had trouble sleeping and would just take a walk on
the beach, which was normally safe any time, but not
(05:08):
that night. One of the regular visitors said, the sense
of tranquility had been violated. Yeah, you know, it's one thing, Oh,
somebody broke a window, you know, down town, but someone
was beaten to death.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Yeah, body on the beach is a different level.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Absolutely, So, of course, is the whole community in danger.
You know, you're going to keep your kids in the house,
so you're not going to let anybody go anywhere or alone.
But it got worse. That sense of tranquility was even
further violated when the medical examiner, Margaret Greenwald, said the
(05:51):
cause of death was not the severe beating, It was
an asphyxiation suffocation be precise due to the sand that
had been shoved in his mouth and pounded down his throat,
and of course he breathed it in the sand got
(06:12):
in his lungs and that killed him. He was basically
buried alive on the beach. What a horrific, gruesome, violent
How does anybody do that? It's one thing you're get
in a fight and you're hitting somebody shoving fistfuls of
(06:32):
sand and down their throat.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Yeah yeah, So why don't we take our first break
and find out what the hell went on? Hudson River
Radio dot com.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Hudson Riverradio dot com.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
We are back. So, Brian, have you ever heard of
a murder by sand?
Speaker 1 (07:05):
I have never heard anything close to that. No, I mean,
you know, throwing sand in someone's face, you get, you know,
that kind of stuff. I don't condone it, but you've
heard of it. This is a new one for me, right,
I mean, anything you ask rate into your lungs is
a danger right off the bat, food or anything like that.
But right, I can't even imagine the damage that sand
(07:27):
would do.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Yeah. Yeah, So at first they're completely baffled, but some
tips come in. Well one tip in particular, we'll get
to a little later. But on August eleventh, Remember they
found the body July thirty first, so less than two weeks.
(07:50):
A warrant is issued, which caused a nationwide man hunt
for a twenty nine year old Native American men and
named Benjamin Humphries. And he was, you know, wanted for
murder along with his twenty three year old girlfriend, Amy Pelleteer.
(08:13):
She was wanted for felony, hindering and tampering with evidence. Okay,
so this will all become quite clear now, Benjamin was
no stranger to crime. I don't know how much time
we have for this episode, but let me read you
(08:34):
some of his rap sheet. Burglary, theft, disorderly conduct, drunk driving.
He had received fines and a prison sentence for something
called terrorizing. Do we in New York have a crime
called terrorizing?
Speaker 1 (08:55):
I don't know if we're talking about terrorism. Probably no,
I don't terrorizing. I would just from the word. I'm
guessing it's close to harassment in New York, which is
actually only a violation. It's not even a misdemeanor. Depending.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Okay, Well, he was fined and spent a little time
in jail because of terror Well, it doesn't sound like
a good thing.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
I mean, there's menacing here in New York. There's you know,
you can escalate it depending on the circumstances.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
So okay, I'm sure, but wait, there's more assault, sexual
abuse of a miner that's special, endangering the welfare of
a child, forgery, driving with a suspended license, and probation violations.
So it sounds like murder was the only thing he
(09:45):
hadn't gotten arrested for yet. So they thought he might
have fled to Canada because he had some connections with
the well at the first name they would call it
in Canada rather than Native Americans, obviously somewhere else in
(10:07):
the US. And then they get a tip in South Dakota,
where he used to live, and there's, you know, a
Native American community there, so that's probably why he went there.
And on August fourteenth, he was arrested without incident at
a shopping mall in South Dakota along with his girlfriend Amy.
(10:32):
So his attorney was Joel Vincent, who told him, look,
you're facing twenty five years to life for this. You
know that's and I don't know, some states, for the
real horrific murders, they tack on extra you know, with
(10:52):
extraordinary circumstances, that kind of thing, but at the minimum,
twenty five years to life. The Pelleteer attorney was Jeff Silverstein,
and she was asking for diminished bail because they were
(11:13):
either asking for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in
property I guess you put your house up or whatever,
or one hundred thousand dollars cash. So Silverstein was asking
for ten thousand dollars cash. That's quite a diminished amount.
But they finally agreed on twenty thousand cash. So she
(11:35):
did get out on bail. He did not. So it
turns out that Benjamin's own sister, Angela was probably was
the one, probably the one who had tipped off authorities,
his own sister ratting on him. Well, good for her,
(11:56):
and oh we shall see.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Oh okay withdrawn temporarily.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Yes. She tells the grand jury who is about to
indict Benjamin and is indicting him basically on her testimony
along with Amy, that Derek Rogers met them on the
beach and brought beer and that they were all drinking. Okay,
(12:24):
remember what wasn't in his bloodstream? No alcohol, So maybe
she thought he was drinking. Maybe she was so drunk
she didn't know. Maybe she's lying. So he was drinking
with Angela, Benjamin and Amy, and that supposedly, in which
all his family and friends said never would have happened.
(12:47):
He used an offensive ethnic slur about Native Americans, at
which point Benjamin began to beat him and stuffed handful
of sand into his mouth, and then his girlfriend, Amy
wiped fingerprints off the all the beer bottles. I think
(13:11):
that's the hindering, I guess, and tampering with evidence. However, Benjamin,
realizing he's gonna go away for a very long time
for this, he decides to tell another stormy story. He says, Amy,
his girlfriend wasn't even on the beach that night, okay,
(13:36):
and but he did say there was an ethnic slur,
But it was Angela who first hit Derek. Whacked him
in the side of the head with a Captain Morgan
rum bottle, O. Yeah those are well made, aren't you
think they are? Yes, which apparently really knocked him for
(14:00):
a loop. He was going down, And when he went down,
Benjamin said, yeah, then I did start beating him. But
it was Angela who stuffed the sand into Derek's mouth. Okay,
we have a problem here. Legally, we have a he said.
(14:21):
She said, what do you do with no other evidence? Really,
no other eye witnesses. So right, there's a problem because
at Benjamin's trial, he could say, well, yeah, I hit him,
but it was Angela who you know, knocked him in
(14:44):
the head and then stuffed the sand in his mouth
that killed him. And if he's convincing enough and he
has a good enough lawyer, he may get off on
the murder charge. Conversely, if Angela has a good lawyer
and puts on a good show show, she can say
I didn't do that. You know, my brother started hitting
(15:05):
him and I just stood in horror while I saw
him stuffing sand into his face, And she could also
get off, right.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Yeah, so they're both involved, admittedly, and they both took
action resulting in this guy's death.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
But yeah, but you see that. Okay, you're part of it,
but you didn't take part. You know, there's a lot
of things with the good lawyer and a gullible jury,
let us say, and on the other hand, maybe they'd
both be found guilty and both get twenty five to life.
(15:46):
So because the day his trial was to be set,
he did a last minute plea deal, and simultaneous right
after that, his sister was indicted for murder. Okay, so
this last minute plea deal was to plead guilty of manslaughter.
(16:07):
He was given a fifteen twenty excuse me, a twenty
year sentence, but fifteen of that was suspended, so with
even with his criminal record, he gets five years. Wow,
that's infuriate.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Yeah, okay, crazy, Okay.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Yeah. So Derek's sister, Lorna Synard said, this plea bargain
is not justice. I see these offers as a gift
to those who showed no mercy. I think of my
dying brother every day, begging for mercy. That's gotta haunt
(16:53):
you the rest of your life. Yeah. Was he begging
for them to stop as they're shoving the set, you know,
beating him and then shoving the send. It's a horrible
thing you have to live with. So, as I said
when that plea deal was announced for Benjamin, Angela was
then indicted for murder, but she doesn't see the writing
(17:15):
on the wall right away. She pleads not guilty. Eventually
she sees she'd better take a plea deal. She gets
twenty years for manslaughter and perjury because she lied to
the grand jury, which seems to hold more weight than murder,
(17:40):
and all but ten years of her sentence is suspended,
so she gets a mere ten years. So for brutally
murdering somebody for really no reason. A total of fifteen
years was handed out to the brother and sister. Neil Duffett,
(18:03):
her Angela's attorney, said the plea deal limits risk to
both sides. The trials could have been all or nothing,
and neither side wanted, you know, the all or not.
I can kind of see it, but I still think
(18:24):
the sentences were.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Yeah, you have to head your bets sometimes, but yeah,
and her getting way more than him given his track
record is a little bit mystifying.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Because of the perjury. Yeah, that's but the prosecutor said
the reduced charges and light sentences were due to weakness
in the case because again, they blamed each other. He said,
she said no other witnesses. It was driven by what
(18:58):
we thought we could had they been tried separately. Could
both have been acquitted by blaming the other? All right,
it sucks, but it didn't get off scot free. But
you can imagine the family. You killed my brother and
you get five years, you get ten. So the judge
(19:24):
had a very wise statement. He was clearly not happy
with this. He said the sentence in a homicide case
can never be the measure of a life taken. It
is consistent and appropriate under the circumstances. And unfortunately, these
were tricky circumstances. I mean, if there had been one
(19:47):
other thing, if there had been one other witness, anything,
if Amy had been there for her, all charges were
eventually dropped because Angela had lied about her being there
as far as we know, and at the sentencing, this
(20:07):
is the best Benjamin could come up with as as
a you know, talking to the family. I don't think
any words could ease the pain. The best I could
come up with is how sorry I am. He then
admits he's an alcoholic, you know, and did terrible things.
(20:27):
He says, I've ruined many people's lives. I just apologized.
That's all. That's all I can say. Well, it's something
not yeah, great, great, good for you. Derek's wife said,
you know, described how she said, my whole life collapsed
(20:51):
when she found out about his murder, and this was
this was heart wrenching. His sister Lorna described how their
mother has Alzheimer's and doesn't understand why that Derek is
not there and God doesn't know he's murdered. She doesn't
(21:12):
understand why Derek isn't there. Jeez, but wait, there's more.
Let's have our second break. This is Hudson River Radio
dot com.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
This is Hudson River Radio dot com.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
So what's your aggravation level right now?
Speaker 1 (21:39):
It's about a seven because I wanted to leave room.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Well done, Yes, because it's going to go to twelve.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Okay, fifteen?
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Okay. Here's the more recently, very recent as we are
recording shortly after election day twenty twenty five, which was
November fourth, Angela Humphrey, who had gotten out of jail
after ten years. So what around twenty twelve, twenty thirteen,
(22:13):
something like that. Her last name is now Walker. She
was one of nine candidates competing for three seats in
the Bangor City Council. While she didn't specifically join a party,
what a surprise, she re received a progressive support. The
(22:35):
progressive wing of the Democratic Party supported her and she won.
She won an election to one of the three seats.
A convicted murderer, but she was saying her experiences being
a drug addict, an alcoholic and being homeless and going
(22:56):
to prison would help her run Bangor. What the hell
kind of places Bangor, if that's helping you run the city. Actually,
so I've been there. There's some decent places, but there's
some places I would not get out of the car.
Is one one. A resident described Bangor as being saying, oh, well,
(23:21):
Bangor is a dumpster fire anyway, She's perfect for the.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Job something there.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Yeah, yeah, so what are we letting the inmates run
the asylum now? So here's her qualifications for for running
the city of Bangor. Murder, perjury, addiction, homelessness. So wonderful.
So when reporters asked her, you know, with your record,
(23:51):
you know, do you what the hell?
Speaker 1 (23:53):
Yeah exactly, I'm sure that was exactly the question that, yeah,
what the hell?
Speaker 2 (23:59):
Yeah, what the hell? Who voted for her? But she said,
I want people to see that we can change. I
was lost for so many years. I think people really
need to see the other side of that. And then
a reporter said, but yeah, you committed murder. That's in
(24:20):
my past. I don't live there anymore, and I'm a
different person. Well, hooray for you. You have a future.
Derek doesn't have a future because you shoved the sand
down his throat and murdered him. Yeah, I'm so glad
that's in your past. What about his wife, his sister,
(24:43):
his family, his friends, the future he could have had
but you took that away. But I'm glad you're able
to just put that all behind you and not give
it a second thought. Damn my.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
All right, all right, On a personal level, I tend
to be a little more progressive than you. I don't
care what political party. Tell me. There's not criminals on
both sides. So that's a whole another discussion. Who voted
for her and why?
Speaker 2 (25:18):
That's thank you? Yes, yes to me, that's.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Like, all right, you know what, I almost don't blame
her for running, Okay, and all right, maybe it's a true,
truly felt feeling that yes, I want to make amends
and make things better. But who voted for her?
Speaker 2 (25:40):
The people of the dumpster fire of Bangor. I don't
know how do you? It had to be widely publicized
about this horrific murder and her perjury to a grand jury.
You know, alright, that happens, and you know, homelessness happens. Okay,
(26:02):
you know you can't not vote for somebody for that,
But murder and perjury, that's we're at a different level there.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
Oh, when you're now, you're gonna have some say in
how the budget is spent and where the money comes
in and goes out. And yeah, there's a level of
trust that has to go with that. Yes, And when
you walk in with zero trustworthiness, I guess the only
way you could go is up.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Apparently, I I don't know, but when I saw the
headlines the day after election day that convicted murderer wins election,
uh say what? So I'm like, all right, well maybe
it wasn't so you know, maybe she got in a
fight and didn't mean to hit the person so hot.
(26:53):
No hit with a Captain Morgan rum bottle till he
went down, and then you stop sand in his throat.
That that's that is head and shoulders above a typical
run of the mill murder, if we can call it that. Yeah,
(27:14):
so yeah, all right, you got me? Are you at
a ten? Now? A ten out of ten of aggravation?
Speaker 1 (27:23):
I kind of you know, if I could go back
and stand outside the polling place and be like, what
the hell's right? And what the hell that's right? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Yeah? So yeah, I mean, regardless of your political views,
it has nothing to do I don't care. Independent Republican, Democrat,
progressive whatever. We're talking about murder and perjury and a
murder of very grisly proportions, and she's trying to pin
(27:53):
it on her brother, right, I mean, there's that shows
her great love and loyalty as well. So, and I
could not find where Benjamin is. So hopefully he has
cleaned up his act, gone somewhere else and is living
a quiet, crime free life. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Did he run for office somewhere else?
Speaker 2 (28:15):
I don't know. He could be governor of South Dakota,
now I have no.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
Wow, all right, you know this is why you should
kind of look into your candidates before you vote. I
wonder how many people didn't know.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
I don't know how you couldn't.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
I don't either. I obviously didn't watch this campaign. I
had nothing to do with it.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
No, yeah, I don't know the campaign, but I'd love
to see I'd love to see the campaigns of the
other candidates. I've never murdered anyone. Vote for me.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
I stand up at the podium and go, what the hell?
Find at her? Really?
Speaker 2 (28:55):
I know, I know? So, yeah, you cannot make this
stuff up. Unreal, that's it. Why don't you take us out?
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Yeah? That's enough. Thanks good all right, good one, Thank you. Yeah,
we're gonna have to keep an eye on the city
government there and see how this all plays out, I guess.
And if anybody that lives at a votafort would like
to reach out to us and tell us what the hell,
feel free and show us an email.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
Yes, please label your title your email what the hell.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
Yeah, that would definitely help us out. Cool, all right,
thanks Linda. Yeah, that was a good one. So everybody
go calm down and we'll see you next time. I
murder in the Hudson Valley. If you are not a
victim of murder in the Hudson Valley
Listen to Hudson Riverradio dot com. Don't make us come
and find you.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'm Linda Zimmerman.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
I'm Brian Harrowitz, and this.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Is Murder in the Hudson Valley on Hudson Riverradio dot Com.
Welcome everyone to another aggravating episode. Oh good, Well, it
was aggravating to me, so hopefully I can bring that
aggravation to the audience.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Yeah, this morning, as we were recording, the leaf blowers
in the neighborhood started at the butt crack at dawn
and I could feel the blood pressure going through there
and that was it. Being a night shift worker. That's it.
That just ruined your whole day.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
So you're in the mood too.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
I am in the mood to be aggravated. I'm already there,
so let's do it, all right.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
So this this goes back to two thousand and two,
but has a very current aspect, which is why I
wanted to jump this into the schedule. So we're going
back to two thousand and two to the beautiful coast
of Maine. I absolutely adore the coast of Maine. My
(01:12):
mother's family used to have property on the coast of
Actually they had a little island. I think it was
off of Bar Harbor, and when World War two began,
the government seized it and you know, house, dishes, linen,
(01:32):
They just nope, you can't, that's it, it's our And
then after the war they never gave it back.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Really, so you want to go get it?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Oh what would what would an island off the coast
of Maine go for today? I can only imagine with
a with a house and if.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
The dishes and everything are still there, you're good to go.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
I'm dust them off and I'm ready. Yeah, all right,
So I'm one line in and we've digressed. But I
love the coast of Maine. It's just gorgeous. We're going
to Ocean Park, which is about twenty miles south of Portland,
very low crime area. They didn't even sell alcohol and
(02:18):
cigarettes then, just quiet, laid back night and day. Difference
from Old Orchard Beach which is right there as well.
So this was the quiet, nice, peaceful aspect. They would
have about two hundred and fifty people who lived there
year round, which would swell to twenty five hundred during
(02:42):
the season. And even though it's low crime, you're bringing
over two thousand people in during the season. You don't
know who's yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Low doesn't mean no.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Right right, but it usually did mean murder. Early on
the morning of July thirty first, on the beach by
the Randall Street access, a fishermen discovered the body of
a man. He had been badly beaten, so the initial
(03:16):
assumption was that he had died of his severe beating,
particularly a rather nasty blow to the side of his head,
so quite a violent assault. The body was identified as
being forty seven year old Derreck Rogers of Russell, Ontario.
(03:41):
His family had been coming to Ocean Park since the
nineteen twenties. A lot of Canadians like to get out
of Canada even during the summer, and as chilly as
the coast of Maine is, it's probably better than Russell, Ontario.
So his family really was part of the community, so
(04:03):
he wasn't an outsider per se. He was married. He
was a sergeant sergeant in the Canadian military. He was
also a musician and he played the trombone in the
Central Command Military band. He also played for the Ocean
(04:27):
Park Band and the church on Sundays. He was also
very religious and very active in the Salvation Army, so
they loved their bands, or they used to in the
Salvation Army.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Right, Oh yeah, tis the season coming up? So yes.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
So there were no drugs and alcohol in his system,
which is important. There was no apparent motive, so had
it just been a random attack? People said sometimes he
had trouble sleeping and would just take a walk on
the beach, which was normally safe any time, but not
(05:08):
that night. One of the regular visitors said, the sense
of tranquility had been violated. Yeah, you know, it's one thing, Oh,
somebody broke a window, you know, down town, but someone
was beaten to death.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Yeah, body on the beach is a different level.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Absolutely, So, of course, is the whole community in danger.
You know, you're going to keep your kids in the house,
so you're not going to let anybody go anywhere or alone.
But it got worse. That sense of tranquility was even
further violated when the medical examiner, Margaret Greenwald, said the
(05:51):
cause of death was not the severe beating, It was
an asphyxiation suffocation be precise due to the sand that
had been shoved in his mouth and pounded down his throat,
and of course he breathed it in the sand got
(06:12):
in his lungs and that killed him. He was basically
buried alive on the beach. What a horrific, gruesome, violent
How does anybody do that? It's one thing you're get
in a fight and you're hitting somebody shoving fistfuls of
(06:32):
sand and down their throat.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
Yeah yeah, So why don't we take our first break
and find out what the hell went on? Hudson River
Radio dot com.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Hudson Riverradio dot com.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
We are back. So, Brian, have you ever heard of
a murder by sand?
Speaker 1 (07:05):
I have never heard anything close to that. No, I mean,
you know, throwing sand in someone's face, you get, you know,
that kind of stuff. I don't condone it, but you've
heard of it. This is a new one for me, right,
I mean, anything you ask rate into your lungs is
a danger right off the bat, food or anything like that.
But right, I can't even imagine the damage that sand
(07:27):
would do.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Yeah. Yeah, So at first they're completely baffled, but some
tips come in. Well one tip in particular, we'll get
to a little later. But on August eleventh, Remember they
found the body July thirty first, so less than two weeks.
(07:50):
A warrant is issued, which caused a nationwide man hunt
for a twenty nine year old Native American men and
named Benjamin Humphries. And he was, you know, wanted for
murder along with his twenty three year old girlfriend, Amy Pelleteer.
(08:13):
She was wanted for felony, hindering and tampering with evidence. Okay,
so this will all become quite clear now, Benjamin was
no stranger to crime. I don't know how much time
we have for this episode, but let me read you
(08:34):
some of his rap sheet. Burglary, theft, disorderly conduct, drunk driving.
He had received fines and a prison sentence for something
called terrorizing. Do we in New York have a crime
called terrorizing?
Speaker 1 (08:55):
I don't know if we're talking about terrorism. Probably no,
I don't terrorizing. I would just from the word. I'm
guessing it's close to harassment in New York, which is
actually only a violation. It's not even a misdemeanor. Depending.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Okay, Well, he was fined and spent a little time
in jail because of terror Well, it doesn't sound like
a good thing.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
I mean, there's menacing here in New York. There's you know,
you can escalate it depending on the circumstances.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
So okay, I'm sure, but wait, there's more assault, sexual
abuse of a miner that's special, endangering the welfare of
a child, forgery, driving with a suspended license, and probation violations.
So it sounds like murder was the only thing he
(09:45):
hadn't gotten arrested for yet. So they thought he might
have fled to Canada because he had some connections with
the well at the first name they would call it
in Canada rather than Native Americans, obviously somewhere else in
(10:07):
the US. And then they get a tip in South Dakota,
where he used to live, and there's, you know, a
Native American community there, so that's probably why he went there.
And on August fourteenth, he was arrested without incident at
a shopping mall in South Dakota along with his girlfriend Amy.
(10:32):
So his attorney was Joel Vincent, who told him, look,
you're facing twenty five years to life for this. You
know that's and I don't know, some states, for the
real horrific murders, they tack on extra you know, with
(10:52):
extraordinary circumstances, that kind of thing, but at the minimum,
twenty five years to life. The Pelleteer attorney was Jeff Silverstein,
and she was asking for diminished bail because they were
(11:13):
either asking for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in
property I guess you put your house up or whatever,
or one hundred thousand dollars cash. So Silverstein was asking
for ten thousand dollars cash. That's quite a diminished amount.
But they finally agreed on twenty thousand cash. So she
(11:35):
did get out on bail. He did not. So it
turns out that Benjamin's own sister, Angela was probably was
the one, probably the one who had tipped off authorities,
his own sister ratting on him. Well, good for her,
(11:56):
and oh we shall see.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Oh okay withdrawn temporarily.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Yes. She tells the grand jury who is about to
indict Benjamin and is indicting him basically on her testimony
along with Amy, that Derek Rogers met them on the
beach and brought beer and that they were all drinking. Okay,
(12:24):
remember what wasn't in his bloodstream? No alcohol, So maybe
she thought he was drinking. Maybe she was so drunk
she didn't know. Maybe she's lying. So he was drinking
with Angela, Benjamin and Amy, and that supposedly, in which
all his family and friends said never would have happened.
(12:47):
He used an offensive ethnic slur about Native Americans, at
which point Benjamin began to beat him and stuffed handful
of sand into his mouth, and then his girlfriend, Amy
wiped fingerprints off the all the beer bottles. I think
(13:11):
that's the hindering, I guess, and tampering with evidence. However, Benjamin,
realizing he's gonna go away for a very long time
for this, he decides to tell another stormy story. He says, Amy,
his girlfriend wasn't even on the beach that night, okay,
(13:36):
and but he did say there was an ethnic slur,
But it was Angela who first hit Derek. Whacked him
in the side of the head with a Captain Morgan
rum bottle, O. Yeah those are well made, aren't you
think they are? Yes, which apparently really knocked him for
(14:00):
a loop. He was going down, And when he went down,
Benjamin said, yeah, then I did start beating him. But
it was Angela who stuffed the sand into Derek's mouth. Okay,
we have a problem here. Legally, we have a he said.
(14:21):
She said, what do you do with no other evidence? Really,
no other eye witnesses. So right, there's a problem because
at Benjamin's trial, he could say, well, yeah, I hit him,
but it was Angela who you know, knocked him in
(14:44):
the head and then stuffed the sand in his mouth
that killed him. And if he's convincing enough and he
has a good enough lawyer, he may get off on
the murder charge. Conversely, if Angela has a good lawyer
and puts on a good show show, she can say
I didn't do that. You know, my brother started hitting
(15:05):
him and I just stood in horror while I saw
him stuffing sand into his face, And she could also
get off, right.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Yeah, so they're both involved, admittedly, and they both took
action resulting in this guy's death.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
But yeah, but you see that. Okay, you're part of it,
but you didn't take part. You know, there's a lot
of things with the good lawyer and a gullible jury,
let us say, and on the other hand, maybe they'd
both be found guilty and both get twenty five to life.
(15:46):
So because the day his trial was to be set,
he did a last minute plea deal, and simultaneous right
after that, his sister was indicted for murder. Okay, so
this last minute plea deal was to plead guilty of manslaughter.
(16:07):
He was given a fifteen twenty excuse me, a twenty
year sentence, but fifteen of that was suspended, so with
even with his criminal record, he gets five years. Wow,
that's infuriate.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Yeah, okay, crazy, Okay.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Yeah. So Derek's sister, Lorna Synard said, this plea bargain
is not justice. I see these offers as a gift
to those who showed no mercy. I think of my
dying brother every day, begging for mercy. That's gotta haunt
(16:53):
you the rest of your life. Yeah. Was he begging
for them to stop as they're shoving the set, you know,
beating him and then shoving the send. It's a horrible
thing you have to live with. So, as I said
when that plea deal was announced for Benjamin, Angela was
then indicted for murder, but she doesn't see the writing
(17:15):
on the wall right away. She pleads not guilty. Eventually
she sees she'd better take a plea deal. She gets
twenty years for manslaughter and perjury because she lied to
the grand jury, which seems to hold more weight than murder,
(17:40):
and all but ten years of her sentence is suspended,
so she gets a mere ten years. So for brutally
murdering somebody for really no reason. A total of fifteen
years was handed out to the brother and sister. Neil Duffett,
(18:03):
her Angela's attorney, said the plea deal limits risk to
both sides. The trials could have been all or nothing,
and neither side wanted, you know, the all or not.
I can kind of see it, but I still think
(18:24):
the sentences were.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Yeah, you have to head your bets sometimes, but yeah,
and her getting way more than him given his track
record is a little bit mystifying.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Because of the perjury. Yeah, that's but the prosecutor said
the reduced charges and light sentences were due to weakness
in the case because again, they blamed each other. He said,
she said no other witnesses. It was driven by what
(18:58):
we thought we could had they been tried separately. Could
both have been acquitted by blaming the other? All right,
it sucks, but it didn't get off scot free. But
you can imagine the family. You killed my brother and
you get five years, you get ten. So the judge
(19:24):
had a very wise statement. He was clearly not happy
with this. He said the sentence in a homicide case
can never be the measure of a life taken. It
is consistent and appropriate under the circumstances. And unfortunately, these
were tricky circumstances. I mean, if there had been one
(19:47):
other thing, if there had been one other witness, anything,
if Amy had been there for her, all charges were
eventually dropped because Angela had lied about her being there
as far as we know, and at the sentencing, this
(20:07):
is the best Benjamin could come up with as as
a you know, talking to the family. I don't think
any words could ease the pain. The best I could
come up with is how sorry I am. He then
admits he's an alcoholic, you know, and did terrible things.
(20:27):
He says, I've ruined many people's lives. I just apologized.
That's all. That's all I can say. Well, it's something
not yeah, great, great, good for you. Derek's wife said,
you know, described how she said, my whole life collapsed
(20:51):
when she found out about his murder, and this was
this was heart wrenching. His sister Lorna described how their
mother has Alzheimer's and doesn't understand why that Derek is
not there and God doesn't know he's murdered. She doesn't
(21:12):
understand why Derek isn't there. Jeez, but wait, there's more.
Let's have our second break. This is Hudson River Radio
dot com.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
This is Hudson River Radio dot com.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
So what's your aggravation level right now?
Speaker 1 (21:39):
It's about a seven because I wanted to leave room.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Well done, Yes, because it's going to go to twelve.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Okay, fifteen?
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Okay. Here's the more recently, very recent as we are
recording shortly after election day twenty twenty five, which was
November fourth, Angela Humphrey, who had gotten out of jail
after ten years. So what around twenty twelve, twenty thirteen,
(22:13):
something like that. Her last name is now Walker. She
was one of nine candidates competing for three seats in
the Bangor City Council. While she didn't specifically join a party,
what a surprise, she re received a progressive support. The
(22:35):
progressive wing of the Democratic Party supported her and she won.
She won an election to one of the three seats.
A convicted murderer, but she was saying her experiences being
a drug addict, an alcoholic and being homeless and going
(22:56):
to prison would help her run Bangor. What the hell
kind of places Bangor, if that's helping you run the city. Actually,
so I've been there. There's some decent places, but there's
some places I would not get out of the car.
Is one one. A resident described Bangor as being saying, oh, well,
(23:21):
Bangor is a dumpster fire anyway, She's perfect for the.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Job something there.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Yeah, yeah, so what are we letting the inmates run
the asylum now? So here's her qualifications for for running
the city of Bangor. Murder, perjury, addiction, homelessness. So wonderful.
So when reporters asked her, you know, with your record,
(23:51):
you know, do you what the hell?
Speaker 1 (23:53):
Yeah exactly, I'm sure that was exactly the question that, yeah,
what the hell?
Speaker 2 (23:59):
Yeah, what the hell? Who voted for her? But she said,
I want people to see that we can change. I
was lost for so many years. I think people really
need to see the other side of that. And then
a reporter said, but yeah, you committed murder. That's in
(24:20):
my past. I don't live there anymore, and I'm a
different person. Well, hooray for you. You have a future.
Derek doesn't have a future because you shoved the sand
down his throat and murdered him. Yeah, I'm so glad
that's in your past. What about his wife, his sister,
(24:43):
his family, his friends, the future he could have had
but you took that away. But I'm glad you're able
to just put that all behind you and not give
it a second thought. Damn my.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
All right, all right, On a personal level, I tend
to be a little more progressive than you. I don't
care what political party. Tell me. There's not criminals on
both sides. So that's a whole another discussion. Who voted
for her and why?
Speaker 2 (25:18):
That's thank you? Yes, yes to me, that's.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Like, all right, you know what, I almost don't blame
her for running, Okay, and all right, maybe it's a true,
truly felt feeling that yes, I want to make amends
and make things better. But who voted for her?
Speaker 2 (25:40):
The people of the dumpster fire of Bangor. I don't
know how do you? It had to be widely publicized
about this horrific murder and her perjury to a grand jury.
You know, alright, that happens, and you know, homelessness happens. Okay,
(26:02):
you know you can't not vote for somebody for that,
But murder and perjury, that's we're at a different level there.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
Oh, when you're now, you're gonna have some say in
how the budget is spent and where the money comes
in and goes out. And yeah, there's a level of
trust that has to go with that. Yes, And when
you walk in with zero trustworthiness, I guess the only
way you could go is up.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Apparently, I I don't know, but when I saw the
headlines the day after election day that convicted murderer wins election,
uh say what? So I'm like, all right, well maybe
it wasn't so you know, maybe she got in a
fight and didn't mean to hit the person so hot.
(26:53):
No hit with a Captain Morgan rum bottle till he
went down, and then you stop sand in his throat.
That that's that is head and shoulders above a typical
run of the mill murder, if we can call it that. Yeah,
(27:14):
so yeah, all right, you got me? Are you at
a ten? Now? A ten out of ten of aggravation?
Speaker 1 (27:23):
I kind of you know, if I could go back
and stand outside the polling place and be like, what
the hell's right? And what the hell that's right? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Yeah? So yeah, I mean, regardless of your political views,
it has nothing to do I don't care. Independent Republican, Democrat,
progressive whatever. We're talking about murder and perjury and a
murder of very grisly proportions, and she's trying to pin
(27:53):
it on her brother, right, I mean, there's that shows
her great love and loyalty as well. So, and I
could not find where Benjamin is. So hopefully he has
cleaned up his act, gone somewhere else and is living
a quiet, crime free life. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Did he run for office somewhere else?
Speaker 2 (28:15):
I don't know. He could be governor of South Dakota,
now I have no.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
Wow, all right, you know this is why you should
kind of look into your candidates before you vote. I
wonder how many people didn't know.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
I don't know how you couldn't.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
I don't either. I obviously didn't watch this campaign. I
had nothing to do with it.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
No, yeah, I don't know the campaign, but I'd love
to see I'd love to see the campaigns of the
other candidates. I've never murdered anyone. Vote for me.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
I stand up at the podium and go, what the hell?
Find at her? Really?
Speaker 2 (28:55):
I know, I know? So, yeah, you cannot make this
stuff up. Unreal, that's it. Why don't you take us out?
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Yeah? That's enough. Thanks good all right, good one, Thank you. Yeah,
we're gonna have to keep an eye on the city
government there and see how this all plays out, I guess.
And if anybody that lives at a votafort would like
to reach out to us and tell us what the hell,
feel free and show us an email.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
Yes, please label your title your email what the hell.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
Yeah, that would definitely help us out. Cool, all right,
thanks Linda. Yeah, that was a good one. So everybody
go calm down and we'll see you next time. I
murder in the Hudson Valley. If you are not a
victim of murder in the Hudson Valley
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