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Suspect held in woman's murder
Schenectady man charged in killing of young mother in alley
By BOB GARDINIER, Staff writer
First published: Saturday, November 12, 2005
TROY -- A Schenectady man was charged early Friday in the murder of Amanda Burns, who was shot several times as she sat in a car in a North Troy alley talking to her former boyfriend.
Alberto "A.J." Rivera Jr., 25, of 1563 Becker St., was arraigned Friday in City Court on second-degree murder and first-degree criminal use of a firearm charges.
Police expect other arrests in the case soon as t
hey work to piece together a motive in the Oct. 25 killing. Officials are still questioning Burns' former boyfriend, Charles Smith, 45, of Troy. Smith was in the car that night and has cooperated in the investigation, Detective Sgt. John Cooney said.
Rivera,
who was arrested on an attempted murder charge in 1999 in an attack on a man on a city street with a samurai sword, was cooperating with police and had answered some questions, Cooney said. He was sent to the Rensselaer County jail without bail pending grand jury action.
Smith, Burns and her mother, Jackie Pazdur of Johnsonville, all knew Rivera, who has a long history of assault and drug arrests, Cooney said.
Burns, 21, was from Johnsonville, but had many friends and family in North Troy and spent a lot of time in the city, police have said.
"This was a case of interviewing and re-interviewing witnesses, piecing together relationships and running a lot of phone call records," Cooney said. "We are confide
nt w
e got the man who pulled the trigger off the streets."
The murder weapon has not been recovered.
Pazdur called Rivera "only trouble." "Both Amanda and I were good friends of his mother," Pazdur said. "I am so glad they got him."
At 11:30 the night of the killing, Burns was in the
passenger seat and Smith in the driver's seat of an SUV parked in an alley off 102nd Street just east of Fifth Avenue. Burns had arranged to meet Smith to try to patch up their relationship, the victim's relatives have said. She wanted to see more of their 1-year-old son, who lives with Smith.
As they talked, witnesses told police, two men approached the car and shot Burns at close range eight to 10 times.
The shots were fired through the driver's side window of the vehicle across Smith, who was not injured. Smith told police he could not give good descriptions of the attackers.
"This is not over," Pazdur said. "There were
more peo
ple involved and it is only a matter of time. I can't thank enough the work done by detectives Dave Dean and Gary Gordon on this case."
Pazdur said she was at a loss as to why Rivera would be involved but believes Smith, who she said was abusive to her daughter, knows more than he is telling police.
"This was a planned execution and how could he have escap
ed this without hardly a scratch and then not be able to give police any descriptions?" Pazdur said.
At the outset, police said Smith was not a prime suspect in the case.
In July, after a series of domestic calls involving the couple, the matter ended up in Rensselaer County Family Court where state Supreme Court Justice Leslie E. Stein issued an order of protection keeping Smith away from Burns, court documents said.
Police are investigating whether he violated the order when the couple met that evening.
Family members said Burns was not into drugs but did suffer emotional problems and
was in coun
seling.
She was nearly stabbed to death in 1993 at the age of 8. Her 16-year-old cousin, Michael Gagliardi of Hoosick Falls, was convicted of slashing Burns' throat and chest after he got drunk while baby-sitting her and her younger brother.
Gagliardi is incarcerated at the Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County, officials said.
Burns' family said the incident had a marked effect
on the young woman's life and led her at times to be disconnected from others. She dropped out of school but went back and got her GED and was trying to land a job when she was murdered.
Rivera was charged in 1999 with one count of attempted second-degree murder and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon for the sword attack. The victim was cut on the face and his right index finger was partially severed.
The outcome of that case could not be determined Friday.
Possible Planned Execution
[/URL]
Suspect held in woman's murder
Schenectady man charged in killing of young mother in alley
By BOB GARDINIER, Staff writer
First published: Saturday, November 12, 2005
TROY -- A Schenectady man was charged early Friday in the murder of Amanda Burns, who was shot several times as she sat in a car in a North Troy alley talking to her former boyfriend.
Alberto "A.J." Rivera Jr., 25, of 1563 Becker St., was arraigned Friday in City Court on second-degree murder and first-degree criminal use of a firearm charges.
Police expect other arrests in the case soon as t
hey work to piece together a motive in the Oct. 25 killing. Officials are still questioning Burns' former boyfriend, Charles Smith, 45, of Troy. Smith was in the car that night and has cooperated in the investigation, Detective Sgt. John Cooney said.
Rivera,
who was arrested on an attempted murder charge in 1999 in an attack on a man on a city street with a samurai sword, was cooperating with police and had answered some questions, Cooney said. He was sent to the Rensselaer County jail without bail pending grand jury action.
Smith, Burns and her mother, Jackie Pazdur of Johnsonville, all knew Rivera, who has a long history of assault and drug arrests, Cooney said.
Burns, 21, was from Johnsonville, but had many friends and family in North Troy and spent a lot of time in the city, police have said.
"This was a case of interviewing and re-interviewing witnesses, piecing together relationships and running a lot of phone call records," Cooney said. "We are confide
nt w
e got the man who pulled the trigger off the streets."
The murder weapon has not been recovered.
Pazdur called Rivera "only trouble." "Both Amanda and I were good friends of his mother," Pazdur said. "I am so glad they got him."
At 11:30 the night of the killing, Burns was in the
passenger seat and Smith in the driver's seat of an SUV parked in an alley off 102nd Street just east of Fifth Avenue. Burns had arranged to meet Smith to try to patch up their relationship, the victim's relatives have said. She wanted to see more of their 1-year-old son, who lives with Smith.
As they talked, witnesses told police, two men approached the car and shot Burns at close range eight to 10 times.
The shots were fired through the driver's side window of the vehicle across Smith, who was not injured. Smith told police he could not give good descriptions of the attackers.
"This is not over," Pazdur said. "There were
more peo
ple involved and it is only a matter of time. I can't thank enough the work done by detectives Dave Dean and Gary Gordon on this case."
Pazdur said she was at a loss as to why Rivera would be involved but believes Smith, who she said was abusive to her daughter, knows more than he is telling police.
"This was a planned execution and how could he have escap
ed this without hardly a scratch and then not be able to give police any descriptions?" Pazdur said.
At the outset, police said Smith was not a prime suspect in the case.
In July, after a series of domestic calls involving the couple, the matter ended up in Rensselaer County Family Court where state Supreme Court Justice Leslie E. Stein issued an order of protection keeping Smith away from Burns, court documents said.
Police are investigating whether he violated the order when the couple met that evening.
Family members said Burns was not into drugs but did suffer emotional problems and
was in coun
seling.
She was nearly stabbed to death in 1993 at the age of 8. Her 16-year-old cousin, Michael Gagliardi of Hoosick Falls, was convicted of slashing Burns' throat and chest after he got drunk while baby-sitting her and her younger brother.
Gagliardi is incarcerated at the Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County, officials said.
Burns' family said the incident had a marked effect
on the young woman's life and led her at times to be disconnected from others. She dropped out of school but went back and got her GED and was trying to land a job when she was murdered.
Rivera was charged in 1999 with one count of attempted second-degree murder and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon for the sword attack. The victim was cut on the face and his right index finger was partially severed.
The outcome of that case could not be determined Friday.
Possible Planned Execution
