True Crime NYC

The musician and actor Kid Cudi took the stand on Thursday in Sean “Diddy” Combs sex trafficking and racketeering trial to testify that the rap mogul, in a fit of rage and jealousy, broke into his home and he believed coordinated the firebombing of his high-end sports car.    The testimony in the star-studded trial could play a critical role as prosecutors attempt to build a case that Combs used v...

Jurors in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking and racketeering trial on Wednesday heard from a former Combs employee who agreed to testify only after he was guaranteed that he would not be prosecuted for any crimes he might have detailed. Prosecutors used the testimony of former Combs assistant George Kaplan to try to prove how Combs allegedly built a criminal enterprise that would feed his sexual...

Mike Marza and Bernarda Villalona recap Tuesday's testimony in the Sean Combs trial. A run-in with a rival record executive at Mel’s Drive-in , assault weapons with illegally defaced serial numbers, and a sex performance at Trump Tower were some of the topics jurors in Sean Combs’ criminal trial heard about Tuesday, as prosecutors tried to build their racketeering and sex trafficking case against...

For the first time, the public can see the stark visual evidence of the violence Cassie Ventura testified that she suffered at the hands of Sean “Diddy” Combs. Federal prosecutors Monday released many of the photos they have shown the jury in their effort to convict Combs in their sex-trafficking and racketeering case. Court adjourned just after 3 p.m. ET. Prosecutors said Tuesday’s witnesses will...

After four days on the witness stand, Cassie Ventura concluded her testimony Friday at the trial of her ex-boyfriend, Sean "Diddy" Combs. It came shortly after the defense concluded nearly two days of cross-examination. Prosecutors allege Combs, 55, used his fame and fortune to orchestrate an empire of exploitation, coercing women into abusive sex parties. If Combs is convicted on all charges, whi...

After two days of testimony about how her relationship with Sean Combs grew violent and coercive, Cassie Ventura faced six hours of grueling cross-examination on Thursday, as defense attorneys attempted to cast doubt on her credibility and portray her as a willing participant in his sexual activities.    Ventura’s testimony as the star witness for the prosecution is expected to conclude tomorrow,...

The R&B singer Cassie Ventura returned to the witness stand Wednesday for a second day spent recounting tumultuous details of life with her ex-boyfriend, Sean "Diddy" Combs. She testified in a Manhattan courtroom that Combs kept her in a cycle of abuse and exploitation by threatening to release recordings of her with male sex workers in encounters Combs orchestrated and called "freak-offs." After...

For six hours on Tuesday in a packed Manhattan courtroom, Cassie Ventura testified how her decade-long relationship turned violent as her then-boyfriend, Sean “Diddy” Combs, seized control of her personal and professional lives and demanded she orchestrate his drug-fueled sex parties known as “freak offs.”  Ventura is the star witness in the federal racketeering and sex-trafficking case against Co...

Eyewitness News reporters Mike Marza and Darla Miles give you an in-depth look the first day of the Sean 'Diddy' Combs sex-trafficking and racketeering trial in Lower Manhattan. Cassie Ventura is expected to be the next witness called later Tuesday morning. Prosecutors allege that Combs, 55, used his fame and power at the top of the hip-hop world to sexually abuse women from 2004 to 2024. He plead...

Accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann has been charged in the death of a seventh woman. Heuermann is charged with one count of second-degree murder in connection with the murder of Valerie Mack, according to a superseding indictment unsealed Tuesday. Mack, whose remains were first found on Long Island in 2000. Mack, 24, had been working as an escort in Philadelphia and was last seen by h...

Even though there has been an arrest in the Gilgo Beach serial killings, investigators are still trying to solve cold-case murders and authorities are asking for the public's help. On Monday, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney released three new updated sketches of a Gilgo Beach victim. The Asian male victim's remains were recovered along Ocean Parkway in April 2011. However, authorities...

Suffolk County prosecutors have received some 7,000 tips following the arrest of alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann, district attorney Ray Tierney said after his latest court appearance. Prosecutors turned over "voluminous" evidence to Heuermann's defense, including results from DNA lab work, data from Heuermann's electronic devices, and notes from searches of his home. Heuermann has...

Rex Heuermann, the accused Gilgo Beach serial killer charged in six killings is now being eyed by investigators for even more, nearly one year to the day that the Manhattan architect, husband, and father of two was arrested. Heuermann's adult children - and his now-estranged wife, Asa Ellerup, showed support at court. Robert Macedonio, Asa's attorney, talked with Eyewitness News reporter, Chantee...

Disturbing new details have emerged in the Gilgo Beach serial killings as Rex Heuermann, 60, was charged in two additional women. The new charges also significantly expand the timeline in the Gilgo Beach case, with the first murder Heuermann is accused of committing now taking place in 1993. Prosecutors also revealed disturbing "planning" documents that they allege the suspect used in his killings...

Suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann is expected to be charged this week with an additional murder, according to Newsday. Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to killing four women -- Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Costello, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes - whose remains were found near Gilgo Beach along Ocean Parkway. Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney declined to comme...

The former executive assistant of accused Long Island serial killer Rex Heuermann is speaking for the first time exclusively with Eyewitness News. Donna Sturman told investigative reporter Kristin Thorne she still has not gotten over the shock of the claims made against her former boss. "It's traumatizing," she said. "It's so unbelievable." Sturman worked for Heuermann from 2017 to 2018 at his arc...

"Rex Heuermann is everything we've been led to believe would be the guy," said reporter Josh Einiger. "He's kind of a loner. He's kind of antisocial. His house is different from every other house on that block. It's sort of a mess. He works in the city. He has a job, where he's very technical, where he's an architect and engineer." The amazing details of the investigation that finally collared a s...

On July 13, 2023, police finally made an arrest in the Gilgo Beach murder case. "This was an earthquake in Massapequa Park. This was a storm like they had never expected this," recalled Eyewitness News reporter Stacey Sager. Rex Heuermann was arrested in Midtown Manhattan. He was initially charged in the deaths of Megan Waterman, Amber Lynn Costello, and Melissa Barthelemy. Investigators also name...

Eyewitness News got an alert that Suffolk County police were going to release surveillance video of Megan Waterman leaving a hotel in Hauppauge -- the last place she was seen. "As reporters were thinking, again, why do this now?" recalled Kristin Thorne. "They've had this video for so many years -- why now? And they said they want to keep the case going." Then on May 9, 2022, Suffolk County Police...

In December 2015, the FBI joined the investigation. Why did that collaboration not happen for so many years? "It didn't happen because of politics. We had a police chief in Suffolk County, as well as a DA, that did not seem open to FBI involvement," recalled Kristin Thorne. On Jan. 16, 2020, police released photos of a belt imprinted with the letters "H-M" or "M-H" to the public. Police say they b...

After a year and a half of searching, investigators found the skeletal remains of Shannan Gilbert on Gilgo Beach. "What was the ultimate stunner in all of this is that they believed -- and still do believe -- that Shannan Gilbert was not murdered. That Shannan Gilbert died in an accidental drowning," recalled reporter Josh Einiger. A few years later, Shannan Gilbert's mother, Mari Gilbert, who is...

Investigators had found 10 bodies and identified five of them, but they were still searching for Shannan Gilbert. "This investigation started because Shannan Gilbert disappeared," said reporter Kristin Thorne. "It wasn't until Shannan Gilbert disappeared that her family started to hold police accountable and say -- you have to get out there and try to find Shannan Gilbert." Investigators found a c...

Investigators continued to find more bodies, but the remains differed from those of the "Gilgo Four". Police found three more victims in the area between Oak Beach and Gilgo Beach, bringing the total count of victims to eight. Investigators identified the victims as Jane Doe Number 6, a baby girl and an Asian man. Investigators then say they believe they are looking for three, if not four, killers...

Shannan Gilbert's disappearance in 2010 sparked the discovery of 11 bodies on and near Gilgo Beach on Long Island. "One of the most significant things I've ever heard at any kind of public official say, I think it was the first full day after that first report that we did," recalled Einiger. "There was a press conference with the man who was then the police commissioner. And he said something that...

It began on a regular garden variety day in December, when Eyewitness News reporter Josh Einiger and his photographer, Tony Saturno, were covering stories in Suffolk County. "We were on our way back and we got a call from the desk - saying 'there's a crime scene, there's a maybe body discovered', way down south on Ocean Parkway. Go check it out," Einiger said. When they arrived at the scene, it wa...