BRITTANY PASSALACQUA - 12 yo (And her Mother) -(2009) Geneva NY

For the first time since Helen Buchel and Brittany Passalacqua were
murdered in their Geneva apartment Friday, their family faced the man
who was arrested. John Brown of Palmyra pleaded not guilty in Geneva
City Court Monday.
Going into this arraignment, Kim Cascio knew this was going to be
hard. She had been best friends with Buchel for more than 20 years. "I
don't know honestly if I'll be able to look at him (Brown). I'm here
right now but I don't know if I'll be able to look at him and I don't
really want him to see me."
Cascio says Brown and Buchel met in May and started dating which was
right around the same time Buchel was in a car accident and became
disabled.
She says they were together constantly and eventually Brown moved in
with Buchel and her daughter Brittany, a seventh grader at Geneva
Middle School.
Brown was on parole for assaulting an infant in 2003 but Cascio says
Brown told Buchel he was in trouble for a bar fight. Cascio never
trusted Brown but says he was good to Buchel, at least in public.
Today, Cascio almost fainted when Brown came into the courtroom. At
one point, Buchel's brother tried to charge at Brown and then during
the arraignment, Brown turned around in court.
Cascio said, "Then he looked back at the family and I though that was terrible. Almost as if he was saying he was guilty."
Defense Attorney Robert Zimmerman said, "I think he was looking back
to see if his mother was in the courtroom and he couldn't tell there
was so many other people. I don't think he was looking back at the
family. I think he was trying to see if his mother was in the
courtroom."
Brown pleaded not guilty.
This not only affects Buschel's friends but also a lot of the Geneva
school family. Brittany Passalacqua was in the middle school. Her older
brother, who found the bodies on Friday, goes to the high school.
The superintendent Dr. Robert Young says psychologists and social
workers were at the schools today and a letter is going home to parents
trying to answer the question - how do you talk to your kids about this?

Loved ones of the mother and daughter who were slain in their
North Main Street apartment packed the back of a city courtroom this
morning to face the man charged in their killings.

When the suspect, John E. Brown, 35, of 285 Route 21, Lot 42 in
Manchester — near the Palmyra town line — entered the courtroom, a few
in the audience could not hold back their disdain. One called him a
“scumbag.”

Through his attorney, Robert Zimmerman of Shortsville, Brown entered a
not guilty plea. He is scheduled to return to Geneva City Court on Dec.
7 for a preliminary hearing. A judge will decide at that hearing if
there’s enough evidence to uphold the charge of first-degree murder,
and move the case to Ontario County Court.


Brown is charged with the deaths of Helen Buchel, 34, and 12-year-old
Brittany Passalacqua — a student at Geneva Middle School. They were
found stabbed to death in their second-floor apartment at 148 North
Main St. in Geneva Friday afternoon.
The victims were found in the apartment shortly before 4 p.m.
Friday. Police don’t know exactly when they died, though they believe
it could have been late Thursday night or early Friday morning.
Brittany Passalacqua has a brother, police said, who was not home at
the time.
Brown was also charged with violating his probation. He was on parole
due to a 2003 conviction for second-degree assault involving an infant,
according to Ontario County District Attorney R. Michael Tantillo.
Brown was sentenced to three years in prison and post-release
supervision for that incident.
Meanwhile, more details have emerged about Brown's criminal history.
In 2003, an Ontario County grand jury charged him with first-degree
assault, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and
second-degree harassment for injuring a 7-week old child by shaking her
and hitting another child on the head.
He pleaded guilty to the reduced charge of second-degree assault and
sentenced to three years in prison and probation. He was released from
prison in 2006 but was again incarcerated for violating the terms of
his parole in 2008.
Brown was released from prison again on Feb. 11 of this year.
On Sept. 26, Geneva police charged him with unauthorized use of a
motor vehicle for taking Ms. Buchel's vehicle without her permission.
He spent 13 days in Ontario County Jail and was released on $1,000 cash
bail.
He was convicted of that charge and sentenced to time served.
Tantillo explained that the first-degree murder charge includes the
deaths of both Ms. Buchel and her daughter, because they took place
“during the same criminal transaction.”
Kim Cascio, a childhood friend of Ms. Buchel, was among those who
turned out for the court appearance today. She said her legs nearly
gave out when she saw Brown.
“I was disgusted when I saw him,” she said. “I didn’t expect him to
plead not guilty. I thought he’d take responsibility for what he’d
done.”

Man Gets 40 Years to Life in Prison for Stabbings



It was an emotional day in Ontario County Court for the friends and family of Helen Buchel and Brittany Passalacqua.

John Brown, 36, of Wayne County, who admitted to smoking crack then stabbing the mother and daughter to death in their Geneva apartment in November, was sentenced Wednesday afternoon.

A "coward, monster, self-centered rage-filled person, who's an abomination of pure evil" were just a few words Helen Buchel's parents, Brittany Passalacqua's grandparents, her dad and aunt had for their murderer before he was sentenced.

John Brown will spend the next 40 years to life in state prison, 20 years each, for the murders of his girlfriend Helen Buchel and her 12 year-old daughter Brittany Passalacqua.

Brown also waived his right to appeal. The sentence was part of a plea deal.

Brown pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder in June, just days before his trial was set to begin.

Brown admitted to fatally stabbing Buchel and Passalacqua in mid-November at Buchel’s Geneva apartment on North Main Street.

The district attorney said the mother and child were almost completely decapitated. Buchel’s teenage son discovered their bodies.

Brown was arrested several hours later in Phelps after his ex-wife told police where to find him.

The district attorney said Brown told police he had been smoking crack before the murders.

Brown is a repeat offender. He was convicted of second-degree assault for shaking and injuring to his 7-week-old daughter in 2003.

He was also arrested on a parole violation in 2008 for illegal drug use. He was on parole when he murdered Buchel and Passalacqua.

Buchel’s mother, Dale Driscoll, is working with Senator Michael Nozzolio on legislation that would toughen the state’s parole system. She said if the legislation passes Nozzolio promised to call it “Brittany’s Law.”


http://rochester.ynn.com/content/top_stories/512465/man-gets-40-years-to-life-in-prison-for-stabbings/