Murder Victim.
Arnold Sohn's skull was fatally crushed as he tried...
By RANDALL V. BERLAGE |
Dec. 29, 1980
MONSEY, N.Y. -- Arnold Sohn's skull was fatally crushed as he tried to fend off an attacker and his wife Elaine had her head held under water until she drowned, a medical examiner said Monday.
The Sohns' bodies were discovered by police in their fashionable Monsey home over the weekend.
Rockland County Medical Examiner Dr. Frederick Zugibe described the beating of Sohn, 50, as 'one of the worst (cases) I have seen in Rockland ... His head was like an eggshell.'
The medical examiner said Sohn died 'of multiple severe injuries to the head and brain caused by a blunt instrument.' He said Sohn, a furniture salesman for Bloomingdale's in New York, was also stabbed in the neck several times.
'You could see he was trying to fend off his attackers,' Zugibe said, explaining that the victim's fingers were broken as he held up his hand to protect himself.
Mrs. Sohn official died of drowning. 'Her head was held under the water, forcibly,' Zugibe said. He added that there was evidence Mrs. Sohn, 47, who had a history of heart trouble, had passed out, 'possibly from being forced to watch her husband' (being beaten).
'But she was still breathing when her faced was held under water,' he said. Police at first said Mrs. Sohn was beaten to death like her husband, but Zugibe said that was not the case.
Spring Valley Police Chief Adam Krainak, whose department patrols Monsey, said police could not immediately tell if anything had been taken from the Sohn's Jill Lane house.
The couple was last seen by friends leaving a party early Sunday morning. Zugibe fixed the time of death at between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m.
Krainak could not say whether the Sohns were attacked as they got into their car or whether they were slain in the house. There were no signs of forced entry, so Krainak said the couple may have known their assailant or assailants.
It appeared because of the severity of the injuries that more than one person may have participated in the beating of Sohn, police said, but Zugibe said 'it's possible' the injuries could have been inflicted by one person.
He said both Sohns were gagged with socks, but that neither was bound.
Rockland District Attorney Kenneth Gribetz, who had met the Sohns and lives near their home, called the killings 'extremely brutal and savage.'
Zugibe said police did not recover the blunt instrument used in the beating.
===================================
Murderer Belton Brims Loses Appeal
July 30, 2009
Murderer Belton Brims has lost a bid to vacate his New York prison sentence of 75 years to life for killing Arnold and Elaine Sohn in 1980 and escaping from the then-delapidated county jail in New City.
Acting state Supreme Court Justice Catherine Bartlett denied Brims’ bid for a new hearing, siding with the Rockland District Attorney’s Office’s position that the former Spring Valley man’s contentions lacked merit.
The couple’s daughter, Sheryl Sohn, set up a robbery to repay a drug debt to Brims, a Spring Valley thug and drug dealer known as Panama. Sohn left a door unlocked to her family’s Jill Lane home so Brims could enter and steal $30,000 in heirlooms and jewelry. Sohn had her eye on her grandmother’s heirloom ring.
The Sohns came home unexpectedly early from a holiday party on Dec. 29, 1980. Brims and James Sheffield beat them and drowned Elaine Sohn in the bath tub.
Sheryl Sohn served 26 years of a sentence of 25 years to life for her role in the murder of her parents, being paroled in December 2006.
Brims, now 55, not the first member of his family to be imprisoned, also robbed a gas station in New Jersey. His New Jersey sentence could end between December 2009 and April 2018.
When released, he goes straight to New York to serve 50 years to life for the double murder of the Sohns and 25 years for escaping from the county jail. He escaped from the jail by sawing off the bars and made his way to Selma, Ala., where poiice captured him.
In court papers filed in state Supreme Court in Rockland, Brims argued his New York sentences should run concurrent to his New Jersey sentence because he began serving his New York jail term first.
Brims also claimed his escape conviction should be vacated because he was only “on loan” to New York for the murder trial during his New Jersey sentence, so his escape was technically from New Jersey custody.
Bartlett agreed with the Rockland District Attorney’s Office that Brims’ arguments were meritless. She denied his motion for a new hearing.
Prosecutors argued Brims sseparate convictions in New York and New Jersey should run consecutively, as originally ordered by the judge.
Regardless of the outcome of this case, Brims can’t become eligible for parole until 2055 for the murder and escape convictions.
Sheffield is working off a 52-year sentence for the double murder. He fled the night of the Sohn killings, and later talked his way out of police custody in New Jersey and Toronto. He was eventually captured in California and returned to Rockland.
Rockland District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said today that Brims will never be released from prison.
“This important victory will keep Mr. Brims behind bars, where he belongs, for the rest of his life,” Zugibe said.
Arnold Sohn's skull was fatally crushed as he tried...
By RANDALL V. BERLAGE |
Dec. 29, 1980
MONSEY, N.Y. -- Arnold Sohn's skull was fatally crushed as he tried to fend off an attacker and his wife Elaine had her head held under water until she drowned, a medical examiner said Monday.
The Sohns' bodies were discovered by police in their fashionable Monsey home over the weekend.
Rockland County Medical Examiner Dr. Frederick Zugibe described the beating of Sohn, 50, as 'one of the worst (cases) I have seen in Rockland ... His head was like an eggshell.'
The medical examiner said Sohn died 'of multiple severe injuries to the head and brain caused by a blunt instrument.' He said Sohn, a furniture salesman for Bloomingdale's in New York, was also stabbed in the neck several times.
'You could see he was trying to fend off his attackers,' Zugibe said, explaining that the victim's fingers were broken as he held up his hand to protect himself.
Mrs. Sohn official died of drowning. 'Her head was held under the water, forcibly,' Zugibe said. He added that there was evidence Mrs. Sohn, 47, who had a history of heart trouble, had passed out, 'possibly from being forced to watch her husband' (being beaten).
'But she was still breathing when her faced was held under water,' he said. Police at first said Mrs. Sohn was beaten to death like her husband, but Zugibe said that was not the case.
Spring Valley Police Chief Adam Krainak, whose department patrols Monsey, said police could not immediately tell if anything had been taken from the Sohn's Jill Lane house.
The couple was last seen by friends leaving a party early Sunday morning. Zugibe fixed the time of death at between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m.
Krainak could not say whether the Sohns were attacked as they got into their car or whether they were slain in the house. There were no signs of forced entry, so Krainak said the couple may have known their assailant or assailants.
It appeared because of the severity of the injuries that more than one person may have participated in the beating of Sohn, police said, but Zugibe said 'it's possible' the injuries could have been inflicted by one person.
He said both Sohns were gagged with socks, but that neither was bound.
Rockland District Attorney Kenneth Gribetz, who had met the Sohns and lives near their home, called the killings 'extremely brutal and savage.'
Zugibe said police did not recover the blunt instrument used in the beating.
===================================
Murderer Belton Brims Loses Appeal
July 30, 2009
Murderer Belton Brims has lost a bid to vacate his New York prison sentence of 75 years to life for killing Arnold and Elaine Sohn in 1980 and escaping from the then-delapidated county jail in New City.
Acting state Supreme Court Justice Catherine Bartlett denied Brims’ bid for a new hearing, siding with the Rockland District Attorney’s Office’s position that the former Spring Valley man’s contentions lacked merit.
The couple’s daughter, Sheryl Sohn, set up a robbery to repay a drug debt to Brims, a Spring Valley thug and drug dealer known as Panama. Sohn left a door unlocked to her family’s Jill Lane home so Brims could enter and steal $30,000 in heirlooms and jewelry. Sohn had her eye on her grandmother’s heirloom ring.
The Sohns came home unexpectedly early from a holiday party on Dec. 29, 1980. Brims and James Sheffield beat them and drowned Elaine Sohn in the bath tub.
Sheryl Sohn served 26 years of a sentence of 25 years to life for her role in the murder of her parents, being paroled in December 2006.
Brims, now 55, not the first member of his family to be imprisoned, also robbed a gas station in New Jersey. His New Jersey sentence could end between December 2009 and April 2018.
When released, he goes straight to New York to serve 50 years to life for the double murder of the Sohns and 25 years for escaping from the county jail. He escaped from the jail by sawing off the bars and made his way to Selma, Ala., where poiice captured him.
In court papers filed in state Supreme Court in Rockland, Brims argued his New York sentences should run concurrent to his New Jersey sentence because he began serving his New York jail term first.
Brims also claimed his escape conviction should be vacated because he was only “on loan” to New York for the murder trial during his New Jersey sentence, so his escape was technically from New Jersey custody.
Bartlett agreed with the Rockland District Attorney’s Office that Brims’ arguments were meritless. She denied his motion for a new hearing.
Prosecutors argued Brims sseparate convictions in New York and New Jersey should run consecutively, as originally ordered by the judge.
Regardless of the outcome of this case, Brims can’t become eligible for parole until 2055 for the murder and escape convictions.
Sheffield is working off a 52-year sentence for the double murder. He fled the night of the Sohn killings, and later talked his way out of police custody in New Jersey and Toronto. He was eventually captured in California and returned to Rockland.
Rockland District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said today that Brims will never be released from prison.
“This important victory will keep Mr. Brims behind bars, where he belongs, for the rest of his life,” Zugibe said.
Murder Victim.
Arnold Sohn's skull was fatally crushed as he tried...
By RANDALL V. BERLAGE |
Dec. 29, 1980
MONSEY, N.Y. -- Arnold Sohn's skull was fatally crushed as he tried to fend off an attacker and his wife Elaine had her head held under water until she drowned, a medical examiner said Monday.
The Sohns' bodies were discovered by police in their fashionable Monsey home over the weekend.
Rockland County Medical Examiner Dr. Frederick Zugibe described the beating of Sohn, 50, as 'one of the worst (cases) I have seen in Rockland ... His head was like an eggshell.'
The medical examiner said Sohn died 'of multiple severe injuries to the head and brain caused by a blunt instrument.' He said Sohn, a furniture salesman for Bloomingdale's in New York, was also stabbed in the neck several times.
'You could see he was trying to fend off his attackers,' Zugibe said, explaining that the victim's fingers were broken as he held up his hand to protect himself.
Mrs. Sohn official died of drowning. 'Her head was held under the water, forcibly,' Zugibe said. He added that there was evidence Mrs. Sohn, 47, who had a history of heart trouble, had passed out, 'possibly from being forced to watch her husband' (being beaten).
'But she was still breathing when her faced was held under water,' he said. Police at first said Mrs. Sohn was beaten to death like her husband, but Zugibe said that was not the case.
Spring Valley Police Chief Adam Krainak, whose department patrols Monsey, said police could not immediately tell if anything had been taken from the Sohn's Jill Lane house.
The couple was last seen by friends leaving a party early Sunday morning. Zugibe fixed the time of death at between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m.
Krainak could not say whether the Sohns were attacked as they got into their car or whether they were slain in the house. There were no signs of forced entry, so Krainak said the couple may have known their assailant or assailants.
It appeared because of the severity of the injuries that more than one person may have participated in the beating of Sohn, police said, but Zugibe said 'it's possible' the injuries could have been inflicted by one person.
He said both Sohns were gagged with socks, but that neither was bound.
Rockland District Attorney Kenneth Gribetz, who had met the Sohns and lives near their home, called the killings 'extremely brutal and savage.'
Zugibe said police did not recover the blunt instrument used in the beating.
===================================
Murderer Belton Brims Loses Appeal
July 30, 2009
Murderer Belton Brims has lost a bid to vacate his New York prison sentence of 75 years to life for killing Arnold and Elaine Sohn in 1980 and escaping from the then-delapidated county jail in New City.
Acting state Supreme Court Justice Catherine Bartlett denied Brims’ bid for a new hearing, siding with the Rockland District Attorney’s Office’s position that the former Spring Valley man’s contentions lacked merit.
The couple’s daughter, Sheryl Sohn, set up a robbery to repay a drug debt to Brims, a Spring Valley thug and drug dealer known as Panama. Sohn left a door unlocked to her family’s Jill Lane home so Brims could enter and steal $30,000 in heirlooms and jewelry. Sohn had her eye on her grandmother’s heirloom ring.
The Sohns came home unexpectedly early from a holiday party on Dec. 29, 1980. Brims and James Sheffield beat them and drowned Elaine Sohn in the bath tub.
Sheryl Sohn served 26 years of a sentence of 25 years to life for her role in the murder of her parents, being paroled in December 2006.
Brims, now 55, not the first member of his family to be imprisoned, also robbed a gas station in New Jersey. His New Jersey sentence could end between December 2009 and April 2018.
When released, he goes straight to New York to serve 50 years to life for the double murder of the Sohns and 25 years for escaping from the county jail. He escaped from the jail by sawing off the bars and made his way to Selma, Ala., where poiice captured him.
In court papers filed in state Supreme Court in Rockland, Brims argued his New York sentences should run concurrent to his New Jersey sentence because he began serving his New York jail term first.
Brims also claimed his escape conviction should be vacated because he was only “on loan” to New York for the murder trial during his New Jersey sentence, so his escape was technically from New Jersey custody.
Bartlett agreed with the Rockland District Attorney’s Office that Brims’ arguments were meritless. She denied his motion for a new hearing.
Prosecutors argued Brims sseparate convictions in New York and New Jersey should run consecutively, as originally ordered by the judge.
Regardless of the outcome of this case, Brims can’t become eligible for parole until 2055 for the murder and escape convictions.
Sheffield is working off a 52-year sentence for the double murder. He fled the night of the Sohn killings, and later talked his way out of police custody in New Jersey and Toronto. He was eventually captured in California and returned to Rockland.
Rockland District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said today that Brims will never be released from prison.
“This important victory will keep Mr. Brims behind bars, where he belongs, for the rest of his life,” Zugibe said.
Arnold Sohn's skull was fatally crushed as he tried...
By RANDALL V. BERLAGE |
Dec. 29, 1980
MONSEY, N.Y. -- Arnold Sohn's skull was fatally crushed as he tried to fend off an attacker and his wife Elaine had her head held under water until she drowned, a medical examiner said Monday.
The Sohns' bodies were discovered by police in their fashionable Monsey home over the weekend.
Rockland County Medical Examiner Dr. Frederick Zugibe described the beating of Sohn, 50, as 'one of the worst (cases) I have seen in Rockland ... His head was like an eggshell.'
The medical examiner said Sohn died 'of multiple severe injuries to the head and brain caused by a blunt instrument.' He said Sohn, a furniture salesman for Bloomingdale's in New York, was also stabbed in the neck several times.
'You could see he was trying to fend off his attackers,' Zugibe said, explaining that the victim's fingers were broken as he held up his hand to protect himself.
Mrs. Sohn official died of drowning. 'Her head was held under the water, forcibly,' Zugibe said. He added that there was evidence Mrs. Sohn, 47, who had a history of heart trouble, had passed out, 'possibly from being forced to watch her husband' (being beaten).
'But she was still breathing when her faced was held under water,' he said. Police at first said Mrs. Sohn was beaten to death like her husband, but Zugibe said that was not the case.
Spring Valley Police Chief Adam Krainak, whose department patrols Monsey, said police could not immediately tell if anything had been taken from the Sohn's Jill Lane house.
The couple was last seen by friends leaving a party early Sunday morning. Zugibe fixed the time of death at between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m.
Krainak could not say whether the Sohns were attacked as they got into their car or whether they were slain in the house. There were no signs of forced entry, so Krainak said the couple may have known their assailant or assailants.
It appeared because of the severity of the injuries that more than one person may have participated in the beating of Sohn, police said, but Zugibe said 'it's possible' the injuries could have been inflicted by one person.
He said both Sohns were gagged with socks, but that neither was bound.
Rockland District Attorney Kenneth Gribetz, who had met the Sohns and lives near their home, called the killings 'extremely brutal and savage.'
Zugibe said police did not recover the blunt instrument used in the beating.
===================================
Murderer Belton Brims Loses Appeal
July 30, 2009
Murderer Belton Brims has lost a bid to vacate his New York prison sentence of 75 years to life for killing Arnold and Elaine Sohn in 1980 and escaping from the then-delapidated county jail in New City.
Acting state Supreme Court Justice Catherine Bartlett denied Brims’ bid for a new hearing, siding with the Rockland District Attorney’s Office’s position that the former Spring Valley man’s contentions lacked merit.
The couple’s daughter, Sheryl Sohn, set up a robbery to repay a drug debt to Brims, a Spring Valley thug and drug dealer known as Panama. Sohn left a door unlocked to her family’s Jill Lane home so Brims could enter and steal $30,000 in heirlooms and jewelry. Sohn had her eye on her grandmother’s heirloom ring.
The Sohns came home unexpectedly early from a holiday party on Dec. 29, 1980. Brims and James Sheffield beat them and drowned Elaine Sohn in the bath tub.
Sheryl Sohn served 26 years of a sentence of 25 years to life for her role in the murder of her parents, being paroled in December 2006.
Brims, now 55, not the first member of his family to be imprisoned, also robbed a gas station in New Jersey. His New Jersey sentence could end between December 2009 and April 2018.
When released, he goes straight to New York to serve 50 years to life for the double murder of the Sohns and 25 years for escaping from the county jail. He escaped from the jail by sawing off the bars and made his way to Selma, Ala., where poiice captured him.
In court papers filed in state Supreme Court in Rockland, Brims argued his New York sentences should run concurrent to his New Jersey sentence because he began serving his New York jail term first.
Brims also claimed his escape conviction should be vacated because he was only “on loan” to New York for the murder trial during his New Jersey sentence, so his escape was technically from New Jersey custody.
Bartlett agreed with the Rockland District Attorney’s Office that Brims’ arguments were meritless. She denied his motion for a new hearing.
Prosecutors argued Brims sseparate convictions in New York and New Jersey should run consecutively, as originally ordered by the judge.
Regardless of the outcome of this case, Brims can’t become eligible for parole until 2055 for the murder and escape convictions.
Sheffield is working off a 52-year sentence for the double murder. He fled the night of the Sohn killings, and later talked his way out of police custody in New Jersey and Toronto. He was eventually captured in California and returned to Rockland.
Rockland District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said today that Brims will never be released from prison.
“This important victory will keep Mr. Brims behind bars, where he belongs, for the rest of his life,” Zugibe said.
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