By Nicole Fay Barr

GUILDERLAND — A grand jury yesterday handed down an indictment of Hashim Burnell for the shooting death of Todd Pianowski.

Although Guilderland Police are sure they fingered the correct suspect, Burnell’s lawyer says they have the wrong man.

The tragedy came to light last Thursday afternoon when a woman found her boyfriend, Pianowski, shot dead in their Guilderland apartment and had a gun held to her head by his killer, police say.

Guilderland Police and State Troopers launched a massive search and, after about eight hours, arrested Burnell and charged him with second-degree murder. Burnell, formerly a Guilderland resident, was an acquaintance of Pianowski.

Guilderland Police Chief James Murley told The Enterprise this week that he believes Burnell, 19, intended to shoot Todd Pianowski, 22. His motive, Murley said, "was a drug-for-money deal."

However, Burnell’s lawyer, Paul DeLorenzo, said that his client is innocent. He agreed that Burnell was at Pianowski’s apartment that day, but not at the time of the killing.

DeLorenzo said that Burnell has someone to back up his alibi and there is evidence to convict someone else.

"We do know who did it," De-Lorenzo told The Enterprise. "We have some good evidence that strongly indicates it was some-one else."

This is not the first time Burnell has been in trouble with the law. He spent time in prison for attempted burglary and, when released last summer, was soon arrested again in Guilderland for driving without a license, criminal impersonation, and possession of marijuana.

Tuesday, Burnell went before a grand jury in Albany County Court and was indicted on Wednesday. Burnell remains at the Albany County jail without bail.

Burnell will be arraigned on Friday and, DeLorenzo said, he will plead not guilty.

Meanwhile Pianowski’s family and friends are in mourning.

"There are no words that can describe it, nothing," Patt Pianowski said of her son’s death. "It’s such a senseless act."

Todd Pianowski was about to complete his first semester at Hudson Valley Community College. He was taking business classes, his mother said, and he had dreams of being a professional bowler.

"He figured he should get into business so he could maybe someday run a bowling alley," she said. "....My son was an all around good guy. He never gave anybody any problems."

Following leads
Pianowski was shot in the head and upper torso. Chief Murley said a .40 caliber handgun was used, but police have not yet re-covered the weapon.

Pianowski and his girlfriend, Lauren Parker, lived in the 1700 Designer Apartments, at 1702 Western Ave., in the middle of the three-floor complex. At 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, Parker returned home and found Burnell there, Murley said.

"He confronted her," Murley said of Burnell. "He held a gun to her head."

Then, he said, Burnell ran out of the apartment. At the same time, Parker saw Pianowski’s body on the floor.

Parker and Pianowski had dated for five years and loved each other deeply, Pianowski’s mother told The Enterprise.

"She’s devastated," Patt Pianowski said of Parker. "She’s staying here with me now."

Murley said that, after Parker found the body, she ran to Wings Over Albany, a restaurant behind the apartment complex. Parker and Pianowski’s brother both work at the eatery. Someone at the restaurant called 911, Murley said.

"We received a call that some-one was shot," he said. Police arrived at the scene, he said, "but we still didn’t know what we had. We heard screams coming from the apartment...We didn’t know if the shooter was still in the building."

Once it was determined that the shooter had fled, police began protecting the crime scene, Murley said.

Guilderland officers tried to find witnesses and called the State Police for help. The State Police responded promptly, Murley said, and flew a helicopter over the area, looking for the suspect or for clues.

Police dogs from Guilderland and the State Police also searched the area, Murley said.

Officers had to calm down apartment residents and managers who were very upset, he said, as other officers inter-viewed anyone who may have seen anything related to the crime.

Meanwhile, Murley and Lieu-tenant Curtis Cox began putting together a command post and a "leads desk" was set up at the State Police station on Willow Street.

"A leads desk is like a clearing house," Cox said. "It’s manned by two investigators and one of our guys."

Leads desks are used in major crimes, such as in homicides, rapes, and missing persons cases, Murley said. "As leads come in, anything, they are developed," Cox said. "Those people coordinate if we need to send somebody to follow up on the lead."

Any data collected by officers at the scene of the crime or through witness interviews is transmitted to the leads desk.

"All that info goes to the leads desk so you prevent duplication of resources, rumors, half-baked info..." Murley said.

"And omissions," Cox said. "So we don’t overlook anything....Eventually, all this is put into a computer program."

"Information like, is he six feet tall, black, Hispanic, white, Asian...what type of vehicle he drives...those kinds of things," Murley said. "That narrows down a lot of the confusion that takes place during a major-crime scene."

Since Guilderland Officer John Cordi had injured his knee earlier and couldn’t move around easily, Murley put him in charge of the leads desk.

"We start with a folder, with just a piece of paper that has a lead written on it," Cordi told The Enterprise Tuesday. "Say you’re talking to a person at the scene and they said they saw the victim have an argument with someone three weeks ago...We look into it. Any time a new lead comes in, we assign people to track it."

On the police scanner last Thursday, The Enterprise heard officers saying that a suspicious person was running near Crossgates Mall; that the suspect had a possible alias of "Jason"; and that the suspect might be at an insurance office on Western Avenue.
Asked about this, Murley said, "Those are leads that are quickly developing and have to be checked out. We can get a call from a business that says they have someone there or had someone who was suspicious."

"It could be they found property that doesn’t belong there," Cox said.

Guilderland Police also reached out to the Albany County Sheriff’s Department, the Rotterdam, Colonie, and Albany police, and the state’s Division of Parole.

Officers didn’t know then that Burnell was on parole but, Cox said, "We reach out to as many resources as we can."

"Whatever professional law enforcement we can muster," Murley said.

"Then it becomes very busy," he said. "We’re looking for someone who committed a homicide."

He added, "We felt from the beginning that this is not a ran-d om act, from the information sifted out of on-scene inter-views."
A team of 30 to 50 investigators combed the neighborhood and apartment complex, trying to find clues and inform residents of what was happening, Murley said.

"Our concern was getting this guy off the street," Murley said. "We worked through the night and there’s a constant ebb and flow of info that has to be checked and re-checked....Then it’s back to coordinating with other law-enforcement agencies and ferreting out inconsistencies."

Finding the suspect
Police didn’t know last Thursday if the suspect was on foot or in a car, Murley said.

Officers checked surveillance cameras from the apartment building as well as from nearby grocery stores and gas stations where the suspect may have been.

Murley said that security cam-eras "played a role to some degree" in helping find the suspect, but would not elaborate.

At around 6 p.m., a helicopter circled the area a second time, he said, taking photographs and looking for clues. This was alarming to residents coming home and police tried to let each one know that the shooting was not a random act, Murley said.
At the same time, Murley spoke in front of television news cameras that were gathered at the apartment complex.

"We had to give them whatever we could because people were worried and wondering what was going on," Murley said. "At the same time, we had to be very concerned about releasing any sensitive information that may be injurious to the out-come of the case."

At around 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Thursday, the different police agencies had a briefing, Cordi said. That is, they compared the information they had compiled.

Before removing Pianowski’s body and searching the residence, police waited to get a search warrant, Murley said. The Albany County District Attorneys office helped police secure the warrant.

"We called the DA’s office right away," Murley said. "They’re the ones that have to prosecute. They are invaluable in assisting with search warrants. They know what the judges are looking for."

"It’s a long process," Cox said.

As officers and investigators gathered more information, police began to suspect that Burnell was the perpetrator, Cox said.
Police were led to Burnell in part because of confidential in-formants, Murley said. Using a computer, he said, police put out an all-points bulletin for Burnell.

But, Cox said, police didn’t immediately admit to the public that Burnell was their suspect. "Some information is sensitive because, if you release the stuff too early, the bad guy hears it and it can be influential to the case," he said.

Murley added that potential witnesses could hear false information on television and change their stories.

At about 10:30 p.m., Colonie Police saw Burnell’s car and stopped him. He was arrested for second-degree murder, a felony.
"Confirmation of the arrest came to the leads desk," Cordi said.

At around the same time, Colonie Police took Burnell into custody, Guilderland Police got a search warrant.

Forensic experts searched the apartment and took photographs, Murley said. They worked there until 3 a.m., he said.

At about 11 p.m., the county coroner had removed Pianowski’s body. An autopsy has been conducted but all of the test results are not back, Murley said.

Burnell was arraigned before Guilderland Judge Steven J. Simon "in the wee hours of the morning," Murley said. Burnell was then remanded to Albany County’s jail without bail.

"It was a relief that he was off the street," Murley said of Burnell.

Of last Thursday night, he said, "I went home and got two hours of sleep. Some people didn’t sleep at all, trying to make an airtight and flawless case."

On Friday at 11 a.m., after a briefing, Murley announced at a press conference that Burnell was arrested for Pianowski’s murder. He then circulated letters to those who live in the apartment complex, telling them of the arrest.

"I want to commend every law-enforcement officer involved in this tragic event," he told The Enterprise Tuesday. "We worked closely together. It was good police work by all agencies."

He concluded, "It was a lot of work; it takes time to separate fact from fable."

The wrong man"
While the police chief feels sure the right suspect was arrested, Burnell’s lawyer is convinced that he is innocent.

"We’re finding, based on all the statements we are receiving and the evidence we’ve reviewed, that the DA’s office is misinterpreting witness statements," DeLorenzo said.

Certain comments made by witnesses were taken in an incorrect context, DeLorenzo said.

"It’s like, if somebody asks you what color the sky is," he said, "you’d say blue, but there’s clouds and lots of different colors in the sky."

When asked about this, Albany County District Attorney Michael McDermott told The Enterprise that he can’t comment, but he is confident in the Guilderland and State Police investigations.

Burnell was at Pianowski’s apartment earlier last Thursday, but not at the time of the shooting, DeLorenzo said. He declined to say why he was there nor would he comment on drug involvement.

Asked if Burnell had regular access to Pianowski’s apartment, DeLorenzo said, "Once in a while....They were nothing more than acquaintances."

The videotape that police are using as evidence, DeLorenzo said, is also insubstantial.

"We definitely agree he was there earlier," DeLorenzo said. "But the video in the hallway doesn’t show anything concerning my client. It’s not good; it’s poor quality."

From his own review of witness statements and other evidence, DeLorenzo said he knows exactly who killed Pianowski, but would not elaborate.

Asked about this, McDermott said Wednesday that he and DeLorenzo had a brief conversation about this on Tuesday.

"He provided me with some unsubstantiated allegations," McDermott said. "We’ll have to look into it."

Asked why the district attorney would be trying to prosecute the wrong person, DeLorenzo said, "I understand certain statements and how they go. If you follow up, you can misunderstand what a person’s saying."

Before Burnell was indicted Wednesday afternoon, DeLorenzo said he hoped it wouldn’t happen, he said. But, he said, an indictment for Burnell doesn’t mean he’s guilty. DeLorenzo quoted Sol Wachtler, former chief judge of New York, who said a prosecutor could get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich.

Burnell will plead not guilty in Albany County Court Friday, DeLorenzo said. His lawyer will then try to get Burnell released on bail, he said.

Criminal history
On Nov. 17, 2001, when Burnell was 16, he was arrested for burglarizing a private residence at 125 Benjamin St., in Guilderland.

Burnell was charged then with second-degree burglary, a felony, and petit larceny, a misdemeanor. In court, he was offered a plea-bargain charge of second-degree attempted bur-glary, a misdemeanor.

Then, from April of 2002 to May of 2004, Burnell served time at the Coxsackie Correctional Facility. He was paroled on a conditional release, which means that, until May of 2007, he must comply with his parole officer and not be arrested again.

In July of 2004, two months after his release from prison, 19-year-old Burnell was arrested again by Guilderland Police. He was charged then with second-degree criminal impersonation and for third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, both misdemeanors, and for unlawful possession of marijuana, a violation.

Guilderland Police said then that Burnell was stopped for speeding and he gave police a false name, Billy M. Manuel, and date of birth. Later, Burnell admitted to his real identity, the arrest report says, and he was found to possess a learner’s permit with a false name, Billy R. Manuel Jr.

Burnell’s driver’s license was then found to be suspended, the report says, and he was also found to possess marijuana between the seats of his car.

Burnell’s 2004 arrest report said that he was a front-desk clerk. Murley declined to comment on Burnell’s current employment or other related information.

Burnell currently lives at Mountainview Terrace Apartments, in Latham, but, during his first two arrests, Burnell was listed as residing at his parents’ home, at 3127 Lone Pine Road, Guilderland. A man who answered the phone there this week declined comment to The Enterprise.

DeLorenzo said that Burnell’s family knows he did not kill Pianowski and supports him. Burnell has held a steady job in this area, DeLorenzo said.

"He’s got a good father and a good family," DeLorenzo said. "They quietly support their son. They know he’s wrongly accused."

He concluded, "It’s tragic what’s happened to both families."

Other Guilderland murders
Although infrequently, Guilderland Police have had experience dealing with homicide cases.

Five years ago, Melissa Straw-bridge, of Altamont, was convicted of killing her new-born daughter.

Her story, as it unfolded in trial court in January of 2000 was: Strawbridge was working at Community Health Plan, in Colonie, on March 24, 1997, when she delivered a 7-pound, 10-ounce, full-term daughter in a bathroom of her parents’ home. Two days later, Strawbridge led Guilderland Police to a dumpster behind Carpenter’s Commons, an apartment complex on Route 20, where they found the body.

In a non-jury trial, Judge Dan Lamont ruled that the baby, named Kaylee Marie in court papers, was born alive, then placed in a toilet, and put into a plastic bag. Strawbridge was later convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.

In 2000, Guilderland High School student Andrew Hernandez went to the Guilderland Police Station to say he had "done something bad."

When police went to the Hernandez home, they found the body of his 43-year-old mother in a walk-in closet off the first-floor master bedroom. She had been shot once in the back of the head.

In 2003, Hernandez, who pleaded guilty to murdering his mother, was sentenced to 19-and-a-half years to life.

After the sentencing, Hernandez’s lawyer, Terence Kindlon, said that Hernandez had "completely and fully accepted responsibility" for his crime. Hernandez, who was a senior at the time of the murder, was described by his peers as a loner who was quiet, respectful, and bright.

In 2004, a third Guilderland resident was charged with murder. Erick Westervelt, 23, pleaded not guilty in October to killing a Bethlehem man.

Bethlehem Police say Westervelt beat 28-year-old Timothy Gray to death with a hatchet. Gray, an Elsmere man who was dating Westervelt’s ex-girlfriend, was attacked on Oct. 5, police say, and died from severe head injuries on Oct. 10.

Westervelt was described by a former baseball coach as a hard-working athlete who never lost his temper. Westervelt’s trial has not yet been scheduled.