Amanda Wallace of Amityville pleads guilty to role in Babylon body parts case

An Amityville woman admitted Tuesday she helped two housemates cover up a pair of killings by scattering the victims' remains, including in a popular Babylon park where a group of high school students found two human arms in February.

Amanda Wallace, 41, pleaded guilty to five felony charges, including two counts of concealment of a human corpse and hindering a prosecution in connection with the deaths of Malcolm Craig Brown and Donna Conneely of Yonkers.

While under oath before Suffolk Supreme Court Justice John Collins in Riverhead, Wallace said housemates Jeffrey Mackey, 38, and Alexis Nieves, 33, killed Conneely after Mackey fatally stabbed Brown on the morning of Feb. 27 inside the Railroad Avenue house where they all had been staying. Wallace told the court she assisted in cleaning up the scene and disposing of the body parts over the next two days.

Defense attorney Keith O’Halloran, of Islandia, said Wallace entered the guilty plea in an effort to better herself following her actions after the alleged homicides.

"From the time of her arrest, Ms. Wallace maintained that she was not complicit in the murder," O’Halloran said. "The DA’s investigation and indictment confirmed that. Today, she took responsibility for the actions she did take part in. She has expressed remorse and looks forward to utilizing whatever programs the jail may offer to better herself while she serves her sentence."

Wallace admitted the cover-up was an effort to prevent law enforcement from investigating and bringing murder charges against her housemates. She also pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery, a reduced charge related to a Feb. 20 knifepoint robbery at a Valero gas station in Copiague, which preceded the killings.

The plea agreement will require Wallace to serve concurrent jail terms of between 1 and 3 years for the concealment of a human corpse charges, hindering prosecution and tampering with physical evidence. She will be sentenced to 2 years on the robbery charge. O’Halloran said Wallace will likely serve 2 years behind bars under the agreement.

Wallace said she was the getaway driver in the robbery, in which Mackey entered the gas station and "forcibly stole property" from an attendant. Prosecutors previously said Mackey and Nieves used the knife from the robbery in the killings a week later.

Mackey is accused of stabbing Brown multiple times in the neck and torso before turning to Brown's wife, Conneely, and stabbing her repeatedly in the neck and back, Assistant District Attorney Frank Schroeder has previously said. Nieves then allegedly smashed Conneely multiple times in the head with a meat tenderizer and stabbed her as Mackey strangled her, according to Schroeder.

Mackey and Nieves, who were in a relationship at the time of the killings, both pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and conspiracy at their arraignments in April. They are due back in court Wednesday.

Prosecutors have said the couple, each of whom faces life in prison, planned the alleged homicides with Steven Brown, 44, a cousin of Malcolm Brown and the boyfriend of Wallace. Steven Brown has also pleaded not guilty in the case, in which he is charged with conspiracy, first-degree robbery, concealment of a human corpse, hindering a prosecution and tampering with physical evidence. He is scheduled to return to court Thursday.

The remains of Brown and Conneely were discovered over the course of a week in late February and early March scattered in Southards Pond Park in Babylon, wooded areas in West Babylon and at Bethpage State Park, police have said.

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.