Correction officer arraigned in fatal shooting spree

In a packed, tense courtroom ringed by 15 court officers who stood guard, a Nassau correction officer Thursday faced charges that she killed her uncle and her ex-girlfriend, wounded her grandfather and took her niece hostage

Kim Wolfe could be heard but not seen behind a frosted glass screen, a security measure that frustrated and angered friends and family members of victim Stacie Williams. Wolfe, 43, is charged with murder in the death of Williams, 45, a longtime nurse's aide in Nassau University Medical Center's labor and delivery suite. She was shot to death outside the hospital early Wednesday.

Police say Wolfe, an officer at the Nassau County jail next to NUMC, killed her and Wolfe's uncle, Marshall Williams Jr., 56.

Wolfe was arrested early Wednesday morning, a few hours after, officials say, she shot Williams with her service pistol and then drove to her family's home in Hempstead, where she fatally shot her uncle and wounded her grandfather, Marshall Williams, 88.

Wolfe then took her 23-year-old niece hostage, driving for several hours before surrendering to Nassau police, officials said.

Wolfe did not enter a plea. She is charged with second-degree murder, kidnapping and assault. District Court Judge Terence Murphy issued orders of protection for the niece and grandfather. Wolfe was being held without bail at an undisclosed jail, though Murphy said she would be sent to a Suffolk facility for her protection.

Wolfe's mother, Mary, stood in support of her daughter, who entered the courtroom behind a wall of frosted glass. Wolfe answered, "Yes, sir," when asked if she could hear.

Police said the shooting spree was fueled by a soured relationship between Wolfe and Williams, and by a family dispute over who would be her insurance beneficiary.

Many of Williams' family members were visibly upset as they left the courtroom.

A cousin, Anthony Smalls, said he believed Wolfe is getting special treatment because she is a correction officer. "We all have a right to be angry. You're going to hide her because we're angry?" he said.

Daniel Bagnuola, a court spokesman, said the procedures used to arraign Wolfe were standard. "We evaluate courtroom security on a case-by-case basis," Bagnuola said, citing the crowded courtroom.

Wolfe's attorney, Nassau County Sheriff Officers Association counsel Frederick Annibale Jr., afterward described his client as "very, very sad."

"We're grieving just as much as the next community," said Wolfe's sister Felicia. "I do apologize to the other family."

With Matthew Chayes