Tapes of 911 calls heard at triple-murder trial
Investigators comb a Central Islip house where three bodies were found by crew responding to a fire. (Aug. 11, 2009) Credit: James Carbone
Shock and horror were clear in the voices of neighbors on Hickory Street in Central Islip as they called 911 on the morning of Aug. 11, 2009, after a house went up in flames.
Tapes of the calls were played Friday at the trial of Hasan Vaughan and Thomas Singletary, both 36 and of Central Islip, who are being tried before Suffolk County Court Judge James Hudson on charges of torching the house after torturing and killing three people inside.
"Nobody's out of the house!" one man sobbed to the 911 operator. "I don't know what to do."
"Oh my God," another woman said. "There are two kids in there. Oh my God. Oh, it's terrible."
The two children escaped, but their mother, Mykier Daniels, 28, was dead in a back room. So was her boyfriend, Louis Calixto Jr., 19, and her sister, Katrice Daniels, 31, who was Vaughan's girlfriend.
Assistant District Attorney Robert Biancavilla has said Vaughan took his friend Singletary to the house seeking revenge after Calixto and Mykier Daniels broke into his apartment and stole his laptop and money. The men are charged with first-degree murder and arson.
Earlier Friday, another neighbor, Augustine Murillo, gave another version of events on his second day of often-muddled testimony.
On Thursday, Murillo described a man that appeared to resemble Vaughan who left the house as it exploded into flames. He said then that he asked the man: "What's happening? What's happening?" But the man ignored him and walked away.
Friday, however, Murillo told Vaughan's attorney, William Keahon of Hauppauge, that he glanced at the man before he went back into his own house to get his family out and that he had no conversation with him. He told Keahon he stayed inside for about 45 minutes.
Then, during questioning by Singletary's attorney, Daniel Russo of Westhampton, Murillo said he was inside for less than a minute getting his family out.
He said when he came out a second time, he saw a car "take off" from in front of the burning house, but he didn't see who was driving that car.
'It's disappointing and it's unfortunate' Suffolk Police Officer David Mascarella is back on the job after causing a 2020 crash that severely injured Riordan Cavooris, then 2. NewsdayTV's Andrew Ehinger and Newsday investigative reporter Paul LaRocco have the story.
'It's disappointing and it's unfortunate' Suffolk Police Officer David Mascarella is back on the job after causing a 2020 crash that severely injured Riordan Cavooris, then 2. NewsdayTV's Andrew Ehinger and Newsday investigative reporter Paul LaRocco have the story.
