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Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Grand Jury Helps Bethlehem PD Crack Attempted Homicide

Castellanos and Cadwallader
Bethlehem police are crediting a Northampton County Investigating Grad Jury with assisting them in cracking the attempted homicide of Anthony Berliner, earlier this summer, near Yosko Park. He was shot in the chest outside his Atlantic Street residence on June 15. He immediately turned and ran, and could hear another bullet pass by his head as he fled to a neighbor's home.He suffered massive blood loss, a collapsed lung and multiple fractured ribs. The couple whom police think are responsible are now behind bars in Florida, awaiting extradition.

According to Berliner, he was lured from his residence by a phone call from by Leah Calwallader, age 18. When he left the house, her boyfriend Evan Castellanos, age 19,  got out of a Pontiac Grand Prix driven by Calwallader and shot him.

Castellanos and Cadwallader told Detective Sean Molony that they were in New York City at the time of the shooting and denied any involvement. Because of communications issues with potential witnesses, Molony reached out to the District Attorney John Morganelli and received his permission to use that tool to continue the investigation.

Through video surveillance footage, Molony was able to establish that Castellanos and
Cadwallader were at the Lehigh Valley Mall on the evening prior to the shooting. They were also able to identify the Grand Prix in South Bethlehem on the morning of the shooting. Through cellular telephone record mapping, he was able to establish that they had been in the Lehigh Valley and were, in fact, in South Bethlehem on the morning of the shooting.

In addition to the records that Molony obtained, the Grand Jury was used to compel testimony. Witnesses describe Castellanos as a drug supplier. A street dealer named Joseph Shupp, who is supplied by Castellanos, told jurors that they had not been in New York, but had been with him in several occasions prior to the shooting.

Another witness told jurors that Castellanos left book bag at her residence, containing a revolver and two shell casings.

On Thursday, November 20, Grand Jury presentments and arrest warrants were sealed by Northampton county Judge Michael J. Koury, Jr. Bethlehem police had information that Castellanos and Cadwallader were hiding out in Kissimmee, Fl. Within five hours, both were in custody and are awaiting extradition on charges of attempted homicide, aggravated assault and conspiracy.

"You can run but you can't hide," noted Morganelli. Bethlehem PD Chief Mark DiLuzio added that, thanks to recent technology, they can communicate instantly with other departments. But he and Detective Molony were even more complimentary of an older prosecutorial tool - the Grand Jury.

"It's a very powerful tool,"observed the Chief, noting that it also moves "otherwise stale cases forward."  
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1 comment:

  1. AnonymousNovember 25, 2014 at 5:42 AM

    why is this grand jury wasting taxpayer money on criminal matters? isn't there a school board they should be investigating?

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