edited 2023-12-11 to add: Apparently I was not clear with the photo.
It was intended to show the likely VIEW from the 7th floor at (then) 35 Pine St.
AND that in order to have used the shooting position mentioned in a video,
It would have required shooting thru several concrete block walls of the garage(s)
It was/is our opinion that the shooter was less than 25 feet from Harvey, at the South East corner of the property.
Original post below:
April 27 1977 Part III and hopefully the last needed
My “notes” on the events that day were made after several attempts to provide correct details to the investigators who guessed wrong.
This post expands on my August 22nd post which can be found at:
https://wheatcarr.com/2022/08/22/facts-matter-april-27-more/
Unfortunately those efforts reminded me of two particularly unpleasant peripheral events from 1977-79.
One was a conversation with a YPD Detective before the arrest and the other was with the President of Gannet in 1979,
In the “Walk and Talk” sadly, no effort was made to contact me for any input. But the good news is I got some amuzement out of the process. I posted an image and poof a week or so later there is drone footage of the neighborhood today. A definite LOL moment.
When I was told Jr wanted to set things right – I wanted to believe good intentions. Instead less than 3 minutes in was the first of many snide comments in this and other videos. As a certain Captain told me more than once – in the department sometimes the worst thing you can do is to be right if it embarrasses them.
Background to correct certain speculation I have read in a number of places:
Our family pet before Harvey had lived to the age of about 15 and was suffering – The wonderful people at the Med center told us there was nothing more they could really do for him. So we made the hard choice to end the pain from his inoperable cancer.
We all felt that loss deeply and perhaps Sam most of all. When I mentioned to a work friend I was going to have to take a trip or two to the pound to find Sam a new companion – he said wait a few days, I might have something to help. Next day at work he told me about Harvey. An affectionate just over 2 years old and in need of active people who also loved their animals.
Harvey was gifted to me when he was a little over 2 years One thing we can all agree on – Harvey was much loved by everyone (even people who were not dog people) and we adored him. The problem for his first family was his enthusiasm for everyone and his need to be “worked” as well as loved. Sometimes the stars align.
This seemed almost too good to be true. Sam got a companion and I got a training partner to run/jog with me early mornings or late evening most days both on the aqueduct. And more often than I might wanted – rocks dropped on my toes, and a 70 pound animal who thought he was a lap dog. And our night operators had a new pal to keep them company most nights.
Frankly his only flaw was he was not as good a judge of character as his predecessor – Harvey gave everyone the benefit of the doubt. We were lucky to have him in our lives until the late 80’s.
Continuing context: In the video the repeated point was made of not knowing where Harvey was likely to have been when he was shot. Sadly he did not ask – would have saved us both some agita. In my first post about the events of April 26, 1977 – I used a recent aerial view to show the likely distance from DB’s point of view – down to where it was most likely Harvey would have been. While anything is possible – I find it unlikely that most “hobby hunters” could have have made a 100 yard (300 ft) shot from above and certainly the trajectory did NOT match the entry/exit, reentry wounds. Just my opinion.
These details would have been easily available from at least a dozen people – just not the responding officers since they did not arrive on the “set” until after my Dad & I were enroute to the Animal Medical Center. Quite logically, the Officers choose to take a fast drive around the neighborhood to see if they could find someone fitting the description they received. It is my recollection the slug/bullet they found was near where Harvey had done some bleeding before we were able to get pressure on the wounds and get him into the car. Does it mean it was a thru and thru or a miss or even unrelated, we will never know. What we do know is that the responding officers were quite sure it was fairly large, so not a .22 as has been suggested.
Side Note: When my attorney asked for access to the bullet found by the Responding Officers, he was advised it did not exist. Thus we had to rely on the experienced eye of the Radiologist at the Animal Med Center as to it size and likely weight until the one in Harvey was removed after his death. Frankly I very much believe the officers did find something and did voucher it appropriately.
How or why it disappeared is a matter for speculation. My mother did not want the one from Harvey to be taken and used for gain (we were offered substantial sums more than once) so I honored her request and after cleaning it up and weighing it, melted it down tossed it into the bucket for later use in reloading.
Back to the video. All of the following relates to observations/assumptions made in the first 15 or so minutes of the video. Some also applies to other videos in the series. I have tried to make quite clear where it is verifiable fact and where it my opinion or assumptions made by other.
Earlier today I sent a less detailed account with a promise to expand later to “another investigator” because it is my personal policy to respond to all polite requests, in writing as having more than once been subjected to selective editing.
I did the first April 27 post image to show two things –
first the distance from his fire escape/window
and second where Harvey actually was.
If you saw the first version of the Walk & Talk about when Harvey was shot, you may remember (it has been edited out but now seems to be back) they stopped at the South East corner – Named it Possibility One and then dismissed it as unlikely. Manny commented about one of the trees looked old enough to have been there (and he is probably right about that) In fact, you can see that tree in the above 2009 photo – although in 1977 there were no doors. They were installed and the area paved after it was sold to Jim Faulkner.
Harvey was attached to a lead about 20-25 feet long and it was secured inside the small building so he could, if he choose, get out of the sun he could. This area was where Harvey liked to deposit his favorite outdoor toys = a few 2-3 ft sections 6×6 and 8×8 wood and a few cement blocks.
In fact, Harvey’s lead line and his preferred napping spot was only about 20-25 feet from the South East corner where Manny commented on the age of the tree. The farthest his lead would have allowed from #1 to X would have been less than 30 feet, but he was unlikely to have stretched it that far.
I agree that the likelihood of #2 to Y was about 40 to 50 yards. Add that Y was not a place Harvey could have stretched his lead – in fact he would not have been visible. Add that it would have required shooting through several concrete block walls, most will agree #2 was not the place used by the shooter.
Although most of those officers did a good job BTW – except for late tour August 10th into the morning of August 11th when the officer assigned must have left early since NY Post’s Dunleavy flashed a fake badge at 6:15am to our night operator and then to my Dad – The Officers used the desk in the front office/room both on the south side of the house – which was in front of the “switchboard room”. Our residential/living area, including the living room that was behind the other section of enclosed porch where I had a work office area.
The above photo of Sam & Harvey was taken on the morning of August 11th between 6:15am and 6:30am. Our night operator called upstairs on the intercom to let me know about the supposed Cop with a photographer. She did not think a real cop would have a photographer – the photographer took off when I came downstairs and Dunleavy tried to bluff his way into staying. I escorted him out the door
I like using this next photo since it is easy to see/confirm that unlike some reports – there were TWO doors – one led to the “front office” which was used by employees and those Police Officers assigned to keep wackos both civilian and press from creating havoc.
And because it reminds me how well Harvey looked after recovery. The exterior of the house was not updated until the Mid-80’s but in this photo taken (somewhere around May 1978 (updated after further research.)
To “reset the stage”, in more recent photos (about 10:17 in the video ) there is a great deal of construction type debris between the small southern section of the garages located at the South East corner of our property. It was not there at the time. That corner, closest to the property lines
Harvey;s lead line was “attached” to the inside of the small garage so if he wanted to get out of sun/rain/etc. Harvey also liked to dig himself a soft spot in the dirt by the wall of the back yard of 312 to lay in the sun. There was no grass, just hard dirt and gravel at the time.
There has also been some discussion about my motorcycles and their condition. The only one that was there at the time of the shooting was the remains of my first motorcycle – a short lived experiment by Harley Davidson into the world of 350cc “Sprint” – mostly suited to street use. And yes, its remains were there when Diegel began working on some projects after Jim’s accident on Memorial Day weekend – about a 4-5 weeks after Harvey was shot. My parents later admitted it was there to remind me no matter how careful I might be – there are things like drunk drivers who can come out of nowhere and hit you broadside.
Given the date, (Late April 1977) I suspect the 1200cc Super Glide was at Yonkers Harley for a spring tuneup. BTW when it was stolen it had about 50,000 miles, so yeah, I did ride it rather frequently. weather permitting.
Mention was made of the house at 312 – its placement in their property pretty much mirrored ours, so would have not been an impediment in any way – but yes it was still there “at the time”
The debris (looks like brush or perhaps old boards from gutting interior of the house by the current owner or both) was not there. Harvey was rarely out there for more than an hour or two during the day – we had to make sure he could not run in front of one of our autos when we came up the driveway.
Even that small area at the top of the driveway would not have been accessible to him. (the distance from the SE Corner “No. 1” close to the top of the driveway
evetually I will further edit the photo to include a Z. But “Y” remains inaccessible to Harvey so a shot from Possibility No 2 is ruled out.
Other facts, as you watch the video in many places during the first 15 minutes, as early as the 3:47 point, you can clearly see the two 2nd floor windows on the North side of the house. It is a fact that without summer foliage – you can clearly see pretty much from which to just past the North corner of the property back to Wicker – especially the foot path. So my Dad would have had a clear view of anyone on the aqueduct.
Also note at somewhere around 14 minutes as the investigators jog north – you can see a gate between the 2nd and 3rd house. And was not likely visible from the second floor windows.
So I am sticking with the shooter, seen headed north, likely cutting between the 2nd and 3rd house up to Grove and then on up Glenwood to Pine.
I hope this will clear up some misconceptions that have been repeated too many times already and are now being quoted as fact.
I may as time allows, do some cleaning up of this information if I find errors or just some editing for understanding based on questions received, mis spelling, poor grammar, etc. Why? because especially professional editors need their own work double checked.
Feel free to ask if you need more detail – just remember – I have never hidden who I am so unless you also provide an email with your real name – don’t expect an answer.
Thank you to NEO for providing correction on some a date.
Thank you to Manny for his mention of the wild roses on the property line. It brought back some wonderful family memories
