July 30, 2002 – The two men who narrowly missed killing St. John resident Rosamond Dane and did kill her boyfriend, Charles "Trey" Helliwell III, last year in New York City were sentenced there on Monday to life in prison.
The highly publicized, execution-style shootings which occurred five floors above the Carnegie Delicatessen in Midtown Manhattan in May 2001, left three people dead, including Jennifer Stahl, who also had ties to the Virgin Islands community, and two persons wounded. Dane was saved, according to published reports, because she recoiled when the gun barrel was put to her head, and the bullet intended to kill her instead lodged behind her left ear.
Dane had her say in court on Monday, when she told Justice Carol Berkman, "I was left with a bullet in my head. Those men shut the door and ran away and left me with no help."
Dane said, according to The New York Post, "I'm here today strong enough to fight back … but they had no mercy, Your Honor."
Dane and Helliwell, who were in New York for a wedding as well as on business, were visiting Stahl in her apartment when the killings took place. Authorities said Stahl, who was once married to Wendall Callwood, son of Jost Van Dyke's "Foxy" Callwood, was operating a high-grade retail marijuana business out of her Seventh Avenue apartment. Sean Salley, 30, and Andre Smith, 31, went there to rob her and ended up shooting her point blank in the forehead, police said. The pair then bound the other four people with duct tape and proceeded to shoot each one in the head.
Also killed was Stephen King, 32 (no relation to the author). Surviving along with Dane was Anthony Veader, 37.
Dr. Phillip King, Stephen's father, told Salley and Smith on Monday, "I'd like to wring your necks."
Karen and Charles Helliwell Jr. told the judge they didn't expect to find "solace or closure," according to The New York Times, but asked the court to "ensure that these men never be given the opportunity to repeat such cruel and barbaric acts."
The judge sentenced each man to 120 years in prison: 25 years for each of the three murders, 30 years for the robbery convictions and 15 years for criminal possession of a weapon. The terms are to be served consecutively.
Smith addressed the assembled family members and survivors saying, "I'm truly sorry for what happened, and I hope you forgive me."
When asked by the Post if she would forgive Smith, Dane replied, "He left me for dead, okay?"
Editor's note: To read the New York Times story, click here. For the New York Post account, click here.
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