Do You Know Who Killed This Bear?
A furry murder mystery is currently unfolding in Highland Mills.
Update: 6/10/24 - The DEC said authorization was granted to remove the bear’s body.
Woodbury Police Chief Watson has not replied for requests to comment on whether or not he will investigate, and charge Mr. Spitzer if warranted, with § 353-a. Aggravated cruelty to animals.
You can email him yourself and ask why the police aren’t investigating this matter: kwatson@woodburypolice.org
Perhaps he doesn’t want to upset voters needed to support his preferred Village Board candidates?
“I’ve never heard of a bear just dropping dead behind someone’s property.”
- Woodbury Mayor Andrew Giacomazza
There’s a large, dead bear behind the home of Martin Spitzer at 7 Stanford Drive in Highland Mills, a home that resides within Highland Lake Estates.
It may be the same Momma Bear that the local nuns were feeding and taking care of, that they said disappeared.
I have a photo of the bear’s poisoned body, but I’m declining to share it because of its upsetting nature.
What’s important to note is that the body has been there since the first week of April.
64 days later.
Spitzer’s neighbor, at 5 Stanford Drive, has said they can’t open their windows, or even step out into their yard, because of the smell.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has thus far declined to perform a necropsy and otherwise assist in removing the animal.
The Mayor of the Village of Woodbury, Andrew Giacomazza, stated at the May 23rd, 2024, Board of Trustees meeting that he believed the bear was poisoned.
If it’s true the bear was poisoned, then whomever murdered this bear would be subject to a charge under New York State Law Section 360: Poisoning or Attempting to Poison animals.
Although a bear is NOT a companion animal, Section 353-A of New York State Law also carries a felony charge for intentionally killing an animal with aggravated cruelty.
The Village, and Town, of Woodbury have thus far not assisted in removing the animal. The Mayor shared with me that he has requested the Board of Highland Lake Estates, at their own expense, remove the body.
So far, nobody has attempted to remove the animal.
This includes the majority of the board at Highland Lake Estates: Mr. Richard Cattagio, Shulem Perl, Joel Tirnouer, and Lazar Friedman.
All four are current subjects of a New York State Department of Human Rights investigation.
Cattagio, for what it’s worth, is said to have used Highland Lake Estates money to have a dead deer removed near his property in April of 2023.
Mr. Perl, Mr. Tirnouer, and Mr. Friedman, along with Martin Spitzer, are also currently engaged in a lawsuit against the Highland Lake Estates Board.
The neighbors in Highland Lake Estates believe Martin Spitzer killed the bear.
But did he?
Let’s take a closer look.
7 Stanford Drive in Highland Mills was built in 1996. It was formally owned by Luz M. Davis, who sold the home to Martin Spitzer on July 21st, 2021 for $395,000.
A month later, Martin Spitzer transferred the home from his name for $0 to he and his wife.
As of this writing, Mr. Spitzer is still listed as residing at this home along with his soon to be ex-wife, Baila Pessy Wieder.
We know Mr. Spitzer is going through a divorce because, a month before the bear murder, on March 7th, 2024, a summons and complaint was submitted to Orange County Court contesting the marriage. Those documents are not yet available online, so it’s not clear what the reason(s) for the divorce are.
At some point between March 7th, when the divorce paperwork was filed, and April 7th, the bear was poisoned by an unknown party.
Residents surrounding the home allege that Mr. Spitzer poisoned the bear because he was distraught over his divorce.
At this time, Mr. Spitzer has not responded to requests for comment.
The residents believe Mr. Spitzer is responsible for poisoning the bear because nobody else has made an effort to remove it, so they’ve inferred it’s the responsibility of the person responsible for the poisoning to get rid of the body.
I’ve reached out to Woodbury’s Chief of Police, Chief Kevin Watson, to see if the Woodbury Police have investigated the matter. I also specifically asked if the police were looking into charging Mr. Spitzer with poisoning an animal and for aggravated animal cruelty. Should they confirm whether or not he is the person responsible. I’ll let you know what the Chief says if I hear back from him.
I’ve also reached out to the state DEC asking why they declined to do a necropsy on the bear to confirm if it was poisoned or not. I shared with them that the mayor believes the bear was poisoned, and asked if they would be doing any sort of follow-up on the situation.
I also reached out to the New Jersey branch of the Animal Protection League, because they are already on high alert in our area over the treatment of the local wildlife by the Woodbury Town Board.
(For the record: I do not believe the Town Board members, who have a license to kill local beavers from the DEC, killed this bear. It’s funny to think about. But that didn’t happen.)
This seems like a silly issue, at least in light of the other things we cover here at The Monroe Gazette, but it’s not.
It’s especially important for the health and safety of Highland Lake Estates residents, because, if someone poisoned a large animal and got away with it, it’s probable they will do it again. It’s also possible that they won’t stop at poisoning animals. As the FBI states:
Historically, animal cruelty has been considered an isolated issue, but recent research shows a well-documented link that it is a predictive or co-occurring crime with violence against humans (including intimate partners, children, and elders) and is associated with other types of violent offenses. Increased awareness of this linkage and a collaborative approach to these investigations strengthens the identification and reduction of such crimes.
In addition, instead of removing the body, Mr. Richard Cattagio, Shulem Perl, Joel Tirnouer, and Lazar Friedman opted to put lye on it.
Not only does doing so make the situation worse, but it also leaves the bear’s remains out so that other wildlife can consume the poison AND the lye.
The Animal Trapper
Pictured Above: Animal Traps were set up along Saltzmans’ Lake, located within Highland Lake Estates, by an unknown individual.
It’s not clear if Martin Spitzer poisoned the bear. There’s at least one other suspect at large in Highland Lake Estates (HLE).
At least one resident of HLE is known to have placed traps all along the lake — a month after the bear was murdered, under a half-mile away —and filled the traps with watermelon. The traps were first spotted on May 5th. The Woodbury Police were called, but informed residents who notified them about the traps that there was nothing they could do.
This is puzzling, because it’s illegal to use traps on wildlife that are not appropriately labeled by the DEC.
Why the police chose not to investigate the bear’s murder, and these illegal traps, is currently unknown.
Mr. Richard Cattagio, Shulem Perl, Joel Tirnouer, and Lazar Friedman, all HLE Board members, were notified about the traps and, like the bear, did nothing about it.
On May 13th, a HLE resident found a possum was trapped inside of one of these cages that was left out. They called Animal Control, who rescued the possum from the trap. The Mayor was notified, and the mayor informed Mr. Richard Cattagio, Shulem Perl, Joel Tirnouer, and Lazar Friedman to remove the traps. Otherwise, they would face the potential wrath of the DEC.
Of course, Southern Orange County residents know the “wrath” of the DEC is basically like that old Robin Williams joke about the British Police — in the days before they were armed — where the powerless British police would say to criminals, “Stop … Or I’ll yell Stop again!”
(For one example: At any point, the DEC could have revoked all the permits granted to Keen Equities LLC. Despite numerous violations of NYS laws and regulations, not to mention violation of stop work orders. The DEC repeatedly failed to do this.)
Since that time, the traps have been removed.
But it’s unknown who placed them there.
One thing is known, however: If someone is capable of poisoning a bear, they’re just as capable of poisoning a person, meaning residents of Highland Lake Estates are in potential danger.
Either from this specific individual, or from the poison that they are leaving out which could pose a hazard to children and pets.
At least one dog in Highland Lake Estates has consumed poison left out for local wildlife and, luckily, survived the ordeal.
Others may not be so lucky.
If you have any information on who may be responsible for killing this bear, please email me at BJMendelson@Duck.com.