by Mark Gado
Chapter 12: The Search
Once detectives entered Jamelske’s home and were satisfied that no other victims were being held, police established a perimeter around the house and stationed a dozen officers to safeguard it. Crime-scene tape stretched along the stockade fence, in front of the house on Highbridge Road, and behind the property inside Waterford Woods. Neighbors, alerted by police activity, came out of their houses and gathered in small groups along the street. Within the hour, local news media showed up and began to film the scene as more police showed up to control the crowd. Investigators from several different police agencies gathered at the location, and soon the area was jammed with trucks, police vans, EMS, patrol cars and private taxis. Traffic came to a standstill as drivers slowed their vehicles, parked along the road and stopped to take photographs.
In the meantime, investigators had put together a search warrant for Jamelske’s dungeons. A county judge quickly signed it. The warrant included statements by Celeste and Denise, in which they described how Jamelske abducted and kept them prisoner in the concrete bunker: “She has been held against her will at 7070 Highbridge Road in the Town of DeWitt since October or November 2002 by being locked in an underground cement chamber… she stated that John T. Jamelske did photograph and video tape her while she was being held captive and was told by him that he placed the pictures on the Internet. He also did tell her that he had other women and that he and his partner sold them on the Internet…. The suspect displayed to her a law enforcement badge and described it as being shaped like a star and believed it to have Onondaga County Sheriff written on it.”
Unlike most other search warrants, this court order included a wide variety of items to be seized, including “any photographs, film or negatives or any other identified or unidentified victims. Any camera equipment used to take photographs and all pornographic, nude or semi-nude photographs and or video tapes of adults or children. Any computer and or digital files depicting images of a pornographic nature or depicting nude or semi-nude people… or any other unidentified victims. Hairs, fibers, blood, bodily fluids, bedding, foam, or any written materials that may identify any other potential victims.”
Once the warrant was signed, Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department deputies, Town of Manlius police officers, evidence technicians, entry team personnel, patrol officers and team supervisors, representatives from the county district attorney’s office, and several photographers, along with Detective Jack Schmidt and Sergeant Rick Woolley, headed over to Highbridge Road to search for evidence of Jamelske’s reign of terror.
Upon arrival, officers made their way into the basement, past the thousands of beer bottles stacked on the endless rows of shelves, until they reached the entry point into the tunnel. Police crawled into the entranceway and into the first room, which contained the tub and toilet. Slowly and methodically, the search team scoured every inch of the two rooms. The weird graffiti scribbled on the walls was photographed and recorded in police reports. In the second room, officers observed a spray-painted peace symbol with a handgun drawn inside it. The words “who shot cha?” and “fuck you bitch!” were written to the right. Next to those phrases was a heart with “do not hate” written inside the image. A large white crucifix hung on the wall and the words “I love you. I love you” appeared nearby.
In the meantime, outside the home, police portioned off the front and backyards in preparation for a carefully organized ground search. Mechanized equipment was brought in to excavate the soil. “Investigators are using equipment such as ground radar and backhoes to find hidden evidence,” Sheriff Kevin Walsh told the Empire State Sheriff. “Jamelske’s septic system was drained and a forensic investigator had to meet the challenge of that assignment.”
Sheriff Kevin Walsh
Onondaga Co. Sheriff Dept. website
While officers waded through an obstacle course of junk and debris, crime-scene technicians struggled to maintain a sense of order. “We actually executed several search warrants at the Jamelske home,” explained Woolley recently. “That’s because as we discovered other victims, who came forward once publicity on the story expanded, we had to keep going back to search for additional evidence as each victim described.”
Whenever a search warrant is issued by a New York court, the affiant must file a “return” with the same court that issued the original order. The return, which consists of a sworn statement by the affiant, usually a police officer, must include the dates of execution of the warrant, the name of the officers who actually conducted the search, and a detailed list of all items seized pursuant to the court order. When the initial warrant was returned, it listed 163 items seized, including 50 video tapes, notebooks, masks, audio cassettes, assorted photographs, computers, police hats, padlocks, medications, bedding, foam pads and more. Some of the video recordings contained scenes of Jamelske dancing to music in the dungeons and exercising with his victims.
As investigators rummaged through the cluttered home, they searched the closets, pantries and the many boxes that were located in every room. On a bookshelf in the hallway that led to the main bedroom, an officer found an empty box of Domino sugar. When he looked inside, he discovered a small piece of paper with a garbled, hand-printed message. “My name is Amy. Help me I am kidnapped somewhere!” The box and note were later logged into evidence.
Jamelske’s Hallway Closet
“The funny thing about evidence, it can be anything,” said Sheriff Walsh. “Jamelske was a hoarder of everything. Investigators found pictures of woman chained in the dungeon and the detailed diaries that included everything from when the women brushed their teeth to when they had sex.” Police located seven refrigerators throughout the house that were not functional. Jamelske was using them as storage units for magazines, dry goods, toilet paper and cleaning liquids.
The basement windows were covered with wire refrigerator shelving that had been bolted and chained across the frame so no one could climb in or out. Jamelske had also nailed and screwed sheets of plywood across other windows so his victim couldn’t escape if they used his bathroom. He had locks and hasps on every door in the house, including closets. The home was a virtual prison once he was inside and all the doors were secured. A person could walk around freely in the rooms, but could not get out of the house without breaking down a door or tearing through a chained-up window.
Jamelske’s Locked Basement Window
All sorts of things were crammed into every inch of space in each closet. On one shelf unit, police found 56 unopened boxes of Kleenex tissues. On another, several dozen boxes of cereal, all arranged in exactly the same manner, lined the inside of a pantry. There were piles of old magazines such as National Geographic and Popular Mechanics, all separated and arranged by date into neat stacks. Dozens of jars of baby powder, shampoo, hand soap, ketchup, dishwashing fluid and bags of sugar were stuffed into a hallway closet. Inside the basement, detectives found numerous metal filing cabinets stuffed with innocuous bills and papers that he had accumulated over the years. He had also saved all his phone bills, grocery receipts, junk mail and letters. The items were filed by date and subject matter. “Everything that man ever did in his life was in those filing cabinets,” said Detective Schmidt. “It was amazing.”
Other areas of the property were in direct contrast to the neat and orderly world of the filing cabinets. The shed contained an incredible mess of tangled junk that stretched from the floor to the wooden rafters above. Every conceivable piece of metal trash that could be imagined was tossed into the shed over the years, and it simply lay there untouched and ignored for a decade or more. Investigators later found two garden tractors, three snowmobiles, and two motorcycles buried under the debris. Outside, broken garden equipment, car tires, sinks, refrigerators and other household items were scattered carelessly about, giving the property the appearance of a junkyard and perhaps a furtive glimpse into the twisted mind of its owner.
www.crimescape.com
Chapter 13: “They
Weren’t People to Him”
Over the next few months, it became obvious to Jamelske and his attorneys, Michael Forsyth and Robert Earl, that police had a powerful case to present at trial. District Attorney William Fitzpatrick informed the members of the defense team that he would be seeking the maximum penalty for their client, a sentence of 25 years to life on each of the five most serious charges of kidnapping in the first degree. Jamelske was also charged with dozens of other sexual offenses as well. He faced life in prison without parole.
John Jamelske
Mug Shot
Though all five victims indicated that they would be available to testify if the case went to trial, none were enthusiastic about appearing in public to tell the lurid details of their captivity. Onondaga County Judge Anthony Aloi encouraged both sides to come to an agreement. Fitzpatrick offered a sentence of 18 years to life with the stipulation that Jamelske would provide full disclosure of his assets to be sold off to compensate the victims for their suffering. He would also receive a chance at parole. Jamelske and his attorneys agreed. They struck a deal, and on June 11, 2003, all parties appeared in county court in downtown Syracuse.
While a packed courtroom awaited the appearance of John Jamelske, reporters gathered in the hallways. None of the victims showed up at the courthouse. They preferred to remain at home and out of the public eye for the time being. Promptly at 10 AM, court officers brought in Jamelske, handcuffed and chained, and escorted him to the table where Forsyth and Earl were waiting. Looking old and haggard, Jamelske glanced around the room looking for familiar faces. Later, he said he was looking for Ellen. He had hoped she would appear in court to say goodbye.
“Jamelske looked dejected and defeated,” said Woolley, who was present in the courtroom that day. “He just stood there and later mumbled something about an apology.” Fitzgerald was unmoved by the defendant’s attempt at remorse. “This was about control,” he said. “He so devalues human life. They weren’t people to him. They were objects.”
Judge Aloi read off the specifics of each of the five kidnapping charges while the defendant stood in silence, only occasionally answering “yes” or “no” in a soft but barely audible voice. The judge detailed each kidnapping event and told the court the purpose of the abductions was to sexually abuse the girls. Jamelske answered “yes” to each count, and when he was asked how he would plead, he answered “guilty.” The proceeding was over in 20 minutes and sentencing was set for July 15. In the meantime, investigators gathered a list of Jamelske’s assets to be liquidated.
www.crimescape.com
Chapter 14: Sentencing
During the next month, police were able to track down most of Jamelske’s holdings, which included real-estate investments in New Mexico, California and Florida. He also had stock certificates in American companies and some cash in local bank accounts. The home on Highbridge Road was put up for sale. Its proceeds would go to the victims. After the dungeons were thoroughly searched again, they were scheduled for demolition, and the defendant was required to pay for that as well. Everything in the home, including the extensive bottle collection, was to be sold at auction as part of the plea agreement. Jamelske, who previously had a two-day debriefing interview with District Attorney Fitzpatrick, was in a somber mood when he learned he would probably never be paroled and could expect to die in prison.
During the interview with Fitzpatrick, Jamelske offered an explanation for holding the girls as sex slaves. He told Fitzpatrick that he paid the girls for their “stay” in his dungeons, but they had to reimburse him for “room and board” when he let them go. He calculated a price scale for various sex acts and paid the girls accordingly. If they left the bunkers without any cash, it was because their room and board fees exceeded the payments.
Fitzpatrick later said that Jamelske made up this part of the story. He never gave money to any of the victims. Fitzpatrick also said that Jamelske lied about many things during the debriefing and only displayed remorse when he talked about his childhood memories. He showed no apparent anger or rage typically found in serial rapists, explained Fitzpatrick to the press. When he asked Jamelske why he wasn’t afraid of being caught when he brought his last victim into public view, he seemed surprised.
“Caught for what?” Jamelske later said. “What did I do wrong?” He continued to minimize his crimes, even when confronted with all the damning evidence. “I’m not the monster they’re painting this horrid picture of,” he told MSNBC during an interview from the city jail. “I’m a pretty nice guy and I never hurt anyone physically.” During the same interview, he said that the girls exaggerated the living conditions in the bunker to make it seem worse than it was. “I would not mind living down there in that dungeon,” he boasted. “It was absolutely beautiful! There was a bed. There was water. Anything they wanted except leaving at certain a time was there.”
Despite his claims that the bunker was a pleasant place to live, every person who had an opportunity to examine the dungeon came away appalled and disgusted at the living conditions. “The second room where they slept is really a creepy place,” said Assistant District Attorney Rick Trunfio to a news reporter after a brief tour. “It’s a nasty place. It’s dank; it’s dark. Without any light in there, it must be a scary place. And the graffiti just makes it more bizarre.”
On the morning of July 16, 2003, in the same courthouse where Jamelske pleaded guilty, spectators and members of the press lined up in the hallways waiting for their seats. It would be the strange and reclusive defendant’s final public appearance.
Onondaga County Courthouse
Photo Courtesy of Author
Soon after the proceedings were called to order, Judge Aloi asked the prosecution and defense if they were ready to begin. Fitzgerald told the court he was ready to present victim’s impact statements to the court. He notified the judge that Amy, Jamelske’s first victim, was unwilling to appear in court at the sentencing. But her attorney had a prepared statement that she wanted read in court.
He told the court that his client had suffered intensely for many years as a result of her abduction and inhuman treatment at the hands of the defendant. “Your sentencing of the defendant today is expected to be of a therapeutic benefit to my client,” he said. “The victim and her family have a natural desire to see the defendant sentenced to the foulest dungeon in creation for all eternity.” He told the court that Amy’s family agreed to the prosecution’s plea agreement, “but they understand the defendant’s right to fairness and humane treatment even though he himself does not understand those principles.”
Celeste, who was imprisoned for nine months, told the court that she suffered every moment of every day in the dungeons. “The cold, dampness, darkness and loneliness; I will never forget the constant hunger, thirst and fatigue,” she said. “The thought of death. Would it be better than the life I was being put through? I cannot speak of the terrible things he did to my body and made me do to his.”
Denise, held prisoner for two months, also prepared a statement to be read in court. She said that she had lived in fear ever since the day Jamelske abducted her off the streets of Syracuse. She told the court she was afraid of the dark and old men ever since she was released from the concrete bunker. “I also have horrible dreams at night,” she said. “I cry out and jump in my sleep… I have lost a job and several friends due to his actions and what he has done to me. John Jamelske is a sick and evil old man and should be punished. He has no right to take away my freedom, my right to breathe fresh air or my right to be treated like a human being.”
Ellen, the final victim, had a written statement read in court by her sister. She said she hated her captor and lived in fear every day she was held inside his dungeons. “You’ll never be able to know the fear I felt, being raped every day,” she told the defendant. “The nightmares I have, remembering how I had to fulfill your sick fantasies, making disgusting videos, being humiliated, never having any privacy, being chained to a fence like a dog! The
only thing that got me through this horrendous nightmare was my strong faith in God, praying every day that He would help me go home. You are the sickest man I have ever known!”
When the victims completed their statements, Judge Aloi ordered the defendant to stand. Jamelske stood in front of the bench, stiff as a board, and did not respond as the judge’s booming voice echoed off the courtroom walls. “You are a sick coward,” Aloi said to the trembling defendant. “You are an evil man. You are a kidnapper and a rapist, a master manipulator of people and the truth, but your reign of terror is over.”
Judge Aloi then sentenced him to 18 years to life in state prison. “Mr. Jamelske, there is no question in my mind you should die in prison for what you’ve done to these five women.” When asked if he had anything to say, Jamelske cleared his throat and spoke in a quivering voice that rose in tone as he went on.
“I’m just truly sorry for what I did,” he said as tears rolled down his face. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about it and I’m just very sorry for what I did and for how it affected everyone and God bless all of them.”
Spectators were not moved by Jamelske’s statement, nor did they sympathize with the defendant when he began to cry. “Seeing him cry pissed me off,” one victim said to New York Post reporter Joe McGurk. “For him to ask for a lesser sentence, he’s just sick. He should die in jail. Even better, he should rot in that prison he created.”
Many people thought Jamelske was only remorseful because he had been caught and his attorneys tried to convince him to express regret whenever he had the chance to speak. When he was later interviewed in jail, a reporter asked if he was truly sorry and whether he would still abduct women if he hadn’t been arrested.