Thomas P. Rath was kidnapped and murdered, said police in New York State. They announced on Monday, Aug. 28, that 10 people have been arrested in connection to this, and more arrests are coming. (Image: New York State Police)
Authorities have arrested 10 people and say more are coming in the kidnapping and murder of a homeless man abducted from his encampment in Ithaca, New York.
Angelo Baez, 48, and Jonathan Glennon, 31, are charged with murder in the second degree for killing Thomas P. Rath, 33, state police announced on Monday. Baez and eight others face a count of kidnapping in the first degree.
- Colleen E. Dillon, 31, of Newfield, NY
- Zayne G. Burlingame, 30, Ithaca, NY
- Mark F. Beatty, 35, of Ithaca
- Robert W. Hines, 52, of Candor, NY
- Neraida A. Sobrado-Torres, 43, of Ithaca
- Jack J. Benjamin Jr., 39, of Ithaca
- Brelynn B. Vorrasi, 27, of Lodi, New York
- Justin M. Knapp, 36, of Ithaca
Glennon is locked up at the Androscoggin County Jail in Maine, authorities said.
Monday marked the 100th day since Rath’s disappearance.
Police said he was kidnapped on May 20 from his encampment in the area known as the “Jungle,” behind a Lowes.
Ithaca cops got a call to perform a welfare check, but they had to investigate with little information.
Six days later, they got evidence that Rath disappeared under suspicious circumstances. They asked state cops for help.
Investigators said they learned on May 31 that the victim had once been at a home at 70 Benjamin Hill Road in Newfield. Authorities obtained and executed a search warrant there. Their work included a large-scale foot search in the area.
The investigation continued into Aug. 3, when they found Rath buried in a shallow grave on state lands off Ekroos Road in Candor.
They did not release a cause and manner of death.
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This was not a random act, State Police Capt. Lucas Anthony told reporters in a press conference on Monday.
“This was someone that he was familiar with,” Anthony said, without naming any defendant in particular.
The defendants were familiar with each other, he said.
Authorities cited the ongoing case, the privacy of Rath’s family, and the certainty of more arrests as their reason for withholding evidence.
For example, investigators did not discuss the motive. They will address that in court, Anthony said.
He told reporters Rath was murdered within 24 hours after his kidnapping. Anthony described the crime as an ongoing event from start to finish, though he stopped short of characterizing it as “orchestrated.”
The prosecution will happen in Tioga County because that’s where the murder happened, authorities said.
When asked if drugs or the drug trade played a role, Anthony said there was maybe something on the periphery but nothing they could identify as a driving factor.
“To us, as the police, Mr. Rath was the victim, but to his family, he was a father, a brother, and a son, and we recognize that and express our condolences to them,” he told reporters.
State police asked the public to respect the family’s privacy.
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