Female College Student, Kathryn Filiberti, 18, Found Dead

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HYDE PARK, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — A shocking murder has stunned a quiet northern suburb.

A young college student left a party, and the next day was found dead on the side of a road.

On Tuesday police were going to great lengths to catch her killer, reports CBS 2’s Tony Aiello.

Lindsay McGarril has lost her best friend, Kate Filiberti, a talented former gymnast, a lovely girl with a big smile and a generous spirit.

“Unimaginable. Every day I wake up and I want it to be a nightmare. You think that it’s not possible that this could ever happen,” McGarril said. “She had the greatest heart. She would do anything for her friends. She was just such an amazing person.”

On Tuesday police were out searching for clues near the spot where Filiberti was found dead Saturday afternoon.

She was taken in an act of violence that has shaken this quiet Dutchess County town.

“I know there is a lot of anxiety in the community, and I understand that,” Hyde Park Police Chief Charles Broe said.

Chief Broe said there just wasn’t much he could release on Tuesday.

Friends of Filiberti, who was a freshman at Dutchess Community College, said she’d argued with a male acquaintance and left a party Friday night. She started walking home, but never made it.

A homemade cross marks the spot where her body was found the next day — just a mile from the police station.

“We’re really going in every direction right now. We’re collecting evidence. We’re doing numerous interviews. We’re leaving no stone unturned as far as the investigation is concerned,” Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office Lt. John Watterson said.

Police said there is a strong technology angle to their investigation as well. They’re checking cell phone and text message records, along with Facebook status updates.

Losing a friend so suddenly, McGarril said she’s already a changed person.

“I don’t want to take things for granted. In a matter of seconds everything can change,” she said.

It’s a painful lesson from a painful loss.

Filiberti’s family will announce funeral arrangements on Thursday.

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HYDE PARK — On Saturday, family and friends will gather to mourn the tragic loss of Kathryn Filiberti, the 18-year-old Hyde Park college student found dead in a town park five days ago.

She is survived by a younger sister, mother, father and grandparents as well as extended family and will be buried in St. Peter's Cemetery in Poughkeepsie Saturday after her funeral.

Police continue their search for clues in the case.

As the town park where Kathryn Filiberti's body was found became covered with a light snow late this morning, police and state agencies poked the brush, turned over leaves and walked through the surrounding woods.

"This is a difficult one," Town Police Chief Charles Broe Sr. said today at the park on N. Greentree Drive. He vowed to find the killer, and said, while the case remains unsolved, "You don't want to eat. You don't want to sleep at night."

He still couldn't discuss particulars about how Filiberti was killed, stressing that they are following up on new leads and that social media has caused a situation similar to the "old game of telephone," where rumors get spread and information distorted.

TJ Hanlon from the Dutchess County's Sheriff's Office said the approximately 20 officers on hand were looking for "a particular piece of evidence," but he would not elaborate.

Filiberti, a 2010 graduate of Franklin D. Roosevelt High School, where she was on the gymnastic team and cross country team, was found just after noon Saturday.

"We’re turning over every rock and stick that we possibly can," Sheriff Butch Anderson said today.

Broe expressed gratitude for the amount of manpower dedicated to solving the case, including from the Dutchess County's Sheriff's Office, New York State Park Police, Department of Environmental Protection Police, MTA police and the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, who were out today searching the park and fields near the town police station. He added, state police have provided equipment and manpower in specific areas of the investigation.

Residents of the neighborhood around the park described it as mostly unused, quiet.

This story is developing.

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HYDE PARK — On day four of the investigation into 18-year-old Kathryn Filiberti’s death, police combed areas along Route 9G looking for evidence into what they are calling a homicide.

New details about Filiberti’s cause of death or whether there is a suspect or suspects in the case have not been released today and Town Police Chief Charles Broe Sr. continued to stress he cannot comment on “anything that would jeopardize the progress of the investigation.”

Hyde Park police released Filiberti’s name Monday, 48 hours after her body was found off Greentree Drive — just after noon Saturday.

Broe classified the case as “very active” and going in “a lot of different directions.” He said police were doing interviews, ground searches, evidence collection, background checks and social media searches for clues.

Police also received a number of tips that they are following up on. Broe said he hopes people with information continue to come forward.

Broe said they were looking for people who were in the area of Route 9G, between Greenbush Drive (south of West Dorsey Lane) and Greentree Drive, between late Friday evening and the early morning hours on Saturday.

An autopsy was performed Sunday but the cause of death is pending, Dr. Kari Reiber, the chief medical examiner for Dutchess County, said today. She said the is waiting for toxicology reports, which can take four to six weeks, and for the police investigation.

“There’s quite a bit of information we don’t have yet,” she said.

Anyone with information may call town police at 845-229-9340, the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office at 845-486-3800, or the town police tip line

When will this madness ever stop?

Police in upstate New York are searching a seven-acre park for clues in the slaying of an 18-year-old college student who was dumped there over the weekend.

Hyde Park police confirmed Monday the identity of Kathryn Filiberti. Her body was found Saturday afternoon near Greentree Park in the Dutchess County town of Hyde Park, about 75 miles north of New York City.

"We are searching for anything we think might be of evidence in the case," Lt. John Watterson of the Dutchess County Sheriff's Department told AOL News. "We are not narrowing it down to any one specific thing."

An autopsy on Filiberti was completed Sunday, and the death is listed as a homicide, but authorities have declined to elaborate.

"The cause and manner of death is pending," said Dr. Kari Reiber, the county's chief medical examiner. "This is an active homicide investigation, and I do not release partial information. I am still waiting on laboratory testing."

Authorities have yet to confirm local media reports that Filiberti had been stabbed multiple times in the face and the chest.

Filiberti graduated last year from Hyde Park's Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School, where she enjoyed gymnastics and being a member of the cross country team, according to her best friend, Lindsay McGarril.

"Kate was also an amazingly talented and graceful gymnast," McGarril told AOL News. "The sport came very easy to her, and she was a role model to many with her ability to awe an audience. She didn't go looking for attention; it just came to her because she was so gorgeous inside and out."

Filiberti enrolled in Dutchess Community College. McGarril said the two grew up together and continued to remain close following graduation.

"Kate was like a sister to me," McGarril said. "I knew everything and anything about her. She was a gorgeous girl as the pictures show, but seeing her beauty and smile in person was so much more amazing. Her laugh is something people talk about so much because it's so infectious, and just hearing it, you can't help but feel joy. She definitely was sassy and didn't let anyone push her around, but deep down, she had a huge heart."

McGarril said Filiberti often put her friends and her boyfriend, 19-year-old Mike Delarm, first.

Delarm declined an interview with AOL News today. "I'm sorry, I can't comment," he said in a response via Facebook.

On Tuesday, Delarm told The Poughkeepsie Journal that he was the last person to see Filiberti alive. He said he was at a party with her on Friday night, just hours before her body was found some five miles away. Delarm said Filiberti was upset because someone she did not like was at the party. They argued, and she walked away. He said he thought she was going to go cool off, but she never came back.

"I could have stopped her from leaving," Delarm told the Journal. He added, "I do believe [police] are trying, but I think they could try harder. I just really want to find [her killer]."

According to the Mid-Hudson News Network, Delarm and two other men were arrested in Poughkeepsie in January for involvement in an alleged gang assault. The men were charged with second-degree assault and remanded to jail in lieu of $10,000 bail. The Dutchess County district attorney's office did not immediately return calls today inquiring about the disposition of the case.

Investigators have not named any suspects or persons of interest in the case. Police have yet to comment on whether they suspect that Filiberti's killer or killers knew her or whether she was randomly targeted. Authorities have cautioned the public not to rely on message boards or social networking websites for information.

"That's what the police tell me about her death: Don't believe everything you read," McGarril said. "I don't know if they mean the cause of death or what, but that's what I've been told."

For the past five days, local and state authorities have been searching the park where Filiberti's body was found, as well as the surrounding areas. Some evidence was reportedly found less than a mile from the crime scene. The search of the park continued early today but was called off late this morning because of bad weather, police said.

Authorities are asking the public to notify them if they saw anything out of the ordinary last week.

"We are looking to speak with anyone who may have been on Route 9G, between Green Bush Drive and Greentree Drive, between late Friday evening and the early morning hours on Saturday," Hyde Park Police Chief Charles Broe Sr. said in a press release. "Anyone who was in that area, during those times, and may have seen anything suspicious is strongly encouraged to contact the authorities."

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HYDE PARK — Police are resuming a multi-agency ground search this morning, looking for evidence in the killing of 18-year-old Kathryn Filiberti. A light snow cover Thursday caused police to temporarily suspend the search.

A killer or perhaps killers remain at large and questions remain unanswered as police release few details of their investigation into the Filiberti homicide.

No one had been taken into custody, Lt. John Watterson of the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office said Thursday. But Watterson and Hyde Park Police Chief Charles Broe Sr. declined to comment when asked if anyone had been arrested.

But asked if the words "a killer remained at large" were inaccurate in describing the investigation, Watterson said, "I can't say they are inaccurate."

Filiberti, a first-year student at Dutchess Community College and a Hyde Park resident, was found dead just after noon Saturday.

Dr. Kari Reiber, the Dutchess County medical examiner, said Thursday that autopsy results were still pending. An autopsy was performed Sunday, but Reiber is waiting for toxicology reports, which can take four to six weeks. Reiber said she believes she will get the reports sooner.

Snow on the ground Thursday forced police to suspend their search for evidence in the town park where Filiberti's body was found Saturday. A search could resume today.

Deputy TJ Hanlon, of the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office, said police were looking for a "particular piece of evidence."

Broe said the Hyde Park Police Department is working "side by side" with the Dutchess County medical examiner and district attorney. But he declined to comment when asked about suspects, how Filiberti — who had worked in the student activity office at DCC — was killed and other details. Broe also declined to comment when asked who found Filiberti's body, whether she had been reported missing and whether multiple suspects are being sought.

"None of the law enforcement agencies are going to comment on anything to do with the cause of death, time of death and things of that nature," Broe said. "I am not going to divulge anything that is going to, in any way, compromise the progress that we have made in this investigation."

Broe urged the public to remain calm as police continue their probe, which turns one week old Saturday, the day when the former gymnast and cross-country runner at Franklin D. Roosevelt High School will be buried in St. Peter's Cemetery in Poughkeepsie. The burial will follow visitation hours at Fitzgerald and Rhynders Funeral Home and the funeral at Regina Coeli Parish, both in Hyde Park.

"I would hope that people would just go about their daily routines, that people would live their lives as they normally would," Broe said. "I know it's frustrating. I know there is an anxiety level in this area right now. I can understand that. I will do my best to pacify people's fears and at the same time not divulge sensitive information. … There is a level of frustration on our part not to be able to give people the answers that will make everyone feel better. I would just expect people to use common sense as they normally do. … People have to be patient. They have to understand what we're up against and the work we are doing."

Broe continued: "This is a very sensitive investigation … it's not wise for us at this point to say much. We're very confident in what we're doing."

Broe said earlier this week that law enforcement was working around-the-clock, looking into a "number of leads," including a "number of things that might have occurred" the night before Filiberti was found dead.

"Our priority is solving the case," Broe said. "If I have to be vague in some areas, and that creates some level of suspicion or anxiety or unknown, I'll take that on the chin. My priority is solving this case. And my priority is being as respectful as we can to the family."

A Hyde Park man who identified himself as Filiberti's boyfriend told the Journal on Tuesday that he was the last one to see her alive Friday during a party at a friend's house off Route 9G, about five miles from where her body was found Saturday.

Mike Delarm, 19, said Filiberti was upset because someone she didn't like was also at the party. They argued and she walked away from him, he thought to go cool off, Delarm said.

Delarm said Wednesday that he couldn't make any further comments.

Delarm was charged with second-degree gang assault by Town of Poughkeepsie police in a Jan. 23 incident at the McDonald's near Marist College. This week, the Journal requested information on the outcome of that case, but no records were found.

David Bookstaver, a spokesman for the state Office of Court Administration, said, speaking generically, "in New York, if a case is adjudicated in favor of the defendant, either if the charges were dismissed or the defendant was acquitted, there is no public record. Finally, if a defendant is granted 'youthful offender' status, the record is also sealed."

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Another beautiful girl ready to start her life after graduating H.S.

I agree raine, "When will this madness ever stop?"

I just hope they find who did this to her.

From what NG said the other night, she was stabbed.

I hope they find the person also Wrap.

Mar 26, 2011 – 11:04 AM
David Lohr - Crime Journalist

The teenager who has identified himself as the boyfriend of Kathryn Filiberti, the 18-year-old New York college student who was found dead last week, told AOL News via Facebook that people should not believe what they are reading in the news about the case.

"Don't believe what's in the news and newspapers," Mike Delarm wrote. "[Their] sources aren't from the police or people who [knew] Katie."

Kathryn Filiberti was found dead March 19 in Hyde Park, N.Y.
Earlier this week, Delarm, 19, told the Poughkeepsie Journal that he was the last person to see Filiberti alive. The Dutchess Community College student's body was found on March 19 near Greentree Park in the Dutchess County town of Hyde Park, about 75 miles north of New York City.

Delarm told the Journal that he had been at a party with her on the night of March 18, just hours before her body was found some five miles away. Delarm said that Filiberti was upset because someone she did not like had been at the party. "They argued, and she walked away from him, he thought to go cool off," the newspaper reported.

In a Facebook message to AOL News, Delarm said he wanted to clarify that he did not get into an argument with Filiberti before she disappeared.

"We didn't get into a fight," he wrote. "She was aggravated because of a couple of people at the [party] she didn't like."

An autopsy on Filiberti was completed March 20, and her death is listed as a homicide, but authorities have declined to elaborate. "The cause and manner of death is pending," Dr. Kari Reiber, the county's chief medical examiner, told AOL News.

Authorities have yet to confirm local media reports that Filiberti had been stabbed multiple times in the face and the chest.

Delarm and two other men were arrested in Poughkeepsie in January in connection with an alleged gang assault, according to the Mid-Hudson News Network. The men were charged with second-degree assault and remanded to jail in lieu of $10,000 bail, the newspaper reported.

Repeated calls to the Dutchess County District Attorney's Office have not been returned, so the disposition of the case remains unclear. According to Delarm, he was not charged.

"[I was not] charged with anything ... it was not a gang assault and ... the kid in the hospital didn't almost die at all. He had minor injuries," Delarm said.

Earlier this week, Filiberti's best friend, Lindsay McGarril, described Delarm to the Journal as Filiberti's "on-again, off-again" boyfriend. In a separate interview with AOL News, McGarril said that Filiberti often put her friends and Delarm first.

McGarril declined to go into detail about the case today. She said that Delarm had deleted his Facebook page because he was "being harassed." She said Filiberti's family had asked her not to speak with the media anymore.

"I'm listening to their wishes," she told AOL News. "I've told you about her and as much as I could about the case, and that's all I can say."

Delarm was also hesitant to go into many details about the case.

"I could jeopardize the investigation by saying too much, but I can say that everyone loved Katie [and] no one hated her."

Delarm added, "I love her and I wish I could switch positions with her. When she was murdered, so was I. I'm never gonna be normal again without my Katie Kat."

Further comment from Delarm will have to wait until the individual responsible for her death has been caught, he said.

"When they catch the guy, I'd love to have an interview with [AOL News], but it's just too risky until then. I'm sure [you] understand.

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HYDE PARK — Church pews filled quickly at the packed and emotional funeral service for the 18-year-old Hyde Park woman whose life tragically ended more than one week ago.

Kathryn Filiberti, known as Katie to those close to her, was laid to rest Saturday afternoon in St. Peter's Cemetery in Poughkeepsie. Police continue to investigate why the 2010 Franklin D. Roosevelt High School graduate's body was found dead in a town park on March 19.

In the early afternoon Saturday, heartbroken family, friends and community members filled Regina Coeli Roman Catholic Church in Hyde Park. About 1:30 p.m., bells rang out as a silver casket draped with flowers was carried from Fitzgerald & Rhynders Funeral Home into the church. The sun-filled sky outside was in stark contrast to the somberness inside. The hymnless service included a heartfelt tribute from Filiberti's best friend, classmate and gymnastics teammate , Lindsay McGarril, who said she lost her "soulmate."

As she spoke, McGarril, 18, fought through her suffering. Her words and pain left the audience swiping the tears from their eyes.

McGarril recalled both touching and silly moments that the two had shared, including their last words to each other: "I love you, beau," from Filiberti and McGarril's reply, "Love you too, beau," she said.

She remembered Filiberti's distinctive "cackle," her warm smile, an eyebrow wax mishap and a prank that involved toenail clippings put in Filiberti's little sister's piggy bank .

McGarril said Filiberti spoke her mind but was also someone people opened up to because of her caring and outgoing personality.

Without her sidekick, McGarril said, "Everything I do now is for Katie," adding that her closest friend since first grade never had a chance to live her dreams.

Filiberti was in her first year at Dutchess Community College and worked as a student aid in the student activities center.

In his homily, the Rev. Michael Palazzo referenced resurrection, using the gospel where Jesus brings a man back from the dead in order to comfort his widow mother. The priest said that Filiberti is a "daughter of God" and that she will have "eternal life."

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HYDE PARK — A week after Kathryn Filiberti's body was found and on the day the 18-year-old was laid to rest, police and paramedics responded to a report of a possible drug overdose at the family home of the young man who has claimed to be Filiberti's boyfriend — and possibly the last person to see her alive.

Meanwhile, authorities remained tight-lipped about the investigation into Filiberti's death. No suspects have been identified, and police have not announced any arrests.

Hyde Park police Chief Charles Broe Sr. said no new information on the investigation would be released Saturday.

"We are working around the clock, literally, on a number of things," Broe said.

He has repeatedly said that releasing information about the case could harm the investigation.

A police scanner report around 9:45 a.m. said an ambulance was requested at an East Market Street residence that records show is owned by Charles Delarm. The report said the ambulance was for a 21-year-old who had suffered a possible drug overdose. The patient was described as "non-violent."

An official at Saint Francis Hospital in the Town of Poughkeepsie said someone with the last name Delarm was in the emergency room Saturday morning but would not provide any further information. Later Saturday, hospital officials said no one with the name Delarm had been admitted to Saint Francis.

Mike Delarm, 19, said he dated Filiberti and may have been the last person to see her alive. His brother, Tyler, is 21 years old.

In response to a message left by a reporter on his Facebook page, Mike Delarm said "nothing happened at the house today, it was a false alarm. ... Just more rumors."

Last year, police arrested the brothers on felony gang assault charges after an altercation at a fast-food restaurant across from Marist College in Poughkeepsie. The home address for the Delarms given by police in that case is the same house paramedics responded to Saturday.

It is unclear how the assault cases were disposed of.

A man who answered the door Saturday morning at the East Market Street home said he did not want to speak with a reporter and shut the door. A Delarm Auto Body truck was parked in the driveway.

Broe confirmed that a 21-year-old was transported from the house to the hospital. He said the person did not appear to have life-threatening medical issues.

The chief would not comment when asked if the person transported to the hospital was a resident of the home. He also declined comment when asked if authorities had questioned any members of the Delarm family in the week since Filiberti's body was found.

The incident at the East Market Street house occurred shortly before Filiberti's wake began at a Route 9 funeral home. Her funeral was held Saturday afternoon, and she was buried in St. Peter's Cemetery in Poughkeepsie.

Filiberti was found dead March 19 in a wooded area off Greentree Drive. She was a Hyde Park resident and a student at Dutchess Community College.

Police have released little information about the case. They have not released the cause of Filiberti's death.

Mike Delarm updated his Facebook page Saturday afternoon to tell people he planned to sell bracelets later in the day in Filiberti's honor for $5 each. Delarm said "all proceeds are going to" Filiberti's family.

On Tuesday, Delarm told the Journal that he was the last person to see Filiberti alive on the night of March 18. Both were at a party at a friend's house off Route 9G, about five miles from where Filiberti's body was found the next day.

Delarm said Filiberti was upset because someone she disliked also was at the party. Delarm said he and Filiberti argued and she walked away from him, he thought to go cool off.

Broe said a ground search around the area where Filiberti's body was found concluded Friday. He would not say what authorities were looking for.

The chief said searches of the area thus far have covered 155 acres, with 775 manpower hours put in by employees from various agencies.

Broe said the search has been halted for now but could begin again depending on how the investigation progresses.

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HYDE PARK — Nine days after the body of 18-year-old Kathryn Filiberti was found in the woods of Greentree Park, police remain silent about any possible leads.

"We're making progress, but I can't get into details about the case," Hyde Park Police Chief Charles Broe Sr. said Sunday. "It's a very sensitive investigation."

Broe said investigators would convene today to discuss the case. Results of an autopsy conducted March 20 by the Dutchess County medical examiner are pending.

Meanwhile, the Filiberti family has established a memorial fund in her name to benefit the Franklin D. Roosevelt High School gymnastics team. Filiberti was a 2010 graduate of FDR, where she was a member of the team. She was a student at Dutchess Community College at the time of her death.

A funeral was held for Filiberti on Saturday at Regina Coeli Roman Catholic Church in Hyde Park, where loved ones gathered to mourn the young woman described as outgoing and spirited.

The details of the homicide are few. Filiberti was apparently last seen at a house party off Route 9G on March 18, where 19-year-old Mike Delarm, who identified himself as Filiberti's boyfriend, claimed he was the last to see her alive; she was found dead March 19 in the woods off Greentree Drive.

On Saturday, paramedics responded to a report of a 21-year-old with a possible drug overdose at the Delarm home in Hyde Park. An official at Saint Francis Hospital said someone with the last name Delarm was in the emergency room that morning.

Checks for the scholarship fund may be made out to: Kathryn Filiberti Memorial Fund, in care of the Community Foundation of Dutchess County, 80 Washington St., Suite 201, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601.

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June 21, 2012


The only thing they will feel is a sense of guilt and the emptiness of concrete surrounding them.”

Those words, written by Kathryn Filiberti in a college paper about why life in prison was a more appropriate sentence for killers than the death penalty, echoed Thursday in Dutchess County Court, where Stephen Shand was sentenced to 40 years to life behind bars for murdering Filiberti, an 18-year-old Hyde Park resident, in March 2011.

Shand, 24, pleaded guilty on May 9 to first-degree murder and predatory sexual assault, admitting he raped, strangled and drowned Filiberti after offering her a ride.

The courtroom was packed on Thursday by Filiberti’s friends and family members, as well as police officers who had worked on the case, which took months to solve.

Shand’s parents and sister also were present.

Prosecutors read statements from Filiberti’s mother, Linda, and younger sister, Nicki, during the 33-minute proceeding before Judge Stephen Greller.

In her statement, Filiberti’s mother said she had lost a chance to watch her daughter grow into a woman. The 18 years she had with her daughter, she said in the statement, were “not nearly enough.”

She said her daughter had many great qualities, was full of life and had “the most infectious laughs (and) best hugs.”

“She would throw her arms around you and squeeze like she would never let go,” the teen’s mother said.

Linda Filiberti, who wept throughout the sentencing proceeding, said she has been left with an “overwhelming grief and sadness that words cannot describe.”

Nicki Filiberti, 12, said in her statement that her older sister was a “role model and inspiration” and was “always there for me.”

Dutchess County Senior Assistant District Attorney Ned McLoughlin called Shand a “soulless, empty rapist” who lacked a shred of humanity. He said an autopsy showed Shand raped Filiberti and strangled her into unconsciousness before drowning her.

“Katie had more promise and humanity than this defendant ever had,” McLoughlin said.

The prosecutor said some people have said Shand should be put to death for the Filiberti’s murder. Capital punishment currently is not allowed in New York, but even if it was, McLoughlin said, Filiberti would have preferred to have Shand spend the rest of his life in prison.

McLoughlin said it wasn’t that Filiberti didn’t believe in the death penalty, but rather that she believed life in prison was a harsher punishment, evidenced by what she wrote as part of a freshman English class assignment at Dutchess Community College.

McLoughlin then asked the judge to sentence Shand to the maximum allowable sentence “because it’s the right thing to do — to take as much of his life as it possibly can.”

Throughout the proceedings, Shand, clad in an orange jail jumpsuit with his hands shackled in front of him, stood stoically. He appeared to wipe his eye once, before reading his own statement, but he showed no other emotion as he apologized for killing Filiberti.

“‘Sorry’ is a word I wish I could say today to apologize for my wrongdoing,” Shand said. “But I know it would sound like an insult coming from me.”

He said he hoped he would have answers, not excuses, “but there can be no reasoning away a life.”

“I truly regret and am sorry for this mistake I have made,” Shand said.

Shand said he hopes Filiberti’s family can find “even a mustard seed of forgiveness in your hearts for me.”

The judge, however, would have none of it.

Before handing down the sentence, Greller told Shand: “You are a predator, you are a monster, you are demonic and you are the personification of evil.”

“You killed her with your bare hands,” Greller said. “At any point in time, you could have stopped, but you didn’t do that.”

Greller said the investigation showed Filiberti was “savagely beaten over a long period of time” by Shand, who then “strangled her into submission” before raping her and dumping her into a stream. When Shand realized Filiberti still was alive, Greller said, Shand held her down until she drowned.

“That is a level of brutality I haven’t encountered … in many, many years,” Greller said. “It’s as bad a crime as I have ever seen.”

The sentences imposed by Greller were 25 years to life in state prison for murder and 15 years to life for predatory sexual assault, and the sentences will be served consecutively, meaning Shand will not be eligible for parole until 40 years from now, when he is 64 years old.

In pleading guilty, Shand admitted he forcibly detained Filiberti in his car after offering her a ride on March 19, 2011, then raped her, drowned her and left her body in a tributary of Crum Elbow Creek in a park in the Greentree Park section of Hyde Park.

Filiberti’s father, John, 48, committed suicide last September, six months after his daughter was killed.

Filiberti had left a party in Hyde Park in the early morning hours of March 19, intending to walk home. Authorities have said Shand was making early morning newspaper deliveries when he saw Filiberti walking and offered her a ride, which she accepted.

Shand, who authorities said had no prior criminal record, was arrested on Aug. 10, 2011, and originally was charged with first- and second-degree murder, kidnapping and predatory sexual assault.

Six days later, a Dutchess County grand jury handed up a 10-count indictment charging him with three counts of first-degree murder, four counts of second-degree murder, one count of kidnapping and two counts of predatory sexual assault.

In September, defense attorney Mark Bederow asked that the charges be dismissed or that key evidence — including DNA evidence that authorities said linked Shand to Filiberti — be suppressed. The judge refused.


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