It was 1984, and George Steinbrenner already had two, World Series trophies to his credit--and a big office suite in the original, Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. I was a 25 year old news writer for PIX 11, filling in, sometimes, as "on camera" reporter.

I wish I remembered the controversy that was swirling around the Boss at the time, but I don't.
That's surprising, because alot of my memory is encyclopedic, when it comes to the stories I've covered. It may have had something to do with Howie Spira, the gambler who accused Steinbrenner of paying him to dig up dirt on star slugger, Dave Winfield.

Anyway, I was sent to Yankee Stadium to get a "sound bite"--interview--with Steinbrenner, and I don't think the news desk had high expectations. They didn't know me--and I didn't know the Boss.

I remember feeling a bit overwhelmed when I entered the cavernous, glass-enclosed reception area of the Boss' outer offices. WPIX was the "Yankee station" at the time, so we had easier access getting in. That certainly didn't mean the Boss would come out to talk to me. But he did.

I remember he was warm. I remember that he gave me great, TV sound bites. I remember calling the news desk and telling the assignment editor I got Steinbrenner to talk. I remember feeling that this was a feather in my cap.

Eventually, I moved on to a full-time, staff reporter position at WPIX TV. And in 1986, George Steinbrenner was part of the celebrity committee that helped to refurbish the Statue of Liberty for her 100th anniversary in New York Harbor. There was a Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral--and a lunch at the Plaza hotel. Bob Hope attended--and so did the former Chairman of Chrysler, Lee Iacocca.

After shooting video of the lunch at the Plaza, we were in for a special treat. Turns out George Steinbrenner would serve as conductor of the U.S. Military band that was set to entertain.
To say he threw himself into the role would be an understatement. He waved his arms enthusiastically to lead the band--and his head kept rhythm with the beat. For me, it's a moment that remains frozen in time, and it certainly made me smile. I remembered that moment today, when I heard George Steinbrenner had died, at the age of 80. And I remembered his kindness to me, giving me a "sound bite" he didn't have to bother with, when I was just a young reporter, starting out.

I covered three, World Series parades, when the Yankees had their great run in the 90's.
For the 2nd parade, in 1998, I rode on a flatbed truck and had the same "vantage point" as the star players riding up the "Canyon of Heroes". I recall looking down the side streets, as we traveled up Broadway, and seeing dozens of rows of people squeezed in at every corner. It was an amazing glimpse of humanity, and I remember gazing up to the sky and saying "Thank you, God" for an experience like this. Tonight, when I wrote my story about George Steinbrenner's life and times, I found vintage footage of the Boss talking about the night Reggie Jackson hit three home runs in a single World Series game. He talked about Jackson pointing up at the sky, after the final homer, perhaps acknowledging a heavenly power. But then came the punch line: "But then I thought he might be pointing up to me, because I was in the box." It was classic Steinbrenner, and a great moment in the piece.

My son was born in 1996, the year the Yankees reclaimed their dynasty, after an 18 year dry spell. Beginning that year, George Steinbrenner would win five, more World Series titles, before his death in July 2010. He was born on the 4th of July, so it's worth noting he was a =real= Yankee Doodle dandy!

Mary Murphy
PIX 11 News
7/13/10

Eileen Monetti's son, Richard, was just 20, when he caught a Pan Am flight from London on December 21, 1988, to make it home for Christmas. Flight 103 blew up 31,000 feet over Lockerbie, Scotland with 259 passengers and crew on board, an explosion that also killed 11 people on the ground.

Monetti's son was a journalism and political science major at Syracuse University in New York, one of 35 Syracuse students who perished in the terrorist plot. Last year, she was horrified when the convicted bomber, former Libyan intelligence agent, Abdelbaset Al Megrahi, was released from a Scottish prison for "compassionate reasons"---a medical finding that prostate cancer would kill him within three months. Nearly a year later, Al Megrahi is still alive--he could live 20 more years--and there are new suggestions that oil giant, BP, may have lobbied for his release, to help facilitate an oil deal with Libya.

Tonight, Eileen Monetti spoke to me from her home in Cherry Hill, New Jersey: "It was just simply a prisoner for oil deal," she said, "As long as we're all dependent on oil, this is the way it's going to be. All these oil-producing nations have us over a barrel."

The four U.S. senators representing New York and New Jersey met with the new British Prime Minister, David Cameron, during his visit this week to the United States. They want an investigation of the events leading up to Al Megrahi's release, but no one seems confident the former prisoner--now living at home in Libya--will ever go back to jail. As Eileen Monetti put it, "I don't think the British are about to invade Libya to get Al Megrahi back." Al Megrahi is the only person who was ever convicted in the bombing, although the Libyan government took "responsibility" for the explosion back in 2003, reaching an agreement to pay each American family who lost a loved one eight million dollars. The families then paid 2.5 million dollars in legal fees.

It's been suggested that Libyan leader, Moammar Khadafy, ordered the bombing to relatiate for
a U.S. air strike that killed his adopted, baby daughter. Now the accusation that British Petroleum--already facing massive, bad press for the Gulf of Mexico oil explosion and leak--may have helped the convicted bomber go free is re-opening old wounds. Eileen Monetti told me she refuses to let the Lockerbie bombing dominate her life anymore, adding I "try to live my life like my son would want us to live our lives." Still, she wishes to know the full truth about the series of events that led to the mass murder over Lockerbie: "I think I would still like to know that, before I die."

Mary Murphy
7/21/10

It's one of the more gut-wrenching stories I've been assigned to lately.

A mother and her four children discovered dead in a burning, Staten Island apartment; three of the older children had their throats slit.

When the story broke, on Thursday, July 22nd, the early evidence that leaked out suggested the oldest child--14 year old CJ--may have slit the throats of his younger sisters--Melanie and Brittany--set a fire that killed his 2 year old baby brother, Jermaine, along with his mother, and then killed himself with a razor. CJ's photo was plastered on the front pages of New York newspapers for a couple of days....with reports about some trouble at school and claims he had started fires before. And then the story began changing.

By Monday, July 26th, details about more of the evidence suggested CJ had undigested pills in his stomach, meaning he could have been drugged before HE was killed, by someone else.
There was no soot in his lungs, indicating he was dead before the fire started. His mother and baby brother had soot in their lungs. Finally, a portion of some kind of note was found fused to the butane lighter that was apparently used to start the fire. It said "am sorry". The early stories had shouted that CJ was the author of the note. The later stories reported the handwriting matched CJ's mother, 31-year old Leisha Jones, who worked sometimes as a security guard.

When I was sent to Staten Island this past Monday night, John Metz--who lived beneath CJ's family at 302 Nicholas Avenue--observed: "I think it's terrible they tarnished a 14 year old child--and made him out to be a monster." Another neighbor, Chante Fleming, remarked: "When they said CJ, I thought 'Bull'! I never saw him light any fires." Several neighbors talked about CJ's devotion to his younger sisters and brother, saying he was the father figure in a single mother household, often picking up his siblings from day care and school.

I reached CJ's biological father, Earlston Raymond, at his home in Kingston, Jamaica. CJ was born in the West Indies, and his mother moved her oldest son and the younger children--who had different fathers--from Jamaica, when CJ was 8. Earlston Raymond recalled talking to Leisha Jones and his son two days before the fire. He told me that Leisha was "talking fast" and didn't seem herself, speaking about some kind of plot to kidnap the family. Was the mother having some kind of psychiatric problems? Raymond told me she had a "high temper"--but neighbors described her as a good mom, who didn't raise her voice to the children.

Today, the Medical Examiner's office told me the toxicology testing is still pending on Leisha Jones, CJ, and the other children. Soon, perhaps, we will learn if the victims were drugged--by a killer who lived inside the household. It's still a mystery as to what really happened inside the second floor apartment at 302 Nicholas Avenue last Thursday, July 22nd. But the changing facts remind all of us it's very easy to create a monster--and harder to fix the damage to a reputation.

Mary Murphy
7/28/10

The neighbors didn't want to believe it, but the Office of the New York City Medical Examiner
has ruled 31 year old Leisha Jones committed suicide by fire, after slitting the throats of her three, older children--and allowing her 2 year old toddler, Jermaine, to die in the inferno she set last Thursday, July 22nd, in their Staten Island apartment. 4 children dead...along with their mother. We haven't heard about a crime like this in quite some time.

It's a stunning "360" in the story we first reported a week ago tonight. That's when police and fire investigators suspected 14 year old CJ Jones was the killer, because a razor blade was found under his body....and some people claimed he had a history of setting fires. The theory was he had slit the throats of 10 year old Melonie and 7 year old Brittany--his younger sisters--and then started the fire that killed his mother and baby brother--before slitting his own throat.

Now, CJ's death has been ruled a "homicide"--meaning the initial branding of him as a killer was nowhere near the truth. His body was found slumped over a bed in the back room. He suffered no smoke inhalation, meaning he was already dead by the time the fire was started. He also had undigested pills in his body, and further testing will likely indicate what type of pills they were. His mother also had pills in her body. His younger sisters--and baby brother--are also listed as homicide victims.

Mom did it. This time, four children gone...in the middle of the night. We've heard these stories before, a bit farther away from home. The "whys" still need to be answered. The end result: heartbreaking, yet again.

Mary Murphy
7/29/10