The father of the victim of a hunting accident wants the case re-opened because of a possible connection to a 29 year old murder case.
Richard Silvester's son, Jerry, was shot and killed while hunting with Thomas Calescibetta on December 10th, 2003. Calescibetta was initially charged with criminally negligent homicide and eventually was sentenced to weekends in jail for 6 months. "I just, to this day, find it very hard to believe that it was an accident." Silvester told CNY Central's Jim Kenyon.
Silvester says it wasn't until recently that he was contacted by Bob Schillagi, a self-proclaimed investigator who has been investigating the 1981 murder of Julie Monson for a number of years. Schillagi has published numerous accounts of the Monson murder on his website in hopes of convincing Cayuga County authorities to actively re-open the investigation.
Monson, who was 18 years old at the time, disappeared in 1981 while walking along Prospect Street in Auburn. Her body was found two years later in a remote part of the Montezuma Wildlife Refuge. Thomas Bianco was convicted of the murder in 1986 partly because of the testimony of his friend, Thomas Calescibetta. Bianco's was freed after serving 7 years in prison after a judge determined Cayuga County authorities had withheld evidence. According to newspaper articles posted on Schillagi's website, Calescibetta was considered a potential suspect in the murder after a fellow jail inmate claimed Calescibetta told him of the rape and murder.
Schillagi said that Jerry Silvester had contacted him in 2003 to set up a meeting. Schillagi told Kenyon, Jerry Silvester said "someone he knew was involved in the murder" of Julie Monson. The meeting never took place because two weeks later, Silvester was killed in a hunting accident. Schillagi says he was in Rochester at the time and did not know that Calescibetta was involved.
Richard Silvester says his son and Calescibetta were so close, he's convinced Calescibetta would have confided in his son if Calescibetta had something to do with the Monson murder.
Calescibetta could not be reached for comment.
Cayuga County Sheriff David Gould says Silvester has not yet formally asked him to re-open the Monson murder investigation. Gould tells CNY Central, "if something is worthwhile and we can verify...I don't close any door."
