Long Island body parts suspect is jailed after violating parole by shoplifting – but other three suspects remain free thanks to laxed New York bail laws

One of the suspects in the Long Island body parts case has been jailed after violating parole by shoplifting — but the other three suspects remain free thanks to New York’s lax bail laws.

Amanda Wallace, 40, is one of four defendants charged earlier this month with concealing a human corpse and tampering with evidence.

The bodies were those of Malcolm Craig Brown, 53, and Donna Conneely, 59, found in Babylon Park earlier this month, a couple whose connection to the suspects remains unclear.

None of the four have been charged with murder, and New York State’s lenient bail laws allowed them to be released on parole.

However, Wallace was taken back into custody on Friday after stealing nail polish and false eyelashes from a CVS.

Jeffrey Mackey, 38, and Alexis Nieves, 33, were all also arrested in connection with the brutal murders and will appear in court on Tuesday in the Suffolk District Central Islip Court.

All four have been released back onto the streets thanks to the state’s “no bail” laws, with the exception of Wallace, who was charged with petty theft and is behind bars.

Suspects accused of mutilation and disposal of murdered corpses will no longer be eligible for bail after New York reformed bail laws in 2019.

Suffolk County DA Elect Raymond Tierney said the decision to free them with ankle bracelets was “absurd” and blamed the 2019 “Bail Reform” law for the verdict.

Wallace was connected to her GPS monitor at the time of the theft. An employee of the store called the police around 10:50 p.m. A short time later, she was arrested and charged with petit larceny, according to Suffolk County police.

Wallace, who admitted to the crime, told an officer she “forgot” her money and “didn’t feel like going back,” according to court documents, the news channel reported.

Wallace was taken into custody and handcuffed by Judge James McDonaugh Suffolk District Court in Central Islip on Monday.

Judge McDonaugh told Wallace, “Under these circumstances, I would at least think this Wallace could get through nine days without being arrested again.”

Prosecutor Dena Rizopoulos asked the judge to hold Wallace on $10,000 bail on the petit larceny charge.

She told the judge that Wallace was wearing her GPS monitor during the theft, calling it a “total disrespect for the court, people are going to ask for bail on reset.”

Wallace’s attorney, Keith O’Halloran, told the judge that a pretrial detention and the $10,000 bail is an outrageous request from the district attorney’s office.

He said his client “is not in a position to post exorbitant bail.” HE asked for a lower bail, which would not amount to automatic pre-trial detention.

Wallace’s attorney, Keith O’Halloran, pleaded not guilty to the petit larceny charge.

Judge McDonaugh ordered Wallace held without bail in the body parts case because she had failed to comply with the conditions of her previous release.

He also set a petit larceny bond of $5,000 cash, $10,000 surety or $50,000 partially secured bond.

Wallace and her boyfriend, Steven Brown, 44, Jeffrey Mackey, 38, and Alexis Nieves, 33, were all released without bail earlier this month after severed heads and arms were found in a Babylon Park on March 5.

They were all charged with first-degree hindering prosecution, tampering with physical evidence by concealing or destroying, and concealing a human corpse.

Steven Brown also appeared in court on Monday. McDonaugh told Brown and his attorney Ira Weismann that he was extending his supervised release status and that his condition remains the same.

He was brought back to court on April 1.

Weismann told the media after this client met with the judge that his client was cooperating with his parole.

The judge set her bail at $10,000 and ordered her back in court on Friday.

After the hearing, Brown walked out with his attorney by his side. His head was bowed as he ignored questions from the media when asked how he felt about leaving the court without Wallace

Outside the courtroom, Wallace’s lawyer said:The Public Prosecution Service has filed new charges against her.

Based on these new charges, they asked to hold her without bail. The judge granted that request, he said.

“So again, we have to start a new investigation. We have no paperwork on the new cases. We have no discovery in the old case.

We’re still looking for the information that could connect her to either of these two cases. We will have to assess whether the judge acted correctly in remanding her in custody without bail.”

He added: ‘“The district attorney’s office has not provided us with any discovery or any evidence on the original case, so we don’t know what the district attorney was talking about there.”

O’Halloran confirmed that Brown and Wallace are in a relationship. He said she has children, although he did not know if Brown is the father of any of her children.

He said he did not represent her in family court.