PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (WCAX) – Plattsburgh residents are reacting to the arrest of a local man charged with the brutal murder of two women. Joe Hewett, 50, was arraigned Tuesday night with the murders of Miranda Wade, 42, and Karen Lindsay, 64, a crime the longtime prosecutor said is the most horrific he’s seen.
“I feel very bad for the family and all her loved ones and her mom’s loved ones because it’s Christmas time. This is the holiday,” said Barbara Blake, who lives in the Birch Street neighborhood where the women lived and knew both the victims and the accused murderer.
Blake say says she remembers seeing Hewett in a frenzy outside. “He was rantin’ and ragin’ in the yard and he had a radio kind of loud because I can hear over here — and that’s kind of loud — and he was throwing the chairs and coolers and stuff through the yard,” she said.
Authorities say investigators found the bodies of women next to a neighboring abandoned mobile home on Monday after crews responded to a fire at their home Sunday morning.
“They were found located in black garbage blags. They had been placed there, we believe, by Joe Hewett in the days proceeding the fire,” said Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie. He says autopsy results show wade beaten to death and Lindsay was strangled. “We will do justice for Karen and Miranda and for their families.”
Hewett pleaded not guilty Tuesday evening to three counts of murder, one in the first degree and two in the second degree, as well as an evidence tampering charge. He will be back in Plattsburgh Town Court on Jan. 7.
Friends and family of the women say there will be a vigil at 6 p.m. on Friday in Willsboro at 31 Station Road.