Two teens arrested in connection to human remains found in Montgomery County

Posted at: 07/19/2012 4:24 PM | Updated at: 07/20/2012 2:58 PM
By: WNYT Staff

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Photo: Mike Grady/WNYT

FLORIDA -State police said two teens have been arrested and one faces murder charges in connection to the discovery of human remains in the Town of Florida.

Police said 18-year-old Anthony Brasmeister is charged with second degree murder and a 15-year-old, who is believed to have pulled the trigger, is being charged as a juvenile. The two are accused of shooting a pair of teens to death.

Police said the two made some admissions that were not in their favor. They also said the motive may be loosely connected to marijuana and money.

Police said the remains were identified as DeJesus and Paul Damphier.

Authorities in Montgomery County are saying "every available resource" is being used to piece together the mystery of human remains, two sets of them, that were found in a heavily wooded area in the Town of Florida late Thursday morning.

Those remains were discovered a little more than a week after two teenagers were reported missing from the City of Amsterdam, although Thursday night, both police agencies involved in the investigation were stopping short of connected those two events.

Members of the New York State Police Forensic Identification Unit, along with Amsterdam detectives were at the scene on Snooks Corners Road, in the Town of Florida, from 11:00 a.m. Thursday morning until dusk.

"The location is being treated as a crime scene and it is being treated as a suspicious death," said Lieutenant Kurt Conroy of the Amsterdam Police Department.

Police said the bodies were found in close proximity to one another, and they hinted that decomposition may be hindering their investigation.

"Certainly, the environmental factors are not in our favor," said Lieutenant Robert Poisson, of the New York State Police.

The grisly discovery comes nine days after two teenagers were reported missing from the City of Amsterdam. Sixteen-year-old Paul Damphier is one of them. The other is 13-year-old Jonathan DeJesus, whose grandfather Charles Tiano showed up at the scene, along with other relatives, then drove over to Amsterdam Police headquarters searching for answers.

Meanwhile, back at the scene, investigators continued to carried out brown paper bags and white cardboard boxes filled with evidence.

Amsterdam Police say they're in the process of obtaining dental records for the missing teens. They're also asking for help from the community.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Amsterdam Police at 518-842-1100.