Warrant Ties Pan To Other Local Shootings; North Haven Cops Ran Stolen Plate

Warrant Ties Pan To Other Local Shootings; North Haven Cops Ran Stolen Plate

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by Thomas Breen | Jun 11, 2021 5:47 pm

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Posted to: Legal Writes, Beaver Hills, East Rock, Goatville

Qinxuan Pan didn’t just allegedly murder Yale grad student Kevin Jiang — police linked him to other recent incidents of gunfire in town, including of an assistant superintendent’s house in Beaver Hills that took place the night before the East Rock homicide.

That’s one of many revelations included in a 96-page arrest warrant file that the state court unsealed on Friday in Pan’s ongoing murder case.

State prosecutors have charged Pan, a 30-year-old Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) artificial intelligence researcher, with one count of felony murder for allegedly shooting and killing Jiang on Feb. 6 near Jiang’s fiancee’s apartment on Lawrence Street in New Haven’s Goatville neighborhood.

Pan, who is currently incarcerated on a $20 million bond, has not yet pled guilty or innocent.

U.S. Marshals arrested him on May 14 in Montgomery, Alabama, after a months-long, nationwide manhunt, and then extradited him to New Haven, where he was arraigned on May 20.

Pan was renting an apartment in Alabama under a fake name, and had $19,000 in cash, seven cellphones, several SIM cards, his father’s Chinese passport, and a computer in his possession, according to state prosecutors.

His next court date in the ongoing murder case is scheduled for July 13. Pan’s attorney, William Gerace, said he plans to request at that hearing for state Superior Court Judge Gerald Harmon to reduce Pan’s bail to $1 million.

Friday’s unsealed arrest warrant reveals a trove of new details about what police believe took place on Feb. 6, as well as in the weeks before and after Jiang’s fatal shooting. Click here to read the full file.

The affidavits included in the warrant were written primarily by New Haven Police Dets. David Zaweski, Steven Cunningham, and Daniel Conklin.

They show that the state’s evidence against Pan so far includes:

• Jiang’s blood on the gear shifter of an SUV allegedly stolen by Pan from a Massachusetts dealership the same day as the homicide. North Haven police found Pan in that car, and towed that car, following an encounter later that same night.

• Jiang’s blood on a black leather Dell briefcase seen in Pan’s possession by North Haven police the night of the murder.

• That briefcase’s appearance alongside a hat Pan was seen to be wearing the night of the murder. That hat also had Jiang’s DNA on it. Both items were ditched outside of an Arby’s in North Haven, alongside a gun, a gun case, and bullets. Police do not believe that the gun found by Arby’s, however, was involved in Jiang’s murder.

• The Arby’s where all this evidence was found is near a hotel North Haven police let a tow truck driver take Pan to after they encountered him on the train tracks, in a car with a stolen license plate on it, on the night of the murder. The warrant reveals that police knew the license plate was stolen when they let Pan go, and arranged a ride to take him to a hotel, from which he fled and ditched evidence.

• A New Haven police dispatcher later put out a bulletin falsely claiming the fleeing murderer was believed to be Black. New Haven police sent out that incorrect dispatch 90 minutes after the North Haven police encountered Pan on the train tracks.

• Perhaps most surprisingly, police said they found connections between bullets fired at the scene of Jiang’s homicide with bullets fired the previous night at New Haven Public Schools Asst. Supt. Paul Whyte’s house on Osborn Street in Beaver Hills. The affidavits also state that the bullets found at Jiang’s homicide and in Whyte’s house are likely linked to bullets fired in December on Huntington Street, in January on Stimson Road, and earlier the day of Jiang’s murder on Shepard Street in Hamden. No one was physically hurt in any of those other shootings. They did contribute to a climate of fear in the city about gun violence.

“Obviously, there’s always the wanting to understand the ‘why’ of it all,” Whyte told the Independent on Friday when asked how he felt about the potential link between the shooting of his house and the murder of Jiang. “It is so very unsettling.”

Whyte said that his family has been “strong and together” in the wake of the shooting of his house. He said he’s thankful that the shooting resulted in only “property damage” at his family’s home in Beaver Hills, and that he is “horrified by the loss of life” that took place the following night on Lawrence Street.

The arrest warrant reveals much more than the evidence the police have collected that ultimately led to state prosecutors charging Pan with murder.

It also reveals a whole host of detective work—interviews with witnesses, tracking down of surveillance video and audio, visits to multiple car dealerships in Massachusetts, combing through Facebook profiles and messages, pinging a cellphone to track Pan and his parents to North Carolina and Georgia, identifying Pan’s mom’s Lexus and its multiple visits to New Haven in the months before Jiang’s murder, finding and interviewing Pan’s parents in rural Georgia—that all led to Pan’s ultimate arrest in Alabama.

The Night Kevin Jiang Was Murdered

Many of the details of the investigation are included in a Feb. 26 affidavit written by Det. Zaweski.

He wrote that, on Feb. 6 at around 8:33 p.m., city police officers responded to the intersection of Lawrence and Nicoll Streets regarding a person shot.

The police received 911 calls from multiple people who reported hearing numerous gunshots in the area and observing a dark-colored SUV fleeing the intersection.

Upon arrival, officers located Jiang “lying in the middle of the road wearing a yellow and black jacket. He was observed to be holding an army camouflage backpack. Jiang was suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the face. Medical personnel arrived and Jiang was subsequently pronounced deceased on scene at 8:48 p.m.”

An autopsy later performed by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner recovered three bullets from Jiang’s body and “apparent stippling was noted on the left side of Jiang’s face, indicative of the fact that he had been shot at close range.”

The medical examiner certified that the cause of death was gunshot wounds to the head, torso, and extremities, and that the manner of death was homicide.

At the scene of the shooting, city investigators collected eight .45 caliber fired cartridge casings and four fired bullets. One of the bullets was recovered from Jiang’s backpack.

They also found Jiang’s Toyota Prius parked nearby, facing east in the middle of Lawrence Street approximately 103 feet from where Jiang’s body was located. That Prius was later towed to the NHPD garage on Sherman Parkway and examined for potential evidence.

On the scene, officers spoke with several witnesses.

One witness said they heard multiple gunshots and saw a black SUV with its interior light lit and the “driver gesturing inside.” That same witness noted that “either the driver or the victim was wearing yellow.”

Another witness said they observed a white or light skinned male wearing a black shirt and jeans running toward State Street.

Still another witness said they saw multiple people in a SUV. That witness later said there was nothing to lead them to believe that there was anyone other than the driver in the vehicle.

“Based upon witness information, a responding officer transmitted to NHPD dispatch that the suspect vehicle was possibly a 2013 black GMC Terrain, last seen traveling on Lawrence Street towards State Street and potentially occupied by two subjects, one of whom may have been wearing a yellow hoody or jacket,” Zaweski wrote.

At approximately 10:22 p.m., the city police department disseminated an “Officer Safety” broadcast on the “Hot Line” to surrounding police departments.

That broadcast described a suspect vehicle as a black SUV, possibly a GMC Terrain with two occupants; “one occupant possibly a black male wearing a yellow sweater.”

“It was later determined that the police dispatcher erroneously broadcasted that the occupant was possibly a black male,” Zaweski wrote. “No witnesses on scene, nor any 911 callers, described the occupant(s) of the SUV as a black male.”

Zaweski wrote that he spoke with an eyewitness who resides near Lawrence and Nicoll. “The witness looked out the window after hearing gunshots and a scream. The witness saw the shooter standing over Jiang firing two shots in a downward direction toward Jiang as he lay on the street.”

That witness described the shooter as tall and slender, wearing all black clothing and a black winter hat. The witness saw the shooter enter a black SUV, but did not know if he entered from the driver side or the passenger side of the vehicle. They also saw the SUV drive around Jiang’s vehicle east on Lawrence.

Partial Video, Full Audio Of Car Crash & Shooting

Zaweski wrote that video-audio surveillance obtained from a nearby residence revealed a vehicle crash heard prior to a Toyota Prius entering the camera frame, traveling east on Lawrence. The Prius was closely followed by a dark colored SUV.

“The Prius came to a stop and then the hazard lights turned on. The SUV reversed toward Nicoll Street and can be heard colliding with another vehicle out of the camera frame.”

That other vehicle was later identified as an unoccupied parked Honda Civic with damage to the rear left hubcap and fender. During the processing of the GMC Terrain, Det. Parker observed damage to the rear right fender consistent with damage on the Civic.

In that same video surveillance, Jiang is seen exiting the Prius and walking toward the SUV, Zaweski wrote.

Both Jiang and the SUV eventually moved out of the camera frame.

“A few seconds later eight gunshots can be heard, a brief scream, and then additional gunshots. Seconds after the gunshots the SUV is captured on video travelling past Jiang’s vehicle east on Lawrence Street toward State Street with its headlights off.”

Other surveillance video from the area showed that SUV, a GMC Terrain, turn north onto Mechanic Street from Lawrence.

It then entered the East Rock Community Magnet School parking lot the wrong way, and exited the parking lot traveling east on Willow Street towards State Street.

A City of New Haven camera located at State Street and Ferry Street captured what appeared to be a dark colored GMC Terrain traveling south on Ferry towards the I-91 North entrance ramp.

North Haven Cops Encounter Pan, Tow His Car, Let Him Go

That same night at around 8:57, roughly 90 minutes before the NHPD put out an “Officer Safety” broadcast that erroneously identified a potential suspect as a Black male, officers from the North Haven Police Department responded to Sims Metal Management at 234 Universal Dr. for the report of a suspicious vehicle in the lot.

Officers located a dark blue, 2015 GMC Terrain bearing Connecticut commercial registration “stuck on the railroad tracks.”

The vehicle was occupied by one individual, whose Massachusetts driver’s license identified him as Qinxuan Pan of Clifton Street in Malden, Mass.

Pan was sitting in the driver seat, attempting to move the vehicle.

“Officers approached the vehicle with their body-worn cameras activated. Pan exited the GMC Terrain and explained that he accidentally drove onto the train tracks and the vehicle was stuck. Pan stated he took a wrong turn or missed the highway entrance as he was trying to get to Massachusetts.”

A COLLECT inquiry at the scene revealed the license plate on the GMC Terrain was entered into the system as lost or stolen by the Newington Connecticut Police Department.

The vehicle identification number on the vehicle came back to a GMC Terrain registered in the state of Massachusetts.

“Pan initially said the GMC Terrain was his vehicle, then claimed it was a rental,” Zaweski wrote. “However, Pan could not produce the rental agreement, nor could he explain the lost or stolen plate affixed to the GMC Terrain.”

One of the North Haven police officers reported seeing a black leather Dell briefcase on the rear passenger floorboard of the car. The North Haven police officers described Pan as approximately six feet tall, slender, wearing a black jacket, black pants, and black dress shoes.

They let him go. (In a subsequent written response to questions about the encounter, North Haven’s chief neglected to state the officers on the scene were aware of the stolen plate.)

Zaweski reviewed the officers’ body-worn camera footage of the encounter with Pan.

That body-cam footage showed a black backpack on the front passenger seat of the SUV, a yellow coat on the front passenger floorboard, and a Dell briefcase in the rear passenger compartment.

“Of particular note, body-worn camera footage depicts Pan wearing a dark blue ‘Patriots’ neck gaiter and a grey knit winter hat with a ‘MetroPCS’ logo on it,” Zaweski wrote.

When interviewed, the security guard at the North Haven metal site who reported the suspicious vehicle described seeing only one occupant, an Asian male operator, wearing a mask covering half his face.

Surveillance video from Sims captured the GMC Terrain entering the front gate of the property at 8:47 p.m.

“The GMC Terrain was towed from the train tracks and subsequently seized by the No.HPD,” Zaweski wrote.

In an affidavit written by Zaweski and Cunningham on Feb. 8, they said that that the GMC Terrain was towed by Nelcon Service Center to the North Haven Police Department.

In the Feb. 26 affidavit, Zaweski wrote that the tow truck driver drove Pan to the Best Western Hotel on Washington Avenue in North Haven.

“After the Pan encounter was completed, No.HPD dispatch received a call from the Mansfield Police Department in Massachusetts reporting the GMC Terrain was stolen from a car dealership in their town,” he wrote.

When interviewed, the tow truck driver who drove Pan to the hotel after the train-track encounter said that Pan explained that his GPS told him to turn right, which caused him to get lost.

When they arrived at the hotel, Pan jumped on the flatbed of the tow truck to retrieve his items from the SUV, the tow truck driver said.

“The driver told Pan four or five times to get off the flatbed, for his safety, which Pan ignored. Pan was adamant he needed the blue bag from the vehicle and did not want the driver to get it.

“At one point, the driver had to grab Pan by the shirt to get him out of the GMC. The driver retrieved Pan’s items which included a computer bag, a backpack, a jacket and a blue bag. When the driver handed Pan the bags, he described the blue bag as having some weight to it.”

The Next Morning, Outside Of Arby’s …

The following day at approximately 11 a.m., Zaweski wrote, North Haven police officers responded to the Arby’s Restaurant on Washington Avenue for the report of a found handgun.

Arby’s is located adjacent to the Best Western Hotel where Pan had been dropped off the previous evening by the tow truck driver.

Upon entering the restaurant, officers observed the following items arranged on a table:

• a Ruger .45 caliber SR1911 semi-automatic pistol;

• a black Ruger pistol case;

• seven firearm magazines;

• numerous boxes of ammunition;

• a black Dell briefcase;

• one pair of black Skechers sneakers;

• a gray knit winter hat with a “MetroPCS” logo;

• a GMC Terrain owner’s manual;

• a pair of lug nuts;

• a yellow Urban District jacket with a red stain on the bottom portion;

• Grey Hind sweat pants;

• a blue plastic bag labeled “City of Malden, MA”;

• three license plates; and scissors.

In multiple affidavits, Zaweski made clear that police do not believe that that gun was involved in Jiang’s murder.

“The Ruger SR1911 semi-automatic silver pistol with wood grips was forensically tested and it was determined this was not the firearm used in the homicide,” Zaweski and Det. Steve Cunningham wrote in multiple affidavits, including on Feb. 22 and on March 9.

In the Feb. 26 affidavit, Zaweski wrote that an Arby’s employee found the above items on the north side of the restaurant’s driveway as he arrived for work

That employee then brought them inside and placed them on a table prior to the police’s arrival.

The employee said that the magazines and boxes of ammunition were located in the blue plastic bag. A second employee said that she noticed the items at approximately 7:30 a.m. when she arrived at work, but did not retrieve the items.

Sgt. Mills, one of the officers who responded to Pan’s encounter at Sims Metal the night before, was also at Arby’s that Sunday morning.

Mills recognized the black Dell briefcase and blue plastic bag labeled “City of Malden, MA” as the items he saw in the GMC Terrain during his encounter with Pan on Saturday night, Zaweski wrote.

“The officer believed the items belonged to Qinxuan Pan, so he proceeded to the Best Western Hotel in an attempt to locate Pan.”

Due to the homicide investigation already underway in New Haven, members of the NHPD Investigative Services Division were notified and responded to the North Haven hotel as well.

Police Return To Best Western, But Pan’s Gone

Surveillance video from the hotel showed Pan checking in at 10:27 p.m. that Saturday night.

The video showed Pan wearing a black backpack and carrying a black Dell briefcase along with other bags.

Pan used his credit card to reserve room #276 and, according to the reservation system, Pan had not yet checked out.

Hotel staff, however, explained that room service had already entered the room and discovered it did not appear to have been used the previous night.

Officers were granted access to the room, and found it empty.

They canvassed the hotel, and did not locate Pan.

Prior Friendship With Jiang’s Fiancee

Zaweski also spoke with Jiang’s fiancee, Zion Perry, who resides approximately 500 feet from the crime scene on in the Goatville section of East Rock.

Both Perry and Jiang were graduate students at Yale, Zaweski wrote.

Perry told Zaweski that she and Jiang were fishing earlier in the day and returned to her apartment for dinner. They went shopping at Stop & Shop between 7 and 8 p.m. and then returned to her apartment.

“Jiang left Perry’s residence a short time later and Perry indicated she stood in the threshold of the door as he entered his vehicle and drove from the area,” Zaweski wrote. “Perry went inside and heard gunshots a few minutes later. She believed Jiang had left the area and didn’t think he was involved.”

Perry and Jiang had recently become engaged to be married.

She had posted photos and a video of the engagement on Facebook the week before. The post was accessible by her friends and the public. Zaweski located Pan listed as a “friend” of Perry’s Facebook profile page.

Perry explained that she met Pan in 2019 while they both attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He was a graduate student and she an undergrad. They met while attending various Christian group events on campus.

“They talked at those events and she invited him to other events to welcome him,” Zaweski wrote. “They never had a romantic or sexual relationship, they were just friends, but she did get a feeling that he was interested in her during that time.”

With Perry’s permission, Zaweski reviewed her Facebook page, and found that Perry and Pan first communicated on Jan. 20, 2019.

There were additional communications between November 2019 and May 2020, the last of which occurred on May 31, 2020, after Perry graduated from MIT.

Pan contacted her to congratulate her and asked if she would be able to have a Zoom call, which never occurred.

Perry said she never shared with Pan her New Haven address. She had no contact information for Pan, but believed he would still use his MIT email.

Zaweski also found that Jiang first uploaded a photo of himself and Perry to Facebook on June 13, 2020.

She was “tagged” in the photo, and therefore the photo was accessible to any of Perry’s Facebook friends, including Pan. On Aug. 23, Perry posted on Facebook about Jiang and about starting her graduate studies at Yale.

On Jan. 30, 2021, one week prior to Jiang’s homicide, she posted photos and a video announcing her and Jiang’s engagement.

Searching In Massachusetts, Pinging Phone In North Carolina

In a March 9, affidavit, Zaweski and Cunningham wrote that Malden Police Department spoke with Pan’s mother, identified as “Hong Pan,” at her Clifton Street home on Feb. 6. The affidavit does not say whether that encounter took place before or after Jiang’s murder that night.

Pan’s mom gave the police officers a phone number for Pan, and added that she thought he had since changed his number.

On Feb. 8, the Mansfield Police Department in Massachusetts secured an arrest warrant for Pan for the charges of larceny of a motor vehicle in connection with the stolen GMC Terrain from the Station Buick-GMC dealership in Mansfield, Mass.

In addition to the Mansfield warrant, North Haven police also obtained an arrest warrant against Pan for larceny in the second degree.

Massachusetts State Police then went to the Pan’s Clifton Street house in Malden, Mass., on Feb. 8 to execute the arrest warrant for the stolen car. Members of the NHPD Investigative Services Division met with the Massachusetts State Police at Pan’s residence, where they entered the home and did not locate Pan or any other individuals.

They did, however, find a black Google Pixel Cellphone on the dining room table and a gray laptop on the floor in the dining room. Those items were ultimately seized as evidence, and transferred to the New Haven Police Department.

That same day that Massachusetts State Police looked in vain for Pan at his Malden home, members of the U.S. Marshals Service conducted a search for any phone numbers associated with Pan.

They found one, which NHPD Det. Elizabeth White reported as showing up in connection with Pan in a MIT database. That phone number was different from the one provided by Pan’s mom to the Malden police a few days prior.

Later that same day, on Feb. 8, members of the U.S. Marshals Service began to conduct an emergency ping on the phone number, and determined that the number was pinging to within 100 yards of a Super 8 Hotel located in Garysburg, N.C.

U.S. Marshals contacted the hotel staff and searched the hotel for Pan. The hotel staff told them that nobody by the name of Pan had checked in. They didn’t find him.

U.S. Marshals then checked a Shell Station nearby the Garysburg hotel. The clerk at the gas station counter told the U.S. Marshals that someone brought in a cellphone earlier that had been found outside. The Marshals seized the black cellular phone, which had a cracked screen and a red case.

What About Pan’s Mom’s Lexus?

Also on Feb. 8, Zaweski wrote, he was informed of multiple License Plate Reader (LPR) hits on a dark colored Lexus ES 350 bearing Massachusetts registration 1LZH11.

“This vehicle was previously linked to Qinxuan Pan’s mother, Hong Huang,” he wrote.

On Feb. 7, at 3:33 a.m., the Lexus crossed the Verrazano Bridge entering the borough of Queens, N.Y.

There were additional LPR hits throughout New York followed by an LPR hit near Grovetown, Georgia at 5:05 a.m. on Feb. 8, Zaweski wrote.

“In addition, a review of historical LPR data related to the Lexus revealed the vehicle had been in New Haven on prior occasions.”

Once, on Sept. 21, 2020 at 11:02 p.m. at the intersection of Foxon Boulevard and Quinnipiac Avenue.

Another time on Nov. 17, 2020 at 10:36 p.m. near 45 Edwards St., just 0.2 miles from where Perry lived.

Four Separate Shootings, Believed To Be Linked

Zaweski wrote that he later received four National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) lead notification reports from the State Lab.

“Though no confirmatory microscopic analysis has been conducted to date, preliminary findings indicate an association between the .45 caliber fired cartridge casings recovered from Jiang’s homicide scene and fired cartridge casings recovered from four other shots fired incidents,” Zaweski wrote.

Those other potentially-related shootings took place:

• On Dec. 11, 2020 at 9:07 p.m. at 165 Huntington St. in New Haven. That night, city police officers were dispatched to a shots fired report from a residence at 165 Huntington. Five .45 caliber fired cartridge casings were located in the street in front of the house.

• On Jan. 15, 2021 at 7:41 p.m. at 105 Stimson Rd. in New Haven. That night, city police officers were dispatched to 105 Stimson for a ShotSpotter activation. They found one .45 caliber fired cartridge casing located in the street in front of the house.

• On Feb. 5, 2021 at Asst. Supt. Whyte’s home on Osborn Street in New Haven. That night, city police officers were dispatched to Whyte’s home after a ShotSpotter activation of five gunshots. They found two .45 caliber fired cartridge casings located in the street. Officers also located surveillance video from a neighboring residence which showed a dark colored SUV with similar features to the GMC Terrain, parked outside the house for a moment prior to fleeing the area.

• On Feb. 6, 2021 at 7:25 p.m. at 164 Shepard St. in Hamden. Roughly one hour before Jiang was killed, officers were dispatched to a shots fired report from a resident at 164 Shepard in Hamden. A dwelling was struck by gunfire. Two .45 fired cartridge casings were located in the roadway directly in front of the house.

One witness of the Shepard Street shooting in Hamden said they observed a black SUV stopped in front of the residence after the gunshots.

The witness “observed a white or Hispanic male seated in the driver’s seat pointing a handgun at the residence. The shooter was described as wearing a white hooded-sweatshirt and having black curly hair. Surveillance video was later seized from the residence which captured a dark colored SUV, which resembles a 2015 GMC Terrain, stop in front of the residence and fire two shots. The video showed a slight portion of what appeared to be a light-colored sleeve holding the gun.”

Pan Test Drove Vehicles On Days Of Shootings

In a Feb. 24 affidavit, Zaweski wrote that further investigation revealed that Pan test drove and kept overnight several vehicles on days that corresponded to some of the above shootings.

Pan test drove a 2015 GMC Terrain from a dealership in Norwood, Mass. between Jan. 15 and Jan. 16.

He also test drove a 2017 GMC Terrain from a dealership in Hudson, Mass. from Feb. 5 to Feb. 6—the night of the shooting of Whyte’s house.

Det. White was the one to confirm that, on Feb. 5, the same day as the shots fired at the Osborn Street house and the night before Jiang’s murder, Pan test drove that black 2017 GMC Terrain from Tuck’s Trucks GMC in Hudson, Mass.

The dealership confirmed that Pan did not return the vehicle until the morning of Feb. 6.

“Members of the Bureau of Identification later processed the vehicle at Tuck’s Trucks and located three .45 caliber fired cartridge casings on the exterior of the front windshield by the wiper blades,” Zaweski wrote about the car Pan drove the night of Whyte’s house shooting.

Zaweski wrote that Det. Cunningham later spoke with a sales consultant at Station Buick-GMC, located on Chauncy Street in Mansfield, Mass.

The sales consultant recalled assisting Pan on Feb. 6—the day of Jiang’s murder. That sales consultant recalled that Pan was wearing a yellow jacket at that time.

Pan provided his Massachusetts license and, at approximately 11 a.m. on Feb. 6, Pan took a blue 2015 GMC Terrain from the dealership for a test drive.

He never returned that vehicle.

The dealership reported the 2015 GMC Terrain stolen to the Mansfield Police Department at approximately 7:30 p.m. of Feb. 6.

A check of the GMC Terrain’s vehicle identification number matched the vehicle towed by the North Haven Police Department on the night of Jiang’s murder.

What About That Gun Found Outside Arby’s?

Zaweski wrote that he was informed that the gun recovered from the Arby’s restaurant in North Haven was traced to William R. Herriford-Alsup of Newport, Kentucky, who purchased the gun on May 13, 2020.

On Feb. 11, 2021, ATF Task Force Officer Miles spoke with Herriford-Alsup, who stated he “sold the Ruger to an Asian male, in his 20’s, with short spiked hair, about 5’6”, with a skinny build, who was driving a silver BMW.”

He said he communicated with the buyer through an email address: jlong0111@gmail.com.

Herriford-Alsup said he believed he would recognize the buyer again from a photograph.

He was shown a photo of Pan. Herriford-Alsup said that Pan was not the buyer of the gun.

“He was shown a photograph of Kevin Jiang and he stated it looked more like the buyer, but he couldn’t say for sure,” Zaweski wrote.

“It has been determined that there is no NIBIN connection between the SR1911 Ruger handgun found in the Arby’s parking lot and the .45 fired cartridge casings at the scene of Jiang’s homicide.”

Pan’s Parents Found In Georgia; They Drove To CT Because Their Son “Needed Help”

On Feb. 11, the U.S. Marshals Service received multiple license plate hits for Pan’s mom’s Lexus in the area of Duluth, Georgia.

They were able to locate and stop the Lexus.

“The two occupants located in the vehicle were Pan’s parents, Hong Huang and Hao Pan.”

The U.S. Marshals interviewed Hao Pan in Anderson, South Carolina. He identified himself as Qinxuan Pan’s father.

Hao Pan also stated that, approximately four or five days prior, he had received a phone call from his son, who “told him that he was in Connecticut and needed help.”

Hao Pan said he and Hong Huang, Qinxuan Pan’s mother, then left Massachusetts and picked up Qinxuan Pan in Connecticut.

“Hao Pan did not elaborate as to why his son needed ‘help’ in Connecticut.”

“Hao Pan Stated that they have been driving to unknown locations with Qinxuan Pan since picking him up in Connecticut, and that they have been sleeping in the vehicle.”

The dad said that the mom’s phone had been lost at an unknown location at an unknown time while they were driving.

Hao Pan said he last saw his son between midnight and the early morning hours of Feb. 11 at an unknown location.

The Marshals also conducted an interview with Huang, Qinxuan Pan’s mom, who “refused to answer any questions without an attorney.”

Blood In The Car; Gunshot Residue On The Jacket

Zaweski wrote that he obtained a search and seizure warrant, signed by state Superior Court Judge Gerald Harmon, for the 2015 GMC Terrain possessed by Pan.

Investigators processed the inside and outside of the 2015 GMC Terrain.

“They observed what appeared to be a blood-like stain on the gear shifter in the center console. This stain was swabbed and sent to the State Lab for analysis.”

Investigators also found a surgical mask located in the interior handle of the passenger door. They seized that mask as evidence and sent it to the state lab.

And they observed that the Terrain’s front license plate bracket was hanging “at a particular angle, attached by one screw. Investigators also observed an imprint on the rear bumper of the Toyota Prius (the victim Jiang’s vehicle), consistent with the shape and positioning of the front license plate bracket of the GMC Terrain.”

Zaweski wrote that “it is reasonable to infer” that the front of the GMC Terrain collided with the rear of the Toyota Prius.

Zaweski then secured another search and seizure warrant from Judge Harmon for the items seized by the North Haven Police Department at the Arby’s the morning after the murder.

Amongst those items were the grey knit winter hat with a “MetroPCS” logo on it and the Dell briefcase. Both items were sent to the state lab for confirmation of blood and DNA analysis.

On Feb. 12, Zaweski received a DNA report from the state lab, which stated that a reddish-brown stain on the Dell briefcase was “at least 100 billion times more likely to occur if it originated from Kevin Jiang than if it originated from an unknown individual.”

Those results were consistent with another “reddish-brown, possible tissue-like material” on the front of the grey knit winter hat.

Numerous other items of evidence were analyzed, Zaweski wrote, and a “pseudo-known” DNA profile of a “major male contributor was developed” from the interior of the grey winter hat.

On Feb. 16, Zaweski received a “latent print examination report” from the state lab, which said that an impression on the Ruger SR-1991 semi-automatic handgun matched the impression of the left middle finger of Qinxuan Pan.

An impression on one loaded black magazine for a semi-auto handgun also matched with Pan.

On Feb. 18, city Det. Conklin spoke with a service foreman at Wallingford Buick/GMC, who said that “fuse 33” inside the car’s fuse block is related to the GPS/Telematics and would deactivate the GPS system of the car if removed. “During the initial processing of this vehicle, it was discovered that there was no fuse in the spot for fuse 33,” Zaweski and Cunningham wrote in a Feb. 22 affidavit.

Det. Parker processed the vehicle and located four blue surgical gloves in the passenger door handle. Underneath the gloves were two fuses in the passenger side door handle: one red fuse marked with the number 10 and one yellow fuse marked with the number 20.

“Upon locating the two fuses, it was theorized that Pan might have removed the fuse to disable the navigational system (GPS) from the vehicle.” Indeed, when investigators turned on the car, the GPS system didn’t work. When they inserted one of the fuses found in the passenger door handle into fuse location #33, the navigation system turned on.

And on Feb. 23, Zaweski received a report from the state lab, which identified particles characteristic of primer-gunshot residue found on the right and left cuff areas of the yellow jacket found at Arby’s, and on the driver side front headliner and door area of the GMC Terrain.

On Feb. 26, Zaweski received a supplemental report from the state lab that identified the blood-like stain on the gear shifter of the 2015 GMC Terrain as “being a mixture of two contributors with at least one of them being male.” Assuming two contributors, the report reads, the DNA profile from the blood like-stain is “100 billion times more likely to occur if it originated from Kevin Jiang and one unknown individual than if it originated from two unknown individuals.”

The mask, meanwhile, showed a DNA profile consistent not with Jiang, but with the same person who wore the MetroPCS winter hat.

“To date, investigators have yet to obtain a known DNA sample from Qinxuan Pan required for comparison to these evidentiary results,” Zaweski wrote.

A check through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives confirmed that Pan did not show any firearms to Pan in Massachusetts.

Family & Social Ties To China; Arrested In Alabama “Without Incident”

At the end of the Feb. 26 affidavit, Zaweski wrote, “The affiants have learned, Qinxuan Pan has strong family and social ties to the People’s Republic of China,” Zaweski wrote in that Feb. 26 affidavit.

“Furthermore, the firearm used in the homicide has not been recovered. As such, his actions following the homicide constitute an active attempt to avoid apprehension and he must be considered armed and dangerous and an extreme flight risk.”

The affidavit ends by Zaweski requesting that an arrest warrant be issued for Pan, charging him with murder.

In a May 18 affidavit, Zaweski and Conklin wrote that, on May 14, U.S. Marshals Gulf Cost Regional Fugitive Task Force members, working with the U.S. Marshals Middle District of Alabama and the Montgomery Police Department, arrested Qinxuan Pan at 416 East Fairview Ave. in Montgomery, Alabama “without incident.”

Following his arrest, Pain waived extradition and was scheduled to be transported to Connecticut the following day.

Edmonton city councillor Mike Nickel again found in violation of code of conduct, facing sanction hearings for recommended censure

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Edmonton city councillor Mike Nickel again found in violation of code of conduct, facing sanction hearings for recommended censure Photo by Ian Kucerak / Postmedia, file

Article content Edmonton city councillor and mayoral candidate Mike Nickel has again been found in violation of the council code of conduct and will face sanction hearings on two separate matters.

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Article content Integrity commissioner Jamie Pytel released investigation reports Thursday afternoon finding Nickel violated a slew of council rules stemming from six complaints, including one from Mayor Don Iveson. As punishment, Pytel is recommending that council pass a motion to censure Nickel as well as issue a letter of reprimand. We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Edmonton city councillor Mike Nickel again found in violation of code of conduct, facing sanction hearings for recommended censure Back to video This isn’t the first time the Ward 11 councillor has been found in violation of the council code, which Pytel said was also taken into account when proposing the new sanctions. Last August, it was determined he breached the rules 10 times through his actions on social media. But Nickel avoided being sanctioned by his council colleagues with four councillors voting against issuing a punishment. Unlike most council votes, sanction decisions require a two-thirds majority.

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Article content First, Pytel said Nickel intentionally attempted to retaliate against people who made the prior complaints against him through two April social media posts. Nickel posted a photo of Coun. Andrew Knack asking if he directed a member of his staff to lodge one of the complaints and if it was a “$50,000+ stunt.” Pytel said this was a clear infringement of the rules because Nickel was acting in retaliation to the previous complaints issued against him. “He intentionally attempted to ridicule and intimidate people who have made code complaints, or intimidate people from making complaints in the future, all of which is retaliatory,” Pytel said in her decision. “The April 12 and 13, 2021 social media posts leave the false impression that Coun. Knack is somehow responsible for costing the taxpayers more than $50,000. Not only is this a false statement about the 2020 complaints, but importantly, this is retaliatory conduct against people who bring forward code complaints by trying to hold them personally and publicly responsible for the costs associated with complaints.”

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Article content In a second investigation garnering four complaints, Pytel found Nickel used email addresses obtained through his duty as a councillor for election campaign purposes. The code of conduct prohibits councillors from using email distribution lists that are used for official duties for campaign activities. The four residents who issued the complaints said they never signed up to receive campaign notices but had reached out in the past with ward-specific concerns. “From the information provided by the complainants, they did not sign up to get campaign communications from Coun. Nickel, but they do want to be able to interact with their councillor regarding his official duties,” Pytel wrote. “The code prohibits council members from using electronic mail distribution lists that are used for official duties for campaign activities and communications.” Nickel has again retained legal counsel from Jonathan Denis, former justice minister and Alberta attorney-general, for the upcoming sanction hearing. In a letter responding to the investigations, Denis said he disputes the code violations because Nickel’s “attacks” were directed at ideas and not people. The sanction hearings are scheduled for June 24. duscook@postmedia.com twitter.com/dustin_cook3

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CNN won’t discipline Chris Cuomo for advising his brother to fight sexual harassment allegations

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CNN prime time star Chris Cuomo won’t face any discipline for having participated in strategy sessions on how his brother Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo should deal with sexual harassment allegations, a decision that’s causing some blowback against the news channel.

The Washington Post reported Tuesday that Chris Cuomo participated in a series of conference calls earlier this year that included the Democratic governor’s top aide, his communication’s team, lawyers and outside advisers as Andrew Cuomo faced claims that he made inappropriate comments or touched women without their permission.

Gov. Cuomo has denied the sexual harassment allegations leveled by multiple women, including two current staffers in his office. The allegations are being investigated by the office of New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James.

The Post report said Chris Cuomo — whose nightly program “Cuomo Prime Time” has the largest audience on CNN — urged his brother not to resign and advised him to “take a defiant position” on the matter.

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CNN acknowledged in a statement that Chris Cuomo participated in the discussions and called it a mistake, as a journalist being involved in politics is a fundamental breach of ethics. But a representative for the network confirmed that Cuomo will not face any internal reprimand for his actions, a decision that elicited a strong rebuke from the women’s activist group UltraViolet.

“Reports that Chris Cuomo not only joined strategy calls with his brother, Governor Andrew Cuomo, on how to respond to the numerous sexual harassment allegations against him, but actively advised his brother to aggressively push back on the allegations, is deeply disturbing and completely unacceptable,” Bridget Todd, communications director for UltraViolet, said in a statement.

“Make no mistake — this wasn’t just a brother talking to his brother about their lives, or even about politics,” Todd added. “This was a major network news anchor advising the Governor of New York to actively push back against sexual harassment allegations and denigrate survivors of abuse by defining their calls for accountability as ‘cancel culture.’”

UltraViolet called for a suspension of Cuomo and an investigation on how his involvement in his brother’s crisis may have had an impact on coverage at the network.

CNN’s statement noted that Chris Cuomo has had no input in editorial decisions related to the issues Gov. Cuomo is facing.

“Chris has not been involved in CNN’s extensive coverage of the allegations against Governor Cuomo — on air or behind the scenes,” the network said. “In part because, as he has said on his show, he could never be objective. But also because he often serves as a sounding board for his brother. However, it was inappropriate to engage in conversations that included members of the Governor’s staff, which Chris acknowledges. He will not participate in such conversations going forward.”

Cuomo offered an apology at the top of his program.

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“I am family first - job second,” Cuomo said. “But being a journalist and a brother to a politician is unique, and a unique challenge and I have a unique responsibility to balance those roles. It’s not always easy…how I helped my brother also matters. When my brother’s situation became turbulent being looped into calls with other friends of his and advisors that did include some of his staff, I understand why that was a problem for CNN. It will not happen again. It was a mistake, because I put my colleagues here, who I believe are the best in the business, in a bad spot. I never intended for that, I would never intend for that, and I am sorry for that.”

Cuomo said he has never tried to influence his network’s coverage of his brother. “I’ve been walled off from it,” he said.

Nevertheless, Cuomo’s actions puts CNN in a glass house situation. The network’s commentators have often been highly critical of Fox News opinion hosts, such as Sean Hannity, who advised former President Donald Trump privately in addition to being advocates on the air.

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Sam Stein, an editor for Politico and a contributor to MSNBC, said in a tweet that such a blatant conflict of interest would only be tolerated for a star anchor.

“The Chris Cuomo story is a story of power,” Stein wrote. “Any junior level staffer who moonlighted as a political adviser would see their job suspended or gone. It’s also a story of editorial distinctions. At Fox, the hosts were advising Trump so often it became its own story genre.”

Chris Cuomo also got a pass from CNN management in March, after reports that he was among the people close to the governor who received priority access to conronavirus testing early last year by New York state health officials as the pandemic escalated and available testing was scarce.

Cuomo was long prohibited from participating in stories about his brother, a ban that has been in effect since he joined the network in 2013. Nonetheless, when the pandemic emerged last year, CNN made an exception, allowing the Cuomo brothers to appear together as the governor had been receiving praise for his leadership role in managing the crisis in New York state.

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The breezy brother-to-brother conversations worked, as the ratings for “Cuomo Prime Time” climbed during those appearances. Their last joint appearance in May 2020 had Chris Cuomo wielding a giant cotton test swab while poking fun at the governor.

But Gov. Cuomo’s fortunes changed after it was revealed that his office undercounted the number of COVID-19 deaths that occurred in the state’s nursing homes.

Last year, Cuomo’s Department of Health ordered nursing homes to take COVID-positive patients, even though there was an ample supply of hospital beds to handle them.

After news of the harassment allegations broke, Chris Cuomo told viewers on March 1 that he could not cover his brother’s scandals on his program and has steered clear of them.