Justin Murphy and Nate Robson / The Citizen | Posted: Tuesday, November 22, 2011 3:30 am | (1)
Auburn resident Ryan Brahney is escorted into Cayuga County Court Monday, where he pleaded not guilty to stabbing former girlfriend Bridget Bell to death earlier in the day. Auburn police said Brahney and Bell had a history of domestic violence leading up to Monday's arrest.
Police accused Ryan Brahney, 39, of repeatedly stabbing 29-year-old Bridget Bell with a knife after breaking into her apartment at 115 Olympia Terrace.
Authorities first heard of the incident through a 1:14 a.m. 911 call made by a family member living with Brahney at 128 VanAnden St. in Auburn, said Lt. Shawn Butler of the Auburn Police Department.
Butler would not identify the family member, but said the person was alarmed by Brahney’s demeanor and was worried about Bell.
Police went to the Olympia Terrace apartment and found Bell’s body in a downstairs room, he said. Upstairs, the couple’s 3-year-old son, Finn Brahney, was sleeping and unharmed.
Officers were dispatched simultaneously to 128 VanAnden St., where they found Brahney and arrested him without incident, Butler said. It appears that the incident had already taken place when the 911 call came in.
Police have responded to domestic violence calls involving the couple prior to Monday, Butler said.
In August, Brahney was issued a “refrain from” order of protection, which allowed him to have contact with Bell and his child but cautioned him against harassment, Butler said.
Brahney was sentenced to five to 15 years in prison for first-degree assault after severely beating a man with a baseball bat when he was 23 years old.
During a 1995 drug dispute on Fort Street in Auburn, Brahney struck the man in the face repeatedly, breaking every bone in his face, according to The Citizen’s archives.
“I think Mr. Brahney is a very dangerous man and nearly beat the victim to death,” former Cayuga County District Attorney James Vargason said at the time. “The attack was vicious and violent.”
He was released to parole on four different occasions but was recommitted each time for violations: twice for using cocaine, once for attempting to forge a drug test sample and once, in 2009, for releasing two pit bulls on his parole officers, according to state parole records.
Also in 2009, Brahney was convicted of assault after breaking Bell’s jaw and preventing her from calling 911, according to the district attorney’s office.
He was released for good in March after maxing out the original five- to 15-year sentence.
Brahney had a pending domestic violence case in local family court for allegedly violating an order of protection July 6 by getting into an argument with Bell and breaking a table.
“They had a history of domestic violence, and this was probably just another tragic domestic homicide,” Butler said. “Unfortunately that’s becoming too common here.”
Brahney pleaded not guilty in Cayuga County Court Monday to second-degree murder, first-degree criminal contempt and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, all felonies.
Additional charges are pending, Butler said.
Judge Thomas Leone also granted custody of Brahney and Bell’s child to Colleen Bell, Bridget Bell’s mother, and remanded Brahney to jail without bail.
Attorney Michele Driscoll, who represents 3-year-old Finn Brahney, said the mother and son were afraid of Brahney. Colleen Bell added that on several occasions Finn said he did not want to visit his father.
Brahney opposed the custody decision in court and blamed Bell’s family for problems in their relationship.
“That’s furthest from the truth,” Brahney said, referring to Driscoll’s comments. “I go down to see him every day ... They (Bell’s family) don’t belong with my son. They are going to ruin him. They already ruined him.”
In court, Brahney had bandages on both wrists and hands, and wore booties similar to medical scrubs on his feet. Butler said police believe Brahney’s hands were injured during the crime, but would not elaborate. Brahney’s clothing and shoes were also seized as evidence.
Defense attorney Jon Strods, who represented Brahney at Monday’s arraignment and in family court, did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Brahney’s mother, Betty Brahney, answered the door at 128 VanAnden St. Monday morning but declined to comment.
Ted and Tanya Hastings live across the street from Bell and said they were good friends with her and Brahney for many years.
Tanya Hastings said Bell was a good person and a good mother.
“She was very outgoing and a lot of fun to be with,” Tanya Hastings said.
She described the 3-year-old boy as “energetic” and “awesome.”
According to Ted Hastings, Bell and Brahney dated on and off for about three years, going back to the birth of their son.
Brahney told Hastings he was attending anger management classes, and realized he had a problem with violence.
“Honest to God, Ryan had a good side to him when they weren’t fighting,” he said. “He had a real good side to him.”
The Hastings and others warned Bell to stay away from Brahney.
“We’ve all talked to her,” Ted Hastings said. “She stayed away from him as far as we know, but he kept coming around and coming around. She’d talk to us and say, ‘Man, he’s going to hurt me.’ She was afraid of him.
The Hastings had Bell and Brahney together at their home Saturday night just hours before the alleged murder.
Brahney told Ted Hastings that he was upset and that he and Bell were fighting again, Hastings said, but there was no indication of what would happen later that night.
“The problems they had, I don’t know,” Hastings said. “The whole thing’s just senseless.”
Bell worked most recently in the restaurant at Skaneateles Country Club.
Lynne Sweet, the club’s food and beverage manager, called her “a great employee, loved by members and staff alike.”
The investigation into Bell’s death is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Douglas Parker at 255-4726 or the Auburn Police Department at 253-3231.
Brahney is the third person to be charged with a domestic related murder this year in Cayuga County. Michael Gallow, of Scipio, was sentenced to 22-years to life in prison for shooting his father, Bernard Gallow, to death during an argument at their family home in March.
Auburn resident David McNamara was charged with strangling or suffocating former girlfriend Katie Socci to death in June. That charge was dismissed last week after a judge ruled that the district attorney’s office violated his right to testify at a grand jury hearing. That decision will either be appealed or the case will be re-presented to the grand jury for another indictment. McNamara remains in custody though, as he is serving a five-year prison sentence for giving drugs to a friend.
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