16 THE QUEENS COURIER • MAY 23, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
COP WANTED A KILLER
Former Queens offi cer charged in murder-for-hire plot
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com
@robbpoz
An offi cer formerly assigned to Ozone
Park’s 106th Precinct wound up in handcuff
s on Friday aft er an undercover operation
revealed that she attempted to have
her estranged, second husband murdered.
Th e FBI took Long Island resident
Valerie Cincinelli, 34, into custody on May
17 on charges that she allegedly tried to
get her current boyfriend to hire a hitman
who would kill both her husband and her
boyfriend’s young daughter.
Th e boyfriend wound up reporting
her to federal agents who subsequently
launched an elaborate sting that sounded
like a plot line from a “Law & Order”
episode. Law enforcement agents went as
far as to send Cincinelli’s boyfriend a text
message from a purported hitman — that
he showed her shortly before her arrest —
with an attached photo of her estranged
husband, appearing dead.
NBC New York reported that she was
previously assigned to the 106th Precinct
until 2017, when she was placed on modifi
ed duty over a domestic incident.
Records from the U.S. Justice
Department indicated that the twice-married
Cincinelli “has been romantically
involved with several individuals, and
that her fi rst and second husbands had
sought orders of protection against her.
Federal prosecutors alleged that she also
had a “volatile history” with her boyfriend,
whom she had asked to help orchestrate
the double murder.
Th e New York Daily News reported
that the NYPD suspended her without
pay immediately following her arrest.
According to federal agents, she was
“brought up on charges of sharing confi -
dential information with her boyfriend
and violating other Police Department
rules and regulations in connection with
sharing information with him.”
Th e NYPD declined to comment on
the case, referring all questions to the U.S.
Attorney’s offi ce.
In February of this year, according to
the criminal complaint, Cincinelli allegedly
asked her boyfriend to hire a hitman to
kill her estranged, second husband and the
boyfriend’s young daughter. Th e boyfriend
told her that he knew someone who would
do the deed for $7,000.
On Feb. 18, prosecutors said, Cincinelli
withdrew $7,000 in cash from her bank
account at a TD Bank in Wantagh, then
provided it to her boyfriend to give the
hitman as payment. He then told her that
he would convert the cash to gold coins,
which he purchased later that day from a
dealership in Massapequa Park.
Cincinelli and her boyfriend repeatedly
discussed the murder plot numerous
times between February and May 17, with
some of the conversations having been
consensually recorded at the request of law
enforcement.
Authorities said the sting that nabbed
Cincinelli came to a head at 10:10 a.m.
Friday morning, when a detective with
the Suff olk County Police Department —
acting at the FBI’s direction — visited her
at her home and informed her that her
estranged husband had been murdered.
Her boyfriend was present at the time and
wearing a recording device to capture the
events.
Almost immediately aft er the detective
departed, federal prosecutors noted,
Cincinelli allegedly began discussing her
alibi with her boyfriend in the event she
were to be formally questioned about her
estranged husband’s presumed death.
Nearly 40 minutes later, an FBI agent —
posing as the hitman — then sent a text
message to Cincinelli’s boyfriend which
included a photo of her estranged husband
appearing dead, along with a demand for
another $3,000 in cash to kill the boyfriend’s
daughter. Cincinelli allegedly told
her boyfriend to delete the text and photos
in case detectives subpoenaed his phone.
Cincinelli was taken into custody a short
time later and arraigned on Friday aft ernoon
in U.S. District Court in Central
Islip. She was ordered held in custody
without bail. If convicted, she faces up to
10 years behind bars.
While on the job in the 106th Precinct
back in 2017, Offi cer Cincinelli helped
collar an alleged bank robber in Howard
Beach who attempted to use a fake bomb
to steal cash. A dye pack that a bank
employee provided him with the stolen
loot blew up in his face, and helped lead
cops to him.
Scholar-athlete killed in 2017 fi re honored with street name in Queens Village
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Queens Village and Cambria Heights
community members, elected offi cials
and representatives of the FDNY joined
the family of the late Melody Edwards
as they unveiled a street sign for Melody
Anne-Simone Edwards Way Saturday.
Th e neighborhood was rocked two
years ago when a Sunday aft ernoon fouralarm
fi re destroyed three homes and
took the lives of fi ve people between the
ages of 2 and twenty years-old, including
the 17-year-old Edwards, an Arista
National Honor Society member, track
and volleyball star, and prospective
graduate at the Queens High School of
Teaching.
Edwards had been visiting the home of
her friend, Jada Foxworth, who also perished
in the fi re, to tutor one of the children
there when the deadly blaze broke
out.
“Melody was more that a gift ed scholar
and athlete, She was a mentor to her
peers who led by the example of her character,”
City Councilman I. Daneek Miller
said. “Today’s dedication of Melody
Anne-Simone Edwards Way will refl ect
not only on the tragedy that took a life
that held so much promise but the fact
that, in life as well as death, Melody’s legacy
set the standard for the next generation,
and her memory will forever raise
our community up.”
FDNY Assistant Chief Edward Baggott
attended the emotional event with members
of Engine Company 317/Ladder
Company 165/Battalion 54. Investigators
found there were no working smoke
detectors in the home at 112-16 208th St.
and several safety awareness town halls
were held throughout southeast Queens
in the aft ermath.
“Five young lives were taken in this
tragic fi re, including Melody Edwards,
who we honor and remember with this
street co-naming,” Baggott said. “Th e
FDNY is deeply committed to reaching
every community with the life-saving
message of fi re safety education and we
want each New Yorker to have a working
smoke alarm in their home.”
Queens Borough President Melinda
Katz remembered the young lady who
wanted to study law.
“Melody Edwards was a bright and
talented young woman who, before her
tragic passing, was a true leader in her
school, her church and her community,”
Katz said. “By co-naming 118th Avenue
in her honor, Melody’s memory will
inspire generations of young people to
live as she did, with grace, humility and a
passion for lift ing others up.”
During a memorial service last
year, her debate teacher at PS/IS 270
in Rosedale remembered how Edwards
went to school offi cials to intervene when
a gang was recruiting a shy friend of hers.
“Melody Anne-Soimone Edwards was
a gift ed young woman with a bright
future and she will be missed by family,
friends, and our community; though
we lost her and four other young adults
and children is an unspeakable tragedy,
we saw the best of who we are in its aft ermath,”
state Senator Leroy Comrie said.
“Melody’s family is preserving her legacy
by continuing to give back to the community
and I commend them for their
strength.”
Th e Edwards family established a
$1,000 scholarship in her name for graduating
high school students who demonstrate
a strong commitment to volunteerism
as she did. Th ey also plan to create a
foundation called #E4M, Everything for
Melody, to foster a spirit of service within
their community.
“Melody was an inspiration to us all,
she had done something that we all
aspire to do and that’s to maximize our
time,” Assemblyman Clyde Vanel said.
“Th e love that has been shared reverberated
throughout her community since
her passing can only be described as she
was, special.”
File photo/Robert Stridiron
Courtesy of Miller’s offi ce
The family of Melody Anne-Simone Edwards with City Councilman I. Daneek Miller
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