THE family of a Dundalk man stabbed to death in New York six weeks ago are angry that the man charged with his murder has been released on bail, Emer Mullins writes from New York.
Mr Jamie Carr, from Howard Beach, Queens, New York, who had been in hiding since the fatal stabbing of Mr Francis White on August 13th, was charged on Wednesday with murder and with criminal possession of a weapon. Bail was set at $125,000 (£78,000).
After Mr Carr's indictment by a grand jury last week, his lawyer, Mr Marvin Kornberg, agreed with an assistant district attorney that his client would surrender to police last Tuesday on the understanding that he could be released on bail.
To secure the bail, Mr Carr's parents offered their home as security and lodged a bond for 10 per cent of the bail.
However, Mr Breen White, a brother of the victim, said he was angry and his parents in Dundalk were devastated. "The DA told me that this was the only way they could get Carr to come in," he said. "They said he had the means to go underground for a long time."
Chief Paddy Brennan, head of the New York Police Department's internal affairs bureau, said that there was normally no bail in a murder case, particularly if the defendant was thought likely to flee. "It's not law but it's policy," he said.
A spokeswoman for the Queens district attorney's office, Ms Mary de Bourbon, said: "It's our belief, based on the fact he voluntarily surrendered and has no prior record and has roots in the community, that he will remain in the jurisdiction of the court and face the charges."