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Lisa Steinberg trial statement May 3, 1993 Re: Anwar Abdul Trial I don't feel that Lisa Steinberg was murdered because of a mere robbery, but rather, that she was targetted (sic) because of her employment at the GAP, perhaps even at that particular GAP store. On Jan 24, 1992, the day before the murder, I spoke with, I believe, a Detective Davis of Community Affairs at One Police Plaza about cults (Scientologist, Christian or other cult-like groups) who had begun harassing me in Los Angeles and who chased me across the country and continued to harass me here in New York. Their harassment techniques ranged from constant monitoring to the poisoning of my food. One of their favorite techniques was carrying GAP bags in my presence, "GAP" rhymes with "Jap". I an (sic) of Japanese ancestry. I felt that Detective Davis knew specifically what I was talkingabout.(sic) When he asked me why this might be happening, I said that among the possible reasons might be that they were using me to train some of their newer agents in harassment techniques. When I said "train", he repeated the word with heightened expectation. On Dec 27, 1991, I had gone to the NYC Commission on Human "Rights and also complained about the cults, intimating that the cults might be involved in the Aug 28, 1991 Union Square Train Crash. I felt that Detective Davis was expecting me to mention that. I didn't though, but I did bring up the Dec 28, 1991 murder of Officer Keith Levine who I felt was murdered in response to my going to the Commission on Human Rights the day before, not unlike the Lisa Steinberg murder. And Keith Levine was murdered at the Manufacturers Hanover Bank on W. 57th and 8th, not far from the GAP store where Lisa Steinberg worked. The next morning, Lisa Steinberg was murdered by a gunshot in the head, but she also had multiple stab wounds from a Phillips screwdriver. At the time, I was taking a building maintenance class at FEGS in Long Island City where several of the students seemed to have criminal pasts, not unlike the population at the Wards Island men's shelter where I was then staying at. At the school there was chronic problem of stolen tools and at that particular time, a shortage of Phillips screwdrivers. I'm not saying that the screwdriver used in the murder was necessarily one stolen from FEGS, but the symbolism is there. In the same vein, Anwar Abdul was a maintenance worker, one of the types of job skills that FEGS teaches and coincidentally, I believe Anwar Abdul began working at the GAP in October, the same month I began classes at FEGS. When I went to class on Mon, Jan 27, several students seemed to be in varying emotional states. Alex asked me a question in serious tones, Douglas seemed angry at me, Harold seemed slightly triumphant and Gilbert seemed a little shaken. A black student who sat with other black students in the back row said that he was out of school for a week because of a cold and that there had been a death in the family. I was not aware of the murder at that time. The first time I heard about the murder was on the Channel 7 morning news on Jan 28, though on the night of Jan 26 or 27, a white female sat in front of me on the 101 bus reading a newspaper article with the word "GAP" in the headline. On the 35 bus back to the shelter that night, a black male said something like "We'd do anything for you, even kill someone". On. Jan 29, I bought a copy of Newsday that had a mention of the Steinberg funeral on the cover. As I was reading the paper on a bench at 3rd and 82nd, 2 white males sat down next to me and as soon as I turned to the Steinberg story, they left. Passing through the Upper East Side was a daily occurence (sic) for me, either walking or taking the bus or train between Harlem and Mid Town (sic) and other areas. Lisa Steinberg lived at 215 E. 95 which may or may not be relevant, though the people carrying GAP bags in that area sure stopped for a little while after the murder. The next morning on June 30, a cop car parked aggressibely (sic) at the corner of 103 and Lexington, which is where the subway station I took each morning to FEGS was. A black cop jumps out of the car and rushes ahead of me into the corner store where I usually bought something. At FEGS, Alex talks to Douglas like they're old friends, even though before, Douglas wouldn't even shake Alex's hand. Douglas says "This is all your fault". While walking across the 59th Street Bridge to Manhattan on the same day, I passed about 20 scattered young white people when I would usually only pass a few people walking on the bridge in the middle of winter. On Jan 31, the cops were arresting someone at the 103 and Lexington subway station when I entered that morning. A tall white cop exited the token booth as I passed by. I thought that they might be trying to contact me about the GAP store murder, so I went to the 23rd Precinct the next morning, Feb 1, and told them about my thinking they wanted to talk to me, but they weren't interested. I also told them about the cults, food poisoning and 4 or 5 GAP Auto tow trucks that were parked around 103 and Lexington on I believe Jan 14, but after being told to wait, I was eventually thrown out. I also wrote a Itter (sic) to Mayor Dinkins on Feb 9 mentioning parts of my theory and I also briefly alluded to the Steinberg murder in a statement I gave a clerk to give to the attourneys (sic) and judges at the Robert Ray/Union Square Train Crash and the Thaddeus Davis/B Train Shooting trials, but I have had no response. There are perhaps other murders and assaults that happened around the same time, but that I'm not as certain about. On Jan 24, Arthur Young, a Chinese American TA dispatcher, was killed on the N train as it went through Long Island City, a 70-year-old man was stabbed on the F train with a pair of scissors (I used to carry a pair of scissors with me while I was being harassed in downtown LA and they seemed to make a big deal about it at that time), on the evening of Jan 25, an off-duty Amtrak cop was assaulted and robbed of a chain and crucifix at the Ritz club at 254 W. 54th by a black male who accused him of being a white supremacist, and on Jan 31, an off-duty cop, Hilario Serrano, was killed at 1705 Andrews Ave in the Bronx. On Feb 5 at FEGS, I was told about a building maintenance job opening at 1125 Grand Concourse, about a mile from the Serrano murder. On Nov 11, 1992, I passed by 359 W. 52nd and a large window had many old news clippings including the Steinberg murder and some other acts of violence, so maybe I'm not the only private citizen who's thinking along these lines. Eric Nakao PO Box Rockefeller Ctr Station NY, NY 10185 posted: december 12, 2004 document update: web page update: january 1, 2005 top |