Man Tried to Pin Girlfriend’s Murder on Random Moped Attack: NYPD

A Bronx, New York man showed up at a. hospital last week. A stab wound to his. arm, his girlfriend in critical. condition, saying they had just been. attacked by people on a moped. The. problem is this fantastical story. quickly unraveled and now he is the one. charged with her murder. We are bringing. on retired NYPD detective Dave Sarnney. to talk about how police put the pieces. together. Welcome to Sidebar, presented. by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Let's talk about this. So, 44year-old.

Franklin Batalis showed up at Montapor. Hospital in New Rochelle on September. 17th with a horrific story. He claimed. that he and his girlfriend were on their. way to dinner on City Island when they. were attacked by two people on a moped. Okay. Now, the New York Post reports. that Batalis told police that he had. stopped near Palm Bay Park in the Bronx. because he had to go to the bathroom. And he said while he was out of the car, two black men wearing all black that. they raced up to the car and tried to.

rob his girlfriend, 30-year-old Anonella. Contrarus Lonares. Now, Batalis claims. that she resisted, so they attacked her. They viciously stabbed her in the face, neck, and body. And he said he rushed. back over to the car to try to get. involved, to try to intervene, to try to. stop them, and he got slashed on the. arm. And that is when the alleged. attackers according to him took off on. their moped and Matalis rushed anella to. the hospital where she was pronounced. dead. Very sad situation and really.

horrifying situation and also pretty. wild story, right? But here's the thing. Police in the Bronx, they thought it was. maybe too wild of a story, too. And so. while they launched an investigation. into these mysterious moped riding. criminals, they also started looking. into Batalis and they were able to poke. holes in his story pretty much. immediately. NYPD detectives questioned. him and his story unraveled, sources. told the New York Post and the New York. Daily News. According to the police.

sources, Anonella and Batalis were in. the process of breaking up. kind of. unclear what had happened right before. the stabbing, but they say he is the one. responsible. Now, he was arrested. He. was arraigned on Friday. According to. his online case information, he has been. charged with firstdegree murder, firstdegree manslaughter with the intent. to cause serious physical injury and. criminal possession of a weapon. He has. entered a not- guilty plea to all three. charges. He was remanded without bail. I. want to talk about this investigation. I. want to welcome back on David Sarnney,

the retired NYPD detective. Kind of give. us a look at what was likely going on. behind the scenes in this case. So, from. your perspective, as I laid it out, does. that story that Batalis allegedly gave. police, does that immediately raise. alarm bells with you? If you were the. responding officer, would you say. something's not adding up? >> Well, first, no, again, thanks for. having me. We have robberies like that. in the past. We've had situations with. moped any mopeds doing robberies. But. what happens is once we get the person. and we sit down and talk to you, we try.

to get their story and create a. timeline. And not only that, when you're. dealing with the timeline, you're also. looking at the at the victim. He said he. had a glass he had glasses to his arm. and apparently while they probably. interviewed him. They noticed he had. hair like long like dark hair in his. hand. So that's something you're going. to go wait a minute. If he's telling you. the story, how does that happen? So, what you're doing is you're trying to. create that timeline of the individual, telling you where he was at the time it. happened. He said he was out of the. vehicle, when robbery took place, where. was he? When did he get to approach the.

vehicle? So, it's going to be a. step-by-step process to hear him tell. the story. We usually let them tell the. story first and then we'll just have. them repeat it and maybe over and over. again. And then as you do this, you'll. notice that things aren't adding up. And. especially dealing with the fact that. the woman was viciously stabbed. This. isn't a one-time stamping. And I you're. talking about a robbery. Robbery curs. don't necessarily do multiple stabbings. like that. >> Let me just expand upon that. You're. saying an attack like that you haven't. it's not common, you know, coming up on. a moped trying to commit a robbery and.

uh you know, stabbing someone, >> right? In the in the fact that he's. saying she's in the car and the multiple. stabbings take place, you know, how did. that happen? And that's something in. your head automatically because usually. when you talk about persons who stab. numerous times, there's some sort of. relationship to the person. That's what. we see. But I always tell I always tell. investigators when I was doing training. and things and and I did that. Let the. truth come out in the in the facts that. you find. Let them tell let them tell. you their version of what happened and.

then determine whether or not uh you can. either support it or refute it with the. facts that you have available to you at. the time. But there are things that will. come out and go kind of unusual, especially multiple stab wounds on a. victim. They're just trying to do a. robbery, right? And especially the type. the amount of stabs it seems on the. victim was definitely unusual. >> Now you may think by watching Sidebar. you've seen it all. Let me tell you. think again. 50 ways to catch a killer. Okay. This brings you real cases where. detectives had to flip the script to. take down cold blooded killers hosted by. 50 Cent. This isn't your typical crime.

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happened here? >> Well, that's very important because. that's where his story comes into play. Sometimes what we would do with a victim. is do what's called a walk through. You. would take him to the area where it. happened and he could show you where it. is and then you will notice the cameras. So if he's telling you all of these all. this information, you're going to refer. back to the cameras. Apparently he said. during one of one of his interviews is. they followed him on the moped. They. were following them. During that time. when they said that they did not see any. mopeds following him at that time. So.

that's already one break in the story. And these are things that come into play. piece by piece. That starts telling you. he's not being truthful. If this is the. murder of his girlfriend, you're going. to be honest the whole way through. If. someone else did it, if you did it, you're going to kind of find ways to. make the story. And especially the. urination story, that's always one of. those things that you were not there. when it happened, but then you showed up. and you try to be the hero and save your. girlfriend, but then you got a slash. wound. And it comes down to the. laceration. is with his defensive wound.

or is it a wound that he sustained while. he was stabbing? >> Or is it possible if we take the. allegations as true that Batala stabbed. himself to make this story seem more. plausible? >> Absolutely. That that's what you look. at. And I think what you do is when you. have those lacerations, you're taking. photos of lacerations to his arm and. determining whether it's a defensive. wound, a wound that he put himself on, did to himself, or a wound he sustained. while attacking the girlfriend. Sometimes what we've seen is when these. knife attacks happen, perpetrators may.

have injuries to their hands because as. they're stabbing, the amount of times. they're having the knife could slip. because of unfortunate amount of blood. that's being released and it could slip. and it could cause an injury to their. hands. So those are things you look at. when you're talking to an individual who. said he was a victim of stabbing or he. his girlfriend in this case the victim. of stabbing. >> Let's go back to what you mentioned. before like first steps. Obviously, you. talked about going to surveillance. You. talk about uh interviewing him multiple. times to get to the story, but in terms. of the actual processing of evidence and.

processing of the scene and collecting. evidence um in this kind of case, what. are the next steps to corroborate or. seemingly try to corroborate the story. or say something's not adding up? What. is it? I mean, do you have to apply for. a warrant to get his phone? You would. have to probable cause that he committed. this crime, but he's just relayed a. harrowing account of what happened to. him and his girlfriend. How does it work. for police here? Well, the crime scene. the crime scene's mobile because you. have the vehicle right there which is. the initial crime scene where the stab. where she's bled out that you have he. has the crime scene where he said the.

attack took place. So there are multiple. locations in which you might have to. look for evidence look for something. along the lines of that's why the video. cameras became so important. You're. looking for the secondary crime scene. where it happened where the location of. occurrence he states happened and you're. also look for evidence trace evidence. Is there blood on the scene? Is there. traces of blood on the scene where he. said she was stabbed or was it all. self-contained in the car? You're going. to look at the vehicle itself to see, you know, is there blood on the door on. her doorway? Where is the blood located. in the car? Is on his side on her side?

Is it all throughout the car? When you. seize that car, it's evidence is based. based on the warrant, which you'll have. to probably best off getting at this. point because you have a victim of. crime. You want to get the evidence. A. search warrant wouldn't be too difficult. to get. the later on the subsequent. warrants will be for cell phone if his. vehicle is a newer model vehicle. They. do have GPS in those vehicles so you can. probably get the computer for that GPS. system. There's a lot of things you'll. go afterwards, but based on what they. had available to them right now, there. was enough evidence to at least charge.

him with the crime of murder. >> And what information can hospital. personnel be able to offer police to. help with an investigation? >> Well, that's the the also the important. part. when a stabbing takes place, they. not they're they're mandated by. stabbings and shootings, they're not. mandated to notify the police. So, we'll. speak to the the initial physician. If. there's EMS on the scene, speak to the. EMS workers. See what they he said to. them. See what anyone anything he said. outside of our interview to them. directly and also speaking to the uh the.

physician who's there, the doc who. attended, you know, attended the scene. and speak to them and say, "What do you. see? What's you know, what about the. arm?" We'll ask about these things. We'll always ask him questions. Type of. stamps, how many stab wounds? If he can. determine that at that time, where were. they located? We can kind of see those. things will come into play. But that. also that that injury he sustained. Is. that a is that a really serious injury. or is again something that he might have. cut himself? It's like a little. secondary type of thing. And.

>> just going back to one more thing, the. Batalis's hair allegedly inella's hand. goes to the hospital. Is there a benign. explanation for that or does it look. like she's grabbing him in the middle of. an attack? >> Well, that's be looking at because then. there's a question you could take photos. of that which is a good idea to take. photos of the scene and hear what he. said. That's why the initial interview. is very important when his girlfriend's. getting stabbed. What did you do? You. know, he tried to stop her and you may. ask that question about the hair being.

in. But sometimes a lot of things is. what did you do? We like to actually see. physically show us what happened when. she was attacked. Did you put your hands. out? Did you try to grab her? Did you. try to pull her in? So then we could try. to explain either as a confirmatory or. refuting his his information about the. hair in his hand. You could say, "I. never touched her. I just got into the. car." Then that makes something that's. imp that's kind of difficult. He never. touched her. How do you have hair in her. hand? So these are things that come out. with that interview. That's why the. initial interview and the subsequent. interviews are so important to develop. that timeline and to see where the.

stories are factual and when the stories. aren't. Now, according to the Daily News. and the New York Post, Antheanella's. family was immediately suspicious of. this mugging story. In fact, Ananella's. brother Maker Contrarus told the New. York Post, "Why, if you were with her, how did you let this happen? Because if. you have a wife or a daughter, and if. your wife is in danger, you give your. life for your wife." He went on to say, "We're devastated. The light of your. happiness, everything that has. represented joy in your family, in your.

home, it's gone. The glue that kept us. together, it was her." Her sister. Melennis told the Daily News, "We never. expected this. We knew he was. aggressive, but we never thought it. would come to this." According to family. members, Anonella came to the United. States 11 years ago from the Dominican. Republic. She had big dreams of one day. becoming an anesthesiologist. Her mother. told reporters that Anella and Batalis. had met in a restaurant, been together. around 6 years. Her mom also said that. Ananella attended Bronx Community. College, Layman College, Manhattanville. University, was a registered nurse at.

Mount Si. In fact, Mount Sinai Hospital. says that Ananella was a registered. nurse at the Mount Sinai Morningside, saying in a statement, "The Mount Sinai. Health System community is mourning the. loss of one of our own. We wish to. convey our heartfelt condolences to. family, friends, and colleagues and ask. that you keep them in your thoughts.". Again, this is a statement from them. And by the way, Batalis is expected in. court later this week. Let me just stop. right here. Dave, from your perspective, does that stand out to you? Anything. strange? because you're talking about a.

relatively long relationship. No one. expected anything and then you drive it. 180 mph on the other way and according. to authorities he not only killed her. but came up with this story to say it. was someone else. And by the way, who. does he blame? He blames just random. black men. That's so wrong on so many. different levels, but like that's what. he he comes allegedly comes up with. And. it's just like that is you a really big. 180 there. But is that something that. you see? You know, I talk about it a lot.

that is it possible somebody who, you. know, might have seemed okay on the. outside, maybe somebody who doesn't have. a criminal history, they're about to. commit a murder or about to commit. manslaughter. A criminal starts. somewhere. You know, sometimes the worst. crime they commit, the first crime they. commit is the worst crime you can. imagine. But does that stand out to you? >> Um, it stands out because it's domestic. And that's why I think it's a varied. stand kind of already gave the uh. detectives cause to really look into his. story and that's that's an important. factor. These domestic incidents can just. explode at once. We don't know. We don't.

know if there were any more domestic. incident reports they had, if there was. any situations of violence before. They. said he was aggressive, but were there. situations where he was overly. aggressive that nobody saw because this. this type of action, this type of this. murder, this, you know, allegedly done. by him is very I mean, it's brutal. It's. a brutal way to kill your a person. you've been with six years. But this is. one thing he might be able to play into. that he just saw red. He was upset. He. could play that card in the defense. But.

is it unusual to see domestic incidents. end with a murder? Sadly not. But there. usually is a there is usually an. escalation of some sort. This might have. been the last resort because we don't. know if the weapon was recovered at this. time. I'm not sure if it was. So that's. an issue into itself because now the. actions may not have been premeditated. If there's no knife at the scene, now. you're looking at the person's intent. was to cover up what he did. So that's. why they charged the man slaughtered. along with the murder charge. >> Yeah, I was gonna I was going to ask you. that. Why the different charges?

>> Uh because murder in the first degree, you're going to have to show, you know, intent that knowingly intent. manslaughter, it could be a different. it's a different level of couple mental. state. So that's the other thing. So. they want to make sure they cover all. the bases to make sure if they only. charge the murder charge and they go to. trial with that murder charge and he's. acquitted on the murder charge, that's. it. They could actually find him not. guilty of murder, but then find him. guilty of manslaughter. And also, it's. may be part of parcel to positively plea. arrangement that the court the Bronx. DA's office has with his uh with him.

>> By the way, this case has unfortunately. a lot of eerie similarities to a story. that pretty much dominated headlines. back in the late 80s and early 90s. You. might remember this case. It's Carol. Anne Stewart. Her and her husband, uh, Charles Michael Stewart, Jr., this was a. big case. So, Charles had called 911. from Boston's predominantly black. Mission Hill neighborhood on October. 23rd, 1989. Now, he had apparently said. that a young black man had forced his. way into their car at a stoplight, forced them to drive to a nearby spot.

where he then shot Charles in the. stomach and Carol in the head. Carol, by. the way, was pregnant with the couple's. first child, and an emergency C-section. was done at the hospital before she. died. That baby spent more than two. weeks in the ICU before he died, too. Charles survived. Really, really sad. case. But then it turns out a few months. later, the entire story that Charles had. told police had been a hoax. It's. believed Charles shot his wife, then. himself, called 911 from his car phone,

and on the same day that Charles's. younger brother, Matthew, told police. about the hoax, that is when Charles. ended it. He took his own life. Now, Dave, again, a lot of similarities. there. uh police had their suspect much. quicker uh in this investigation. Is. this something that's common? Do you see. these kinds of cases? >> Fortunately, not as common as we we we. see, but I have seen I was just looking. over uh homicide uh supplement from the. NYPD. And we have a lot of domestic. incidents that are that way. They end up.

in murders. And it's unfortunate because. usually these murders don't take place. in a vac. There's usually an escalation. somewhere. That's what we usually see, some sort of escalation to to violence, to that type of violence. In this case, they said he was aggressive, but now. we're going to look, I guarantee you, we're looking back at the investigation. reports. They're going to be talking to. neighbors, friends, other relatives that. they haven't spoken to yet and said, "What was the relationship between the. two?" Because we really have to see. where this violence came. I don't say. it's unusual. It's not uncommon. It. happens. Relationships are volatile. there's such a a honeymoon part of a.

relationship and then eventually they. become sometimes become very very uh. angry at each other and then becomes. venomous and if this breakup was going. to be a breakup and he couldn't handle. it he could have just exploded but he. already knew he had an aggressive temper. already. So this might have just pushed. him over that edge to do again allegedly. commit this murder. And before we wrap. things up, just again, you have to. compliment law enforcement here who. detected something was off, looked into. this because this could have been a. situation where maybe if it wasn't.

properly investigated, this would been. the narrative that is, you know, moves. forward through the years. >> Yeah, this is this is something that, you know, we try to instill. investigators and and really tell people. that it's not just based, you know, the. story is one thing, but there's all s. there's all sides to the truth. There's. one side there's her story, his story, and then the truth. And detectives are. truthf finders. They have to find out. the facts of the case, the facts, the. information. We can go based on a story, a complaint, but we're going have to. find out that complaint is actually. valid. And his complaint sounded valid.

at the moment. I probably, but as things. came to play, you know, the hospital. probably thought this is what happened. But detectives are always question. Detectives are always looking to see. what really happened. That's the reason. why we, you know, detectives do what. they do. We're the ones to be pretty. much the only ones in criminal justice. that look for the truth. We will look. for what really happened. He says one. story. Does that story stick up to the. evidence to support that story? And as. the detectives work this case, they. found that it did. And that's beneficial. because we want to make sure it's not. what you think, it's what you can prove.

And right now, they proved it enough to. have him arrested for murder, whether. how the process, how the criminal. justice team acts upon that arrest will. be based on the more the continuing. collection of evidence by the detectives. and the work of the district attorney's. office. >> Dave Sarnney, thanks so much for taking. the time. Appreciate it. Thank you much. Take care and stay safe. >> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should. get your podcasts. You can follow me on. X or Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll.

see you next time. [Music].