1980s Mass Murderer Nears Completion of 40 Year Sentence
Reviving a nightmare four decades old, Janice Russell, 58, is set to be released from the Albion Correctional Facility after serving all but one year of her 40 year sentence. State prosecutors sought to appeal, but given that Miss Russell’s final parole hearing is set for October and she’s received no time off for good behavior, as have other notorious New York killers, it would appear that at best, the state can hope to delay her release until April, exactly 40 years to the date of her original sentencing, which makes the upcoming hearing a relatively moot point.
“Truth be told, Nobody ever wanted her to have a chance at being released,” offered former state attorney Harold Solomon, who didn’t work on the case but was a member of the state attorney’s office when Russell was first charged. “What she did, and particularly the way she did it? No, those aren’t people who should ever get out.”
Russell’s current attorney, Richard Abraham, who took over Russell’s representation after her state-appointed attorney, Louis Mandano, retired in 2001, believes otherwise. “My client was a teenager at the time. She has maintained her innocence since her arrest on Halloween day 1983, and her story has never changed. I understand the evidence collected didn’t look that way, but we still believe Miss Russell was denied a fair trial by not having it moved to another county, and for a reckless rush-to-judgment by law enforcement. Miss Russell, as a young black woman in a predominantly white suburban community, was a victim of discrimination, while also having the shadow of her uncle’s criminal history hanging over her. Miss Russell has done far more time than she should have, and she mourns the loss of her friends that night the same as their families do.”
In all, nine teens were killed on October 29th, 1983, and Peter Cordell, a teen who went missing the previous November, was confirmed dead due to actions carried out by some of the murder victims. Partial remains were recovered after questioning led police to search the now-closed Millman quarry, a frequent hangout for teen partygoers. A cause of death could not be determined, but the death was ruled a homicide by state medical examiner Michael Loscalzo, who found that the body had been dismembered with tools prior to being dumped at the site. Miss Russell was not tried for Cordell’s murder.
Dennis Brickland, whose son Frank’s remains were found in a dumpster not far from where the boy worked, says he understands that the state’s hands are tied, but offered, “I’ll pay for her plane ticket. Pick a place. Canada, the West Coast—anywhere but here. Don’t you dare try to make a life for yourself in Far Hollow after killing my boy and all of his friends. That, I don’t think residents will tolerate. You have no family here, and certainly no friends. Go. Just go.”
Russell, whose parents moved to Cooperstown before the trial and then to Oak Orchard to be near where Janice would serve her sentence, have both passed since the trial’s conclusion. Her father Bo in 2012 and her mother in 1988 due to a suspected drug overdose. Russell’s uncle, Daunte, who had a lengthy rap sheet in Orransburg, died in 2017 from gunshot wounds suffered during a drug deal gone bad.
Ronald Zerlow, whose son Donnie was dismembered by the gates of Blessed Sacrament cemetery, shares Brickland’s desire. “She should have gotten the death penalty,” Zerlow maintains. “But at the very least she should’ve gotten life. Maybe if we’d had a better governor, he’d have listened to the people and kept Ol’ Sparky in use. Ever since? You get losers like the druggie who killed my boy let loose. Hopefully the bus drops her off at the state line, wherever she winds up after that? I don’t give a (expletive).”
Each of the nine victims met their ends in horrific ways, including drowning, being stabbed, and attacked with a chainsaw. A roll of film showing the victims at the scenes of their demise was recovered from Russell’s purse. At the time, Russell accused Jeremy Cordell, Peter Cordell’s younger brother, of carrying out the murders. In a frantic phone call placed from the $mart $hop in the early morning of October 30th, Russell directed police to the barn where she claimed to have been assaulted and trapped by Cordell, who was 15 at the time. Quickly, however, investigators began to turn their attention to Russell, who had drugs in her system when taken to the hospital. While she denied taking part in the slayings, police described her statement as “Hysterical,” and “hard to follow along with.” As well, despite her graphic account of a murder committed at the Cordell residence, crime scene techs could find no evidence of any such event having transpired.
“Typical street trash, same as her uncle and the rest of her family,” Belinda Miller, Therese Miller’s mother told the Gazette. “Instead of taking my daughter shopping for a prom dress, we bought her something to be buried in. She was my only child, and she was taken by this psycho. Now, she’s going to get out. She’ll get to live the rest of her life. Meanwhile, my baby lies in a box at the cemetery.”
Jeremy Cordell, who still lives in the house he grew up in, shared a prepared statement supplied by his attorney. It read, in part, “I’ve known this day was coming for a long time. I’ve had nightmares about it, like I’m sure other survivors have had. When my parents retired and moved away, I put up a fence. I have two rotties. My property has an alarm, and state-of-the-art cameras. If Janice Russell so much as walks down my street, I will be alerting Sheriff Emming. Since her first parole hearing in 1994, I’ve had a 2,000 foot restraining order in place. My hope is that Janice chooses to live out her days—and I hope they’re few—somewhere far away. There is nothing left for her in Far Hollow.”
Check back regularly for updates. An account of the events of that fateful night in 1983 is set to be published in October, the first fully-detailed account of the horrifying events that led to such a grisly end for so many.
