Crime & Safety

North Shore Report: In Smithtown, a Month of Tragedy, Tension

Body dumps, shooting scares and tragic deaths lead local news in troubling month.

There's a question we're seeing a lot in the these past weeks, within the Town of Smithtown, in our editors' inboxes or repeated on social media streams: What is going on in Smithtown?

The month of March has seen a string of terrible, tense and tragic news in the Smithtown community, from body dumps and shooting scares in the schools to a couple of deaths that have shocked the community and have caught the attention of neighboring villages along the North Shore.

Find out what's happening in Smithtownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Matthew Krauss, 34, of St. James, was arrested on March 23 after he admitted to dumping the dead body of his girlfriend in Manorville. Krause said Pura Simancas, 45, of Central Islip, had overdosed on Xanax on the night she died. A jogger discovered the body in Manorville on March 21, sparking worries that it could be related to the Gilgo Beach serial killer since cops had previously discovered remains in Manorville tied to that case.

Find out what's happening in Smithtownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

On March 6 Nissequogue firefighters were called to extinguish a car fire at Short Beach when they discovered a body in the car. Police as Lauren Fontana, 45, of Middle Island, but authorities have not released any info on the ongoing investigation since then.

Later in the month, on March 12, police said James Schultz, 31, of East Northport, brutally murdered Katherine Farrell, 23, and later killed himself. Farrell was the mother of Schultz's child, and police said the man stabbed his ex-girlfriend to death when he was picking up his child to babysit. Following the tragedy, as a wonderful person and mother.

Suffolk County Girls Lacrosse and local fifth grade and travel team lacrosse coach Kurt Burmeister was only 46 years old when he collapsed and died on the field during a practice last month. Smithtown Girls Lacrosse has since created a foundation in his name that will benefit his twin 10-year-old daughters, Gretchen and Lili, and at Port Jefferson's Ruvo Restaurant on May 10.

New York regional media descended on Smithtown High School West on March 8 after school officials found a shooting threat scrawled on the wall in one of its bathrooms. Though the district did not close the school the next day, it did open on lockdown, with heavy security, bag checks and locker checks, though more than .

On March 20, a Long Island Power Authority worker discovered a dead body in a wooded area near the Indian Head Forest complex that police said had likely been there for months. Authorities have not released any info on how the man died and they have not released his identity.


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