Black Market in Hay? | General Homesteading Discussion | Forums

Never heard of such a thing, Gravel you hear about this?

Investigators trying to solve the murder of a Westchester County socialite on her family’s 300-acre horse farm have yet to unravel a killing that has captivated and mystified residents in one of the New York City region’s most affluent and tranquil communities.

But their investigation has uncovered an unexpected crime: hay theft.

On Sunday, two workers on the estate were arrested and accused of stealing about $30,000 worth of hay over nearly three years. It is the first time in memory that anyone has been accused of such a crime in New York State, the authorities said.

The men, Angel H. Parra Penafiel and Hugo Ramirez-Morales, were charged with felony grand larceny.

One law enforcement official who had been briefed on the case cautioned that there was no evidence linking the two men to the killing and that the theft of the hay was discovered “tangentially” to the murder investigation.

“This most likely isn’t the big break in the case,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was continuing. “Put it this way: These guys are all part of a greater or lesser circle of people who may or may not know something.”

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