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Women charged with killing “sugar daddy,” cutting off his thumb to keep access to his accounts
Police in Washington, D.C., have charged two women with murder for allegedly killing a man who witnesses called their “sugar daddy,” court documents show. Audrey Miller, 19, and Tiffany Taylor Gray, 22, are also accused of cutting off the man’s thumb in order to maintain access to his accounts.
Miller and Gray were taken into custody separately in recent weeks, as authorities with the Metropolitan Police Department searched for suspects in the deadly stabbing of 53-year-old Fasil Teklemariam several months ago. Police said Teklemariam was found dead with multiple stab wounds and a number of other injuries inside the bedroom of his apartment on April 5.
Among the injuries was a missing right thumb, which had been cut off around the time of the killing or after Teklemarian’s death, according to an affidavit for the arrests of Miller and Gray. They are two of five suspects listed in the affidavit. The others are men, with one of the three identified by police as 34-year-old Tommy Whack. He was charged in May in connection with the case.
Metropolitan Police Department
Police said in the affidavit they found “evidence suggesting that cleaning agents had been used to conceal and/or eliminate evidence to conceal or obscure the actions of the suspect or suspects who had committed the offense.” Some evidence remained at the scene, including footprints.
CCTV video from the lobby of Teklemariam’s apartment building appeared to show both suspects were there on the evening he was killed, several days before police discovered the body. The footage also allegedly showed three of the suspects, including Gray, returned on April 3 at around 2 a.m., allegedly to steal several items that belonged to Teklemariam. Stills from the footage appear to show multiple people wearing hooded sweatshirts and masks as they enter the building, and again as they exit with their hands full of various items in bags and boxes.
Metropolitan Police Department
In addition to the victim’s thumb, police also said Teklemariam’s “cellphone, tablet, or any other such electronic device” remain missing.
A witness, referenced in court filings as someone involved romantically with one of the suspects, recognized Gray and Miller. Police said that witness told them Gray had visited the apartment building where Teklemarian lived at least twice before, and that he was her “sugar daddy.”
The same witness said in an interview with investigators that “they, referring generally a group of involved people, cut the decedent’s thumb off” and “also overheard something about the decedent being stabbed,” the filings say. Police said the witness claimed to have observed Gray using Teklemarian’s missing thumb to take money out of his account, pay for Ubers and purchase alcohol and other substances.
The witness told authorities that Gray may have used Cash App accounts to collect money from Teklemarian as well. Teklemarian had previously filed a theft report against Gray for allegedly having something to do with his then-lost phone and $1,600 in charges to his Cash App account, according to police.
After learning the address of Gray’s College Park, Maryland, apartment, police used surveillance tapes at the building, where none of the suspects were trying to conceal themselves, to discover their identities and eventually locate them. Gray and Miller both face charges of armed felony murder in the first degree in connection with Teklemariam’s death.
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Paul Whelan, freed in prisoner swap with Russia, tells other American detainees: “We’re coming for you”
Washington — Nearly seven weeks after the Russians handed over Paul Whelan on a tarmac in Ankara, Turkey, the Marine veteran stood on the steps of the U.S. Capitol with a message for other Americans who are held abroad.
“We’re coming for you,” he told reporters Tuesday night after he met with lawmakers. “It might take time, but we’re coming.”
Whelan said he spoke with lawmakers about how the government can better support detainees after they’re released.
“We spoke about how the next person’s experience could be better,” he said. “What the government could do for the next person that’s held hostage and comes home — the care and support that other people might need, especially people that are in a worse situation. There are people coming back that lived in the dirt without shoes for three years, people that were locked up in hideous conditions for 20 years. They need support.”
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The U.S. secured Whelan’s release in August in one of the largest prisoner swaps since the end of the Cold War. The complex deal came after months of sensitive negotiations between the U.S., Russia, Germany, Slovenia, Poland and Norway.
As part of the deal, Russia released 16 prisoners while the Western countries released eight Russians. Whelan was released alongside Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Russian-American radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza, a U.S. green card holder and Kremlin critic.
Whelan, who had been the longest-held American detainee in Russia, was arrested in December 2018 when he traveled to the country to attend a friend’s wedding. He was convicted of espionage in a secret trial and sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020.
Whelan, his family and the U.S. government vehemently denied that he was a spy and accused Russia of using him as a political pawn. The U.S. government considered him to be wrongfully detained, a rare designation that put more government resources toward securing his release.
But a deal to secure his freedom was long elusive. He remained behind bars as Russia freed Marine veteran Trevor Reed and women’s basketball star Brittney Griner — both of whom were detained after Whelan’s arrest — in prisoner swaps with the U.S.
The U.S. said it pushed for his inclusion in both exchanges, but Russia refused. It led to Whelan advocating for his own release from a remote prison camp, calling government officials and journalists to make sure that he wasn’t forgotten.
When the plane carrying Whelan, Gershkovish and Kurmasheva landed in Maryland on Aug. 1, Whelan was the first to disembark. He was greeted by President Biden, who gave Whelan his American flag pin, and Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Whether he likes it or not, he changed the world,” Rep. Haley Stevens, a Michigan Democrat, told reporters Tuesday.
Whelan’s case and his family’s constant pressure on the U.S. government brought more attention to the cases of Americans who are wrongfully detained by foreign governments.
Haley said Whelan is a reminder to other Americans considering traveling to Russia that “you have a target on your back.”
Whelan said it’s been an adjustment acclimating to life back in the U.S., especially learning the latest technology like his iPhone 15.
“I was in a really remote part of Russia,” he said. “We really didn’t have much. The conditions were poor. The Russians said the poor conditions were part of the punishment. And coming back to see this sort of thing now is a bit of a shock, but it’s a good shock.”