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Friday, November 4, 2022
Vol. 71, No. 44
N E W H Y D E PA R K
HOME & DESIGN
GUILTY PLEA IN FATAL INCIDENT
SHIMMERING SOLSTICE TO RETURN
PAGES 27-34
PAGE 2
PAGE 23
One year in jail for killing two puppies Ellie Knoller of Mineola pleads guilty to murders, abuse of third dog BY B R A N D ON D U FF Y A Mineola man was sentenced Wednesday to one year in jail for fatally beating two puppies and seriously injuring a third during a three-week span in 2019. Ellie Knoller, 32, pleaded guilty in March to three counts of aggravated cruelty to animals. Knoller also received five years probation and a 50year ban on owning animals. Knoller adopted a 10-12-week-old shepherd mix named Tucker in February 2019 from a local pet adoption agency. Nine days later the puppy died from a kidney rupture inflicted by Knoller, causing internal eternal bleeding before dying. Knoller and his wife, Jessica Kuncman, also purchased a brown Goldendoodle puppy named Cooper from a Pennsylvania breeder on or about Feb. 18. Two days later, the dog was brought into Garden City Veterinary Care in cardiac and respiratory arrest. Cooper’s cause of death was determined to be from a lacerated liver inflicted by blunt force trauma from Knoller, leading to internal bleeding, police said. “Three defenseless puppies were subjected to extraordinary violence by
this defendant,” Nassau District Attorney Donnelly said in a statement. “The internal injuries these animals sustained are uncommon – even in animal abuse cases – and are consistent with terrifying blunt force trauma. This case stands apart in the decades of animal crimes this office has prosecuted as one of the worst we’ve seen.” The two fatalities followed an investigation after the couple brought a lethargic and lifeless 11-week-old female Goldendoodle puppy named Bella to the Veterinary Referral & Emergency Center of Westbury in late February 2019. Veterinarians found multiple fractured ribs, bruises on her lungs, bleeding behind her eyes and a broken leg. Doctors performed surgery on Bella and had to insert a metal rod to repair her leg and a steel plate to hold her bones in place. One of Bella’s legs was subsequently amputated, police said. Kuncman did not take Bella to a veterinarian for about 15 hours after she appeared to be in pain, prosecutors alleged at the time. Bella has since been adopted by a Long Island family and has recovered, police said. Donnelly also called to strengthen Continued on Page 50
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE NEW HYDE PARK-GARDEN CITY PARK UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT
Hillside Grade School students participated in a “chalk the walk” event in honor of Unity Day on Oct. 19. See story on page 13.
Stakes high, NHP, F.P. voters head to the polls BY B R A N D ON D U FF Y By Blank Slate Editorial Staff New Hyde Park residents will be voting on a variety of state and local elections, including a gubernatorial race between Gov. Kathy Hochul and U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley), on
Nov. 8. 3rd Congressional District Democrat Robert Zimmerman is running against George DevolderSantos to represent the state’s 3rd Congressional District. The seat is currently held by U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) who lost in
the gubernatorial primary against Hochul. Zimmerman, who is running on the Democratic and Working Family Parties lines, is the co-president of ZE Creative Communications on Continued on Page 51
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