Wednesday, May 14, 2014

[Updated] Report: Murder suspect's mother says her son was high on Molly at the time of attack


[Photo last night by Frank Franca]

The mother of Jamie Pugh, the 20-year-old suspect in the beating death of 68-year-old Ruan Wen Hui, told DNAinfo today that someone slipped the club-drug Molly into his drink last Friday evening while partying.

"He wasn't in his right state of mind," Charlotte Pugh-Douglas said before her son's arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court today.

Police arrested Pugh early yesterday morning. He has reportedly been charged with second-degree murder, robbery and assault.

Per the report in DNAinfo:

Pugh didn’t even know about the attack until one of his friends showed him the chilling surveillance footage over the weekend and said the attacker looked like him.

"When he saw the video, it killed him inside. It hurt him. He was crying all weekend. He knows it's him. He just didn't remember," Pugh-Douglas said.

Hui, a retired garment worker who lived on Avenue C and East Seventh Street with his wife, died from his injuries Saturday night. He had just dropped off his two granddaughters after a trip to a nearby playground when the attack occurred.

Police have said that it was an attempted robbery. Pugh has prior arrests for robbery and drugs, according to published reports.

Updated 9:06

CBS New York reports that a judge ordered Pugh to be held without bail.

Per CBS:

As the victim lay dying on the sidewalk, Pugh allegedly continued down the street and yelled, “This is my block,” police said.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: East Village resident dies from injuries sustained in brutal attack (25 comments)

[UPDATED] Reward for info on East 6th Street assault; plus video of the attack (34 comments)

[Updated] Family mourns Ruan Wen Hui as police hunt suspect in deadly assault on E. 6th St.

24 comments:

  1. Uh... Molly? Really? If that were the case, wouldn't he have hugged the dude to death or something? Sounds a little more angel-dusty to me.

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  2. Well that explains it, glad that's all cleared up. Hopefully the judge will be a good liberal who will understand that the poor fellow had been dosed, and was not in control of his actions. Under the circumstances,maybe six months of house arrest, and another six months of probation, that sounds about right.

    Next!

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  3. Then why didn't he turn himself in? PLEASE!

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  4. "He was high" is the new "He's a good boy", I see. The mom of the thug who kicked the kitten in Brooklyn a couple of weeks ago also explained he "must have been high." I feel bad for families in these cases, too, but this is ridiculous. If you do drugs, that's usually your decision, so you're still responsible for what you did under the influence.

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  5. Molly...really!? That's the least likely of any drug to cause this to happen. What a pathetic excuse...

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  6. Ah, "he's a good kid" is still a thing! A quote from DNA Info:
    "He’s a good kid. He doesn’t get into this stuff,” she added. “If his friend hadn’t slipped him those Mollys, this man would still be alive."

    Yup, it's all the friend's fault. I'm sure the perp doesn't knowingly do drugs.

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  7. I have plenty of substance abusers in my family and not one of them has beaten an elderly man to death while high. Just sayin'.

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  8. Mom's real smart. If there was a burden of proof on the prosecution that he was the man on the video before, his mom just cleared that right up. Second degree murder is Life with possibility of parole after 15 to 25. Molly or not.

    Pugh and his mom are both real geniuses.

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  9. So, I assume this means the mom is going to take donations so she can hire a private detective to find this bastard that slipped Molly to her poor son on Friday?

    Poor poor murderer - all he wanted to do was party with friends and some jerk slipped him a drug.

    This seems perfectly accurate.

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  10. I believe there is probably a drug element to this story, I'm not sold on the "someone slipped his a molly" part though. It is natural to try to understand things that make no sense like this random attack and murder. As for "Moe's" comment please turn off Fox New for a couple of hours, blaming liberals for not getting a noose ready before a trial has begun shows an inability to think and understand all the events that led up to this terrible act.

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  11. I bet this guy also takes meth to help him sleep, xanax when he has a busy day ahead of him, and has been to rehab for his marijuana addiction.

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  12. Wait let's not lose this " teachable moment" people!

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  13. BULLSHIT. You got stone cold busted on surveillance. You got nothing to say and you know it. Now you're going to play the insanity/I was high card. Really hope the jury doesn't fall for that load of crap.

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  14. I can't help but believe that most of these pro-murderer posts are just intententional provocations by people that feel exactly the opposite to make fun of that position.

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  15. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  16. Shaun Martin, the guy who plowed through the flower stand on 2nd Avenue that injured and eventually killed Akkas Ali, was charged with second degree murder, and he was high on alcohol and drugs (PCP) too.

    Shaun Martin never even touched Akkas Ali with his own hands, and probably never even saw him as he plowed his car through a half block of people, fire hydrants and storefronts.

    This guy beat and stomped a man to death without any need for a weapon or a vehicle. He then walked calmly away and never staggered or looked anything but angry and fully in control. Being high on drugs and alcohol is no defense. I think they will need to come up with a much better alibi before the jury sees the video and puts him away for a very long time.

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  17. He's a good boy; didn't do nuffin'; it was them drugs. No. We don't believe this rubbish.

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  18. No one ever spikes my drinks with good drugs.

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  19. The belief systems behind everyone about eachother here that they are inhumane is a major problem. All sides need a wake up call.

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  20. CCW FOR ALL... THIS IS AMERICA DAMMIT

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  21. Unbelievable. People give away Molly for free? BS.

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  22. the non-remembererMay 15, 2014 at 12:58 PM

    anyone know what happened with the gay man who was murdered in front of the barnes & nobel on 6th ave, and the murderer said he was drunk and didn't remember doing it?

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  23. Am I banned from commenting on this story or something? I've seen comments posted before mine. WTF?

    This guy should get life in prison.

    Is that offensive to say?

    D

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  24. If you're messed up on substance and screw up you should be considered responsible for your own actions. Don't give me that boy shit I've know plenty if people who did something stupid while intoxicated and are paying the price for it. I'm tired of scumbags and screwups being treated like victims. No one forced him to take that garbage!

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