Newsman's Confessed 16 Year Old Killer Demands Cash for Interview

More details emerge on John Katehis, the 16-year-old Satan-worshiping knife collector who has admitted to the bloody slaying of radio newsman George Weber in a sex-for-cash-hookup gone wrong. Reports say the troubled teen is still demanding money ... this time from newspaper reporters requesting interviews.

The New York Post visited the troubled teen at the psychiatric ward of Bellevue Hospital.

When visited by a Post reporter, Katehis greedily said he'd only tell his side of the story "for cash."

Wearing a light green jumpsuit and a menacing scowl on his face, Katehis again made clear there was only one way he'd spill the beans. "Is this a cash offer?" snarled Katehis. "Cash offers only!"

Once it became clear no money would be exchanged, Katehis shot up and yelled again, "cash offers only!" and stormed out.

The lure of money figures prominently in the tabloid sex slaying. Police say Katehis told them he answered Weber's Craigslist ad offering $60 for rough sex. The teen confessed to savagely stabbing the ABC News radioman in his Brooklyn apartment. The Queens boy was later lured to an upstate rendezvous with detectives after his father "promis[ed] to give him $300."

Katehis has plead not guilty and is being kept in Bellevue for observation. Unfortunately the young man sounds very disturbed or very greedy. Or both.

Alleged Weber Killer Demands Cash for Interview [NYP]

Some Background...
Lisa Bloom: Slain Newsman Should Have "Researched" Teen Killer [R20]
Rough Trade: 16 Year Old, Knife Collecting Satanist Confesses to Brutal Newsman Slaying [R20]
Teen Satanist Pleads "Not Guilty" to Bloody Slaying of Radio Newsman [R20]

Comments

[FQ]

This kid sounds sicker by the day but I would not be surprised if he is just laying groundwork for a mental illness plea.

[Anderson]

umm no this young man is in the right place. the crazy isn't an act.

[P.]

"Money is the root of all evil"

[Talarico]

@ FQ: I don't know about that. On a certain level it really does take someone insane to take pleasure in inflicting so much pain and stabbing a man 50 times to death. And wearing the dead man's clothes. This boy's sick MySpace pages told the story he is very distubed on many levels. Plus adding drugs and alcohol?

Good luck prosecuting this one!

[Ensign]

Most disturbing is that the Bellevue Psych Ward would allow the press to stick a camera and microphone in the face of a minor and ask for a story. But its the New York Post what do you expect ...

[Derrick from Philly]

And some folks keep calling him a "child". Yeah, like Reagan in "The Exoricist".

[Brandon]

Derrick you are right. This is not a child. This is a monster.

I'm not sure is Ensign trying to sympathize with the "minor" but he surely was acting like a man when he 'confessed to savagely stabbing the ABC News radioman in his Brooklyn apartment.'

[Tolliver]

Ensign: Are you for real? This "kid" is a sadochistic MURDERER! He didn't get in over his head! HE is EVIL personified! What were his parents doing when he was posing with KNIVES? The Post reporter didn't make HIM look scummier? HE IS A MURDERER!!This is a violent piece of garbage that took the life of a newsman for NO reason.
He is into VIOLENT Sex, plays and poses with knives, and you think he is JUST a KID in over his head? PLEASE.

[Barry S]

Just disgusting on all levels

[Katt]

Ensign are we following the same story?

If he tells his story "he better get good money for it"? Isn't there some sort of law, the "Son of Sam Law"? Prevents a criminal from profitting from his crimes? Yeah, lets pay him handsomely for his story.
This kid hacked him 50 times? Thats some deep psychological wounds with this child teenage killer. Wait til the true story about his upbringing comes out.

[D. Askew]

Notice. The parents and family have said not ONE word to the press.

[Freddy]

Parents? Family?

Johnny Katehis is probably quality guy from a quality family I'm sure....

[Marcus]

This pscho killer won't need money where he is going. Im sure there's a few "friends" waiting for him in Rikers and Sing Sing.

[Nathan James]

I seriously doubt Katehis will be found fit to stand trial. It is far more likely he will be sent straight to Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center, the institution that sits under the RFK Bridge. He can expect to spend at least the next twenty years there.

In some ways, this will be worse than prison, since psych patients have few rights, and in addition to being locked in a room when they act out, they can be forcibly drugged, unlike state prisoners. Plus, prison sentences sometimes end before the prisoner dies. Civil commitment can last for the patient's entire lifetime. Regardless of what eventually does happen with Katehis, rest assured he will not be a free man for a VERY long time.

As for his demands of cash for interviews, that just speaks to his greed and callousness in light of his alleged actions. I, too, am astonished that Bellevue actually let the Post up in there at all...

[Albert]

Textbook sociopath.
Have fun in prison with all of your new pals Johnny.

[Chad Montgomery]

"Investigators told the New York Post that the knife sliced through Weber's neck, back and torso so many times that it was difficult to get an accurate count by the time the body was discovered."

This is not a "minor" or a "kid",, this is an insane deranged psycho.

[Mahmoud]

Thanks for your insight Nathan. I also do not believe this is an open and shut case. I do not live in NYS and obviously don't know the laws and protocol, but it seems this is a very disturbed teen and there are many victims.

i also wonder where is the family and why has there been radio silence from them?

[S. Flemming]

I do wonder where his parents are in this and what they have to say. I know I'd be beside myself if I were them. I do think it's in poor taste of the Post to even be handling it that way ... but then again it is a rag so that's to be expected I guess.

[Jack]

I wouldn't blame this story on the Post. Thy are a tabloid of course but their local news and crime coverage is top notch. They broke the story of Weber's murder and Katehis confession. I;m not a fan but the problem isn't with the Post, who is only doing thier job. The problem is with the kid, the parents .... and the radio news guy for inviting an underage obviously mental trick and giving him drugs and alcohol for rough sex.

[Topanga Canyon]

Is this guy black or Puerto Rican?

[Derrick from Philly]

TOPANGA:

his surname is Greek, but in New YOrk, people are all mixed up--racially, I mean. (oh, my, almost got myself in trouble.)

[Danny Rivera]

John Katehis is GREEK AMERICAN and therefoire CAUCASIAN. He may appear Hispanic but is NOT. And he is most certainly NOT black.

But you keep telling yourself that, Topanga ...

[King Drive]

If he were black the difference would be ... ?

[Shane Moseley]

I'm going to ignore the racebaiting from the peanut gallery.

I am also wondering where are the parents and why they have been silent. Or do we have to wait until the trial to learn they bought their son these knives and never checked their son's internet or computer usage?

Let me also add that Forest Hills, Queens is a very nice neighborhood. I am sure the parents have coins.

[George P]

This case is truly bizarre. I see this American Psycho sentenced to a psych hospital or pleading to a lesser charge.

On a related note, Rod thanks for the excellent coverage on this case and the great story lineup today. It's only lunch time but the day is packed with news and sexy.