The killer of a central New York man in a murder-for-hire plot says his father’s abuse led him to kill himself and seeks early release

Van Buren, NY – A New Jersey man who admitted his role in a Central New York man’s murder-for-hire plot in 2002 is now seeking release from prison under a law aimed at helping survivors of domestic violence.

On December 6, 2002, Daniel Herbert was found dead in his Village Green apartment in Van Buren. The 55-year-old man was shot, stabbed and bludgeoned to death.

After a months-long investigation, John Gradia and Susan Cobagh were charged with Herbert’s murder. In 2004, both Gradia and Cobagh pleaded guilty.

Gradia was hired by Cobagh to kill Herbert due to the failed business relationship between Cobagh and Herbert.

Related article: How an online Nigerian mail scam led to the murder of a Central NY man.

Cobagh provided the weapons used to kill Herbert and had taken out a life insurance policy worth over $5 million, which he planned to take out after his death.

Gradia accepted He was responsible for the fatal blows and was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. He is eligible for parole but is asking Judge Ted Limpert to release him from prison using the Domestic Violence Survivors Act, a state law passed in 2019.

On Thursday, Gradia testified before Limpert, revealing new details of the decades-old murder plot. She says her abusive father forced her to accept Cobaugh’s offer and proceed with the murder of Herbert, using a pattern of intimidation dating back to Gradia’s childhood.

The Domestic Violence Survivors Act allows judges to sentence defendants who meet the criteria to a shorter term than required by law.

The defendant must be a victim of “substantial” domestic violence consisting of physical, sexual or psychological abuse. The abuse must be a “substantial factor” in the defendant’s choice to engage in criminal conduct. And the judge must decide under the law that any further sentence given to the defendant would be “unduly harsh.”

Gradia explained the following in his statement: the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father as a child. He told the court that his father never believed Gradia was his son and constantly scolded and beat him when he was drunk or upset.

He said that he was around 6 years old when his father first hit him, and when he fell to the ground crying, his father hit him even harder.

He said his father always carried a gun and was involved with an ugly crowd. He remembered that the man was shot by his father as entertainment for his friends.

He stated that Gradia’s father constantly threatened people and that he had a reputation as well as a criminal record.

When he was in high school, Gradia said, his father forced him to drop out of school to work full-time in the construction business.

Most of the time he worked for his father, he was not paid for his labor. Finally, his father told him that if he continued working full time but finished his GED, he would give him money for college tuition.

Gradia said she found a photography program at an art institute that she and her mother could attend. He was passionate about taking photographs and his mother gave him a camera as a gift.

When they presented her father with the tuition bill, he refused to pay it, forcing her to continue working for him.

Shortly after, his mother was diagnosed with cancer and passed away shortly after. Gradia said her father told her that he blamed himself for his mother’s death and that he was causing his mother a lot of stress.

He stated that Gradia was chosen as the executor of her mother’s will, which led to an even greater rift between her and her father. He said all his father cared about was money and wanted everything. Gradia eventually backed down and divided the money equally among his family.

At the age of 23, he broke ties with his father and left home. Gradia, who worked as security in Atlantic City for a while, married his high school sweetheart and they had a daughter. He also took the civil service exam and enrolled in the police academy.

He was finally starting to build a life outside of his father’s influence. in question.

He said he severely injured his knee while at the academy and withdrew. Around this time, he also separated from his wife.

His family later contacted him to inform him that his father had suffered a massive heart attack. Despite his reservations, Gradia returned home and briefly reconciled with his father.

During this time, “business slowed down” and a friend of his father gave Gradia a loan to start his own construction company.

That loan triggered events that led him to Herbert’s Van Buren home in 2002, Gradia said.

The man who gave him the money turned out to be a “loan shark” who worked closely with his father. Over the next few years, Gradia’s debt to the man became insurmountable, and she said her father began harassing her and threatening her for money.

He said he met Cobagh at a time when he was far behind on payments and his luck was getting tough. The two got along well and “had fun,” he testified.

Gradia said that while they were hanging out, Cobagh told Gradia about Herbert and the money he owed her.

Cobaugh had given money to Herbert as an investor in what was later revealed to be a “Nigerian mail scam.” syracuse.com | Post-standard archives. Herbert was led to believe that he would be eligible to receive $5 million from an account in Nigeria if he continued recruiting investors and sending money, according to the archives.

A police report quoting Herbert’s wife stated that Herbert was “obsessed with the deal he was working on and was unable to let go of it.” “He was fully convinced that a large payment would be made shortly.”

Cobaugh was one of his investors, and he began going to Herbert’s home in Van Buren when it became clear he was unlikely to get his money, according to archives.

Gradia said that as he got closer to Gradia, he told Herbert that he wanted to hire someone to kill him after taking out a large life insurance policy.

He said he was willing to pay $600,000 for someone to kill Herbert and offered about $100,000 as a down payment.

He stated that Gradia did not take him seriously at first, but when he realized his intentions, he made his own plan.

Gradia said that his father and the loan shark harassed him and threatened his family for not paying his debts. He decided to agree to kill Herbert, take the down payment, use it to pay his father, and then ghost Cobaugh.

“I didn’t want to be a murderer,” Gradia said at the hearing.

He told his father that he had devised a plan to get them their money when the harassment reached a dangerous level. Gradia said his father wanted to know everything about where the money came from. Gradia revealed the plot and her father was not satisfied. He said Gradia needed to collect the $600,000 Cobaugh offered by killing Herbert.

Gradia said he believed his father would kill him, his ex-wife, and his daughter if he didn’t kill Herbert and collect the money from Cobaugh.

Cobaugh said he gave Herbert $20,000 as a down payment instead of the $100,000 he had originally promised.

He said he stalled for a while until his father and Cobaugh became angry. He said that in December 2002, Cobaugh and Gradia went to Van Buren to confront Herbert.

Gradia said he hoped to talk to Herbert and convince him to give Cobaugh the money he owed so they could collect payment without killing him.

When they got to Herbert’s door, he opened it and when he saw Gradia and Cobaugh, he ran inside to call the police. Gradia said he panicked and chased Herbert to where the fight broke out.

He testified that during the struggle, the two men fought over the gun given to Gradia, and Gradia shot Herbert.

After the shooting, Cobaugh entered the house with a bag of tools and a gun, Gradia said. He encouraged her to stab and beat Herbert to “finish the job”.

He later learned that Cobaugh had increased Herbert’s insurance policy to $7.5 million.

When he returned, his father was upset that they had no money, but Gradia convinced him that it would take time for the insurance company to pay after a long investigation.

He said his father eventually gave in, and when it became clear that Gradia would be arrested for murder, his father told him to keep him out of it. Gradia said he was surprised that his father let him take the blame alone.

He said he had nightmares and drank every day until his arrest in early 2004. He said that shortly before his arrest, he tried to kill himself with pills so that “his secrets would die with him” and that he could not upset his family. risk.

She quickly pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against Cobaugh if he went to trial. He said his father died in 2004 during court proceedings.

Cobaugh, now 58 years old, 20 years to life in state prison For his role in the murder. He had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, avoiding the possibility of a life sentence without the chance of parole if convicted of first-degree murder.

Gradia said he would not have killed Herbert without his father’s influence.

He has been in prison for the last 20 years. He said he never forgave himself for what he did and it bothered him.

He said he worked to improve himself while in prison. He said he found a passion for education and mentoring other young men in prison. He has persuaded others to seek education and believes that learning is the best thing you can do to improve yourself.

Gradia said he wishes he could take back his actions, but he knows he is a different man and can be a productive member of society.

If Limpert accepts Gradia’s request, he can release him immediately. Limpert told the court he plans to issue a written decision.

Staff writer Anne Hayes covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, story idea, question or comment? You can reach him at: [email protected].