Suffolk homicide detectives search for suspect in Water Mill spa death

Long Island Morning Edition

Sabina Rosas, whose body was found Monday at a Water Mill spa, was remembered as a multitalented artist and photographer who made her way to New York after a childhood in Central Asia. As reported in Newsday Rosas, 33, of Brooklyn, whose death is being investigated as a homicide by Suffolk police, also went by the name Sabina Khorramdel. She had planned to visit her former art professor from Purchase College, Liz Phillips, in Queens this past weekend after returning from an international trip, according to Phillips. But she never showed.

At 3:14 a.m. eastern time Saturday, she said Rosas texted her to tell her she was coming to New York. But at 6:50 p.m. Saturday, she wrote back, "23 hour flight — too exhausted to speak," and instead they planned to meet Monday.

Phillips said she only learned of Rosas' death Tuesday from an artist nonprofit in Manhattan where she had recommended Rosas for a residency.

"I wish I knew what happened, but I’m not sure I want to know. I have no idea who she was with her last days," said Phillips, who added that Rosas often traveled and loved going to spas. "I’m horrified. She was so talented at so many things and so ambitious and getting her life together. It’s a horrible thing when a beautiful, talented young artist loses her life like this."

A family friend, Ryder Iwata, who said he represented the family, announced her death, referring to her as "our beloved daughter, sister, fiancee and friend."

"As the eldest of three daughters, Sabina brought excitement, adventure, joy and love to our family," the statement read. "We urge anyone with information regarding the circumstances of Sabina’s death to come forward."

Suffolk detectives ask anyone with information regarding the death to call the homicide squad at 631-852-6392 or Crime Stoppers at 800-220-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential, police said.

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Gosman's Dock, a Montauk institution for more than eight decades, has been sold, according to a person familiar with the sale, as two members of the Gosman family who pleaded guilty in a decade-long commercial fishing probe are due back in federal court for sentencing in two weeks.

A person familiar with the deal confirmed the sale closed earlier this month. Terms of the deal have not been released.

Mark Harrington reports in NEWSDAY that Gosman's Dock, which has been on the market for years, most recently in 2023, was listed with a $45 million selling price. The Gosman family owned nine separate parcels in the 11.6-acre waterfront Montauk portfolio, including a 477-seat restaurant, six retail shops, the wholesale and retail fish business, housing for seasonal staff and a part of a 330-car parking lot.

In a Newsday story in July, general manager Robert Gosman Jr. took note of the changing Montauk scene. "The traffic has definitely gotten worse, and the demographic is changing — it’s just too expensive out here for most families," he told Newsday.

The sale comes as Bryan and Asa Gosman, who each pleaded guilty in 2021 to a single federal charge of criminal conspiracy in the fishing probe and cooperated with prosecutors, are to appear Nov. 12 before Judge Joan Azrack in federal court in Central Islip for a sentencing and restitution hearing, according to court papers.

Neither Gosman is expected to receive prison time.

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The Halsey Manor Road overpass on the Long Island Expressway was dedicated to fallen NYPD Det. Brian Simonsen yesterday, which would have been his 48th birthday. It was a fitting tribute to the hero cop, who was killed in the line of duty on Feb. 12, 2019 while responding to a reported armed robbery in the Queens precinct he spent his 19-year career protecting. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that Simonsen’s mother Linda and his widow Leanne were joined by family members, elected officials and a host of law enforcement officers from the New York City, Suffolk County and local police departments, as well as the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department, for the unveiling of the signs proclaiming the overpass “NYPD Detective Brian P. Simonsen Memorial Bridge.” The Manorville overpass, between exits 70 and 71 on the eastbound highway, had special meaning for Simonsen, a Jamesport native who lived with his wife in Calverton and commuted to work in the 102nd precinct in Queens. A yellow sign on the overpass reads, “Expressway Ends 4 Miles.”

The Simonsen Foundation, a nonprofit organization that honors the officer’s life and memory, raises money through a gala, golf outing and other events, as well as through the sale of merchandise, to fund scholarships for seniors graduating from Riverhead High School, to purchase bulletproof vests for police K-9 dogs, and to provide financial assistance to local families and businesses in need.

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The opportunities and challenges of New York’s legal cannabis industry were the focus of the most recent Express Sessions, “Cannabis and Its Economic Role,” but Kym Laube, the executive director of HUGS, Inc., urged panelists and participants at the event last Thursday to not discount the problems cannabis use could cause among vulnerable segments of the population.

Stephen J. Kotz reports on 27east.com that HUGS, which stands for Human Understanding and Growth Services, encourages healthy behavior among young people to help them avoid falling into the trap of substance abuse and other problems. Lars Clemensen, the Hampton Bays School District superintendent also voiced his concerns. “Legalization doesn’t mean there aren’t risks.”

Clemensen noted that Southampton Town officials saw the possibility of earning revenue from pot sales without taking into account the hidden costs for things like preventative programs in the schools. Today, he said the Southampton Town Police Department has only one school resource officer who works on drug prevention programs, but has to cover nine different school districts and 12 different buildings. That program will likely need to be expanded in the future.

Clemensen said he was disappointed that the Town of Southampton allowed cannabis dispensaries to open in areas zoned for highway business. In Hampton Bays, one is a proposed dispensary near St. Rosalie Catholic Church and Our Lady of the Hamptons preschool, he said. Noting that the hamlet was “a patchwork of zoning,” he said it was difficult to find a safe place to site a dispensary away from children. It’s not like different zones are separated by the Grand Canyon, he said.

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Suffolk County homicide detectives are searching for a man they believe may have killed a Brooklyn woman at some point on Sunday night or Monday morning at a posh Water Mill spa and resort. MICHAEL WRIGHT reports on 27east.com that the body of Sabina Rosas, 33, was discovered shortly after noon this past Monday, by housekeeping staff at Shou Sugi Ban House, an ultra-high-end spa and hotel shrouded behind a gated entrance off Montauk Highway, adjacent east to the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill. She was found in one of the resort’s guest rooms, where she had been staying. Police were called to the scene at about 12:30 p.m. on Monday and there’s been a police presence at the site since then. Rosas had checked into the resort with a man, according to a police source. This man left the property early Monday morning alone. Suffolk County Police have not identified him and have not said how Rosas was killed, only that she was a “victim of violence” and that they were investigating her death as a homicide.

Police are asking that anyone with information regarding the crime call detectives in the Homicide Squad at 631-852-6392 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.

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A public hearing on proposed amendments to East Hampton Town’s zoning and building construction codes will be on the agenda when the Town Board meets on November 7th. Christopher Walsh reports on 27east.com that the hearing will consider conclusions of East Hampton Town’s Zoning Code Amendments Working Group, formed last year and tasked with identifying and closing existing loopholes and exemptions in the zoning code that have been exploited in rampant development and redevelopment characterized by excessive lot coverage and huge structures looming over surrounding houses, transforming neighborhoods and the environment.

The intent of the proposed amendments “is to ensure that the underlying definitions and concepts of the zoning code are clear, and that loopholes that allow types or degrees of building to happen in ways that exceed the intent of the code … are closed,” said Jaine Mehring, a member of East Hampton Town’s Zoning Board of Appeals and the Zoning Code Amendments Working Group.

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Election Day 2024 is 6 days away on Tuesday, November 5th. However, early voting in New York State is underway now through Sunday, Nov. 3.

Voters registered in Suffolk County can vote at any one of the 28 early voting sites in the county.

A full list of early voting sites is available at www.suffolkvotes.com

Hours of early voting today are 7 a.m. to 3 p.m….tomorrow and Friday 12 Noon to 8 p.m. and this coming Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. No voting next Monday.

If you vote on Election Day, next Tuesday; Nov. 5 (when the polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.), you can only vote at your designated polling place (you can find your regular polling place at voterlookup.elections.ny.gov)

Early voting polling places today thru Sunday on the East End include St. Marks Episcopal Church at 40 Main Street in Westhampton Beach, Riverhead Town Hall at 4 West Second Street, The Gym at Stony Brook Southampton College at 70 Tuckahoe Road in Southampton, the Southold Town Recreation Center at 970 Peconic Lane in Peconic, the Shelter Island Youth Recreation Center at 1 Bateman Road on Shelter Island and Windmill Village at 219 Accabonac Road in East Hampton.

Mentioned in this episode:

Long Island Morning Edition is part of Your Election 2024, a special collection of programs, series, and resources from The WNET Group to illuminate election issues on-air, online, and on YouTube leading into the November 5th elections. Find more at wliw.org/yourelection2024.