76 | Rolling Stone | July 2019
A Gruesome Case
Detectives Alex Grandstaff and Mike Jimenez (right) wait
for the Crime Scene Unit after Savannah Rivera, 20, was
found nearly decapitated with an ax in her Bushwick Houses
apartment (top), and a neighbor, 21-year-old Angela Valle, was
critically wounded. “Your value as a detective is in the box,”
says Handley, referring to the interrogation room. A handful
of detectives sat in a cramped room and watched via a small
closed-circuit monitor as lead Detective Joseph Tillerson
interviewed the suspect (above). Don’t ask questions you don’t
know the answer to, they say. Find a commonality, go in there
with your details straight, be patient and make eye contact.
“Really, it’s acting,” says recently retired Detective Al Brust. Four
days later, the suspect was formally charged with the murder.
“That’s a case you’ll remember forever,” said a sergeant.THE HOMICIDE SQUAD