Murdered woman mourned as spotlight put on bail reform

SCHUYLER FALLS | As Crisie Luebbers's family and friends now mourn the local mother's loss, lawmakers are blasting bail-reform laws they say may have prevented her death. As the Lyon Mountain woman's family now grieve her tragic loss, Sen. Dan Stec said her death "may not have happened had one of the alleged killers been held in jail following a recent felony drug arrest." Craig A. Foster, one of two people now charged with Luebbers's death, was arrested just days earlier on felony drug possession charges-an arrest that came roughly one month after the 37-year-old former Keeseville man was arrested on similar drug charges during a traffic stop in Ausable. That traffic stop on Grove Street reportedly found Foster and another man in possession of heroin and crack cocaine. Details of his arrest last week were not immediately available, though blotter records indicate it also involved a stop involving alleged drug possession. After those arrests, Foster was released on his own recognizance through changes made to New York's bail laws to prohibit setting cash bail for most nonviolent crimes. Stec said prior to the bail reform changes, bail could have been required for third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, one of the charges Foster was facing prior to Luebber's death. While released on those charges, Foster and his girlfriend, Nicole Cayea, 42, are accused of killing the local mother whose body was found inside their Schuyler Falls home. Her body was discovered during the course of a missing-persons investigation launched for her whereabouts just hours earlier. The couple was arrested early July 7 and are now behind bars without bail facing second-degree murder charges and grand larceny-accused of stealing Luebbers's car after her death. "This murder has sent shock waves through a small, quiet North Country community," Stec said just one day after the murder case was lodged. "The kind of thing that happens in other places, but the reality is it can happen anywhere. Had Foster been held in jail following the late June drug charge, this murder may not have happened...Foster walked following the June drug charge and days later allegedly took someone's life." As authorities continue to investigate Luebbers's death, which has been ruled a homicide, Stec is calling for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to "work with law enforcement, district attorneys and others on a plan to address the problems that many see with bail reform, which have made communities less safe." New York State Police, Clinton County Sheriff's Department, Plattsburgh City Police Department, Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Drug Enforcement Administration are continuing to investigate the case. Luebbers's loved ones are now coping with the heartache through fond remembrances of the local woman who enjoyed camping, fishing and spending time with family, including her young grandchildren. According to her obituary with Brown Funeral Home, a celebration of life will be held for Luebbers at a later date. Her cause of death has not been publicly disclosed as the investigation continues. Police were first called to the couple's rented Blake Road residence late July 6 for reports of a disturbance around 11:35 p.m. Authorities have not disclosed the circumstances of that incident, but said a missing persons report was filed for Luebbers the following day. Her body was discovered inside later that day after the couple was allegedly in possession of her vehicle. Witnesses said a U-Haul moving truck reportedly arrived at the couple's home July 6 shortly before the couple was arrested on murder charges.

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Murdered woman mourned as spotlight put on bail reform

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