By Ryan Thompson,
Vinnie Rotondaro
and Raanan Geberer
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

JAY STREET— John Katehis, the “satanic� teenager arrested in connection with the stabbing death of WABC newsman George Weber, is to appear in Brooklyn Supreme Court Friday as he awaits his murder trial.

The teenager, a self described anarchist with a penchant for “extreme violence,� operated a MySpace page with photographs of him holding a variety of knives and swords. On his arm, Katehis has a pentagram and “666� tattooed above the word “Diablo,� which means “devil� in Spanish.

Katehis, 16, of East Elmhurst, Queens, pled not guilty to charges of second-degree murder and weapons possession in March. Weber, 47, was found stabbed at least 50 times in his Carroll Gardens apartment in March.

By combing through Weber’s cell phone records and emails, police were able to track down Katehis, who had fled to a friend’s house in Middletown, where he was apprehended by detectives. Katehis, who was reportedly spotted on a northbound G train bleeding profusely, was found wearing Weber’s clothes Weber and Katehis reportedly met each other after Weber placed an ad on Craigslist soliciting rough sex. Police discovered Weber’s half-naked body in his bedroom after colleagues had reported him missing from work. His ankles were tied together, and blood was splattered across the apartment — some of which belonged to Katehis — and gay pornographic photos were scattered about.

Reports suggest that Weber may have paid Katehis to beat him and smother him during sadomasochistic sex, and things got out of hand. Katehis allegedly blacked out during the stabbing. Drugs were reportedly involved, as well.

Weber’s apparent desire for rough gay sex, and the possibility that he may have repeatedly sought it with youths, comes as a startling contrast to the mournful outpouring of praise and admiration that his death evoked.

Several nights after his murder, friends placed candles on the steps of Weber’s brownstone home at 561 Henry St. A bottle of Wild Turkey bourbon and a two-liter bottle of Coca-Cola were also left on his doorstep.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg also released a statement expressing his sorrow upon hearing the news:

“George called news events as he saw them with little regard to party politics or ideology,� the mayor wrote. “On or off the air, and especially during our commercial breaks, his views were incisive and insightful. He’ll be deeply missed by millions of radio listeners, including me.�

An employee at Angry Wade’s, a Smith Street bar that Weber used to frequent, said that Weber was an “incredible person.�

Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, with whom Weber used to work on the radio, said that he “was the one person no one ever had a negative thing to say about.

“Did he live on the wild side? Maybe. But he was a truly great guy,� Sliwa said in a prior telephone interview with the Eagle.

Friday’s court date in Kings County Supreme Court is scheduled as a pretrial hearing before Justice Neil Jon Firetog.

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