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By Ryan Thompson
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

JAY STREET— A self-proclaimed “Prince of Darkness,� John S. Katehis, was due back in Kings County Supreme Court on Friday. The case, however, was adjourned for administrative reasons to later this month.

The so-called satanic teenager was arrested in March in connection with the stabbing death of WABC newsman George Weber. In several weeks, Katehis is expected to appear before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Neil Jon Firetog for a pretrial hearing as he awaits his upcoming murder trial.

Katehis, 17, considers himself an anarchist with a penchant for “extreme violence,� according to his MySpace page. He had previously appeared in Justice Firetog’s courtroom with “Prince of Darkness� scrawled on his shoes.

On his MySpace page, there are numerous photographs of him holding a variety of knives and swords. On his arm, Katehis has a pentagram and “666� tattooed above the word “Diablo.�

Katehis, of East Elmhurst, Queens, pled not guilty to charges of second-degree murder and weapons possession. He reportedly claims that he killed Weber in self defense after Weber pulled out a knife, and that he didn’t mean to kill the 47-year-old.

Weber 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. It is believed that Weber did, or intended to, enagage in sexual relations with Katehis, who was 16 at the time.

The age of consent in New York state is 17, which would have meant that Weber, if he had engaged in sexual relations with the teen, would have been committing statutory rape. It is unclear how far the sexual encounter went before violence erupted. Nor is it clear if Katehis met Weber with the intentions of having “consensual� sex with him.

Police discovered Weber’s half-naked body in his bedroom after colleagues had reported him missing from work. His ankles were bound together and blood was splattered across the apartment — some of which belonged to Katehis. Gay pornographic photos were also 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 claimed he 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.

Other readers , however, have wondered why Weber’s purported propensity for sex with underage boys hasn’t fueled more open criticism of his practices.

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