Troopers: Divers in Akwesasne waters find no evidence related to SUNY Potsdam student's murder

Aug. 27—AKWESASNE — Days of underwater searches for evidence in the murder case against Michael J. Snow yielded nothing, according to state police officials.

Divers with the state police searched waters where Route 37 crosses the St. Regis and Raquette rivers all week, and had done similar searches on May 6 after doing open-water searches in the west branch of the St. Regis River near Route 11B.

The locations are along the route police say Snow drove on Feb. 18 after allegedly gunning down 21-year-old SUNY Potsdam student Elizabeth M. Howell in what the St. Lawrence County district attorney has called "a random act of violence." After allegedly shooting Ms. Howell on College Park Road near the Crane School of Music, he drove from Potsdam east to Malone on Route 11B, north on Route 37 to Fort Covington and west on the same highway through Akwesasne before stopping back in Massena.

District Attorney Gary M. Pasqua on Wednesday said the murder weapon has not been recovered. Investigators have custody of the car Snow is believed to have driven on the night of Ms. Howell's death. Snow's case is ongoing, but no future court appearances are scheduled as the search for more evidence continues.

The 31-year-old is indicted on four felonies stemming from his alleged Feb. 18 killing of Ms. Howell. He is charged with second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, first-degree assault and first-degree criminal use of a firearm. He's denied the charges. If convicted of murder, Snow faces up to a life sentence in state prison. He is represented by the St. Lawrence County Public Defender's Office and is being held in the county jail in Canton without bail.

Snow was arrested the day after Ms. Howell's murder, Feb. 19, in a police raid of his 250 Main St. apartment in Massena. During Snow's arraignment in April, Mr. Pasqua told St. Lawrence County Judge Gregory P. Storie that investigators recovered a sawed-off shotgun while executing a search warrant at Snow's apartment. That weapon is not believed to be tied to the murder.

Although Snow was arrested at the Main Street apartment, during his arraignment he told Judge Storie that he lives at 50 Park Ave. in Massena. He inherited the 50 Park Ave. house from his mother, Paula N. Snow, after she died there on April 1, 2019, allegedly by suicide. A friend of Snow's, 30-year-old Raymond G. Lancto III, also died in the 50 Park Ave. house, from a suspected drug overdose on Oct. 8, 2020.

Witnesses at the scene of Ms. Howell's murder on College Park Road near the SUNY Potsdam campus on the evening of Feb. 18 told police they heard three shots fired from a gray four-door sedan, and they directed responding officers to the victim, who had fled a short distance on foot.

Ms. Howell was found unconscious at 5:51 p.m. that day, and responding officers initiated lifesaving measures. She was then taken to Canton-Potsdam Hospital, where she died just before 7 p.m., officials said. Mr. Pasqua has said that Snow had no connection to Ms. Howell prior to the shooting.

Ms. Howell was studying music education at the Crane School of Music.

Her parents, Joe and Ann Howell, spoke about their daughter's murder with The New York Post in February at the family's home in Patterson, Putnam County, about 60 miles north of New York City. They said she was likely "a random victim in the wrong place at the wrong time."

The couple described Elizabeth, called Beth by family and friends, as "a talented musician, a dear friend, an all-around great person." She was a cellist who performed with the Crane Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Howell said his daughter was "always willing to help you out."