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Prime Suspect In 2004 Murder Of Sarah Fox Claims He Had Psychic Vision Of Real Killer

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The prime suspect in the 2004 murder of a Juilliard School of Music student claims to know who killed Sarah Fox.

Dimitry Sheinman, 47, walked into a local police precinct Tuesday and handed over a letter titled "Highly Confidential Clairvoyant Information From Dimitry Sheinman To 34th Precinct NYPD." In it contained the name of the true killer he says came to him in psychic "visions."

CBS 2 's Pablo Guzman has obtained a copy of that letter and won't repeat the name Sheinman says is the suspect. However, Sheinman wrote in the letter that four other clairvoyants also came up with this name. For example, one said to Sheinman, "[He] had a strong feeling that the killer was teaching at the Julliard School at the time of Sarah's murder."

However, detectives told Guzman that Julliard teacher's name came up in news reports eight years ago. And, police said, that teacher was questioned back then. So police think the name came to Sheinman from old newspaper accounts, and not in a vision from Fox, as Sheinman claims.

Sheinman insists he has been unfairly accused in the then-21-year-old Fox's murder and said his visions and information can help police solve the case.

1010 WINS' Juliet Papa reports

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"I am not the killer, people like me are not killers, I'm an artist," Sheinman said. "Whenever I communicated with Sarah Fox she always said, 'You're doing the right thing, let's go get him, let's get the killer.'"

Sheinman claims the other clairvoyants have backed up his story.

Dimitry Sheinman
Dimitry Sheinman (credit: Juliet Papa/1010 WINS)

"If I see a vision that's one thing, if another person independently of me sees the same vision, that means a lot more," Sheinman said Tuesday.

Fox disappeared while jogging on May 19, 2004. Her naked body was found days later surrounded by tulip petals in Inwood Hill Park. She had been strangled.

After questioning Sheinman at the time, detectives were convinced he had killed Fox, reportedly because he revealed details of the crime scene only the killer would know. However, he was never charged in the case.

Sheinman has been living in South Africa for five years and has written a 250,000-word book about the murder. When he was at the book expo at the Javits Center last week, detectives followed him, CBS 2's Guzman reported.

Before he leaves the country again, the NYPD would like another crack at him.

"We would very much like to interview this individual, so we stand ready to talk to him," Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told Guzman.

However, while Sheinman did drop off the so-called "new information," he would not sit down with police. In the letter obtained by CBS 2's Guzman, Sheinman wrote an escape clause: "I realize that...I could still be wrong about [name withheld]. Therefore, I am not accusing [him] of having murdered Sarah Fox, I am simply listing the events which happened."

"First of all, killers should be caught!" Sheinman later told reporters.

As far as detectives are concerned, they're looking at him, Guzman reported.

Is he clairvoyant or a killer? Let us know what you think of Sheinman's story...

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