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Denis Cullen Jr. Accused Of Murdering His Mother In Their Cold Spring Harbor Home

By Tara Dodrill
Published on: 01:20 PST, Aug 18, 2016

Denis Cullen Jr. has been charged with murdering his mother after her body was found floating in the pool of their lavish home in Cold Spring Harbor, New York. Elizabeth Cullen, 63, was a mother of five. The family’s Cold Spring Harbor home is located amid multiple celebrity residences in the affluent Long Island neighborhood.

Long Island police investigators believe Elizabeth Cullen was intentionally drowned, the Daily Mail reports. Her body was discovered when local police officers were executing a welfare check at the home around 4 p.m. on Wednesday. Just a few hours after the police officers found the body, Denis Cullen Jr. was arrested and charged with his mother’s murder.

Denis Cullen Jr. did not resist arrest and is not believed to have ever been in trouble with the law before, the New York Daily News reports.

The road leading to the Cold Spring Harbor home has been cordoned off and will remain closed while Suffolk County homicide detectives investigate the murder.

Cold Spring Harbor is a popular location for both celebrities and wealthy young families to live and visit. According to a New York Times report, the local school district recently ranked third on a nationwide list which noted the “most attractive” schools for elementary school children.

Home prices in the area reportedly begin around $730,000 and surpass $4 million for spacious estates.

The Huntington, New York, neighborhood of Cold Spring Harbor encompasses just under four square miles and is home to about 5,070 residents. The Main Street Historic District is listed on the National Register.

The Long Island neighborhood is home to a plethora of multi-million dollar estates. Singer Billy Joel named his first album after the area he called home after becoming enamored with the neighborhood. Joel released his first album on November 1, 1971.

Cold Spring Harbor became a highly successful whaling village in the mid-nineteenth century. After whaling oil was no longer sought after for fuel, the Huntington area economy changed dramatically, turning the Cold Spring Harbor neighborhood into a burgeoning resort town, according to the Huntington History website. A whaling museum is one of the most popular attractions in the Long Island waterside area. The neighborhood’s fish hatchery and a myriad of outdoor pursuits also attract visitors and provide plenty of recreational opportunities for residents both on and off the water.

“Close proximity to New York City, of course, meant that suburbanization was inevitable. The trend began slowly in the 1920s, but was temporarily halted by the Great Depression of the 1930s. It resumed in full force after World War II. This explosive growth not only in Cold Spring Harbor but throughout the town of Huntington led directly to the establishment of one of the community’s most distinctive assets today—its school system,” the historical website also noted.

The easy commute to New York City and a quality school district still draws young families to the area today. The crime rate in the Long Island neighborhood is extremely low, making the murder of Elizabeth Cullen all that much more shocking to residents.

Local law enforcement officials have released virtually no details about the alleged intentional drowning of the 63-year-old mother. A press conference about the homicide is expected to occur later today after Denis Cullen Jr. has been arraigned on second-degree murder charges.

[Image via Shutterstock.com]

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