The Buffalo News headline reads: Pharaoh’s witness was warned of ‘bounty on her head’ just days before she turned up dead
From the Sun Investigative Team (SIT)
Wellsville has been on the FBI radar since mid-2023 with the death of Crystal Quinn at a Scott Avenue home. The death appeared at first to be a drug overdose but after the federal agents arrived in Wellsville the plot got very thick. Those federal agents have been back to Wellsville two more times since the August death investigation.
Until the most recent October 24 visit; those warrants, searches, and investigations had not resulted in any arrests. That most recent visit to Wellsville included two search warrant executions. One was on a home near the site of Crystal Quinn’s death and no charges have been filed as a result of that search. The other warrant served on a rural home in the town of Wellsville, on the Donavan Road.
That FBI action resulted in two arrests for multiple crimes as listed below. The reporting by the Buffalo News made a clear connection between the arrest and the death of Crystal Quinn.
Howard Hinkle Jr. and Dillon Anderson were charged according to the Buffalo News:
“Hinkle faces four charges: a felon unlawfully possessing a firearm, maintaining a drug involved premises, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes.
Dillon Anderson, a co-defendant, faces the same charges, except for the felon in possession of a firearm count.”
Quinn’s mother, Sharon Quinn, told The Buffalo News that her daughter was “tremendously afraid” in the last days of her life. As for the bounty on her daughter’s life, Sharon Quinn said, “Oh my God, no … I never have heard that before. I just want the truth to come out.”
“There is no way” that Crystal Quinn would have knowingly taken the dangerous drug fentanyl, her mother added.
According to the Buffalo News, a SWAT team used flash grenades, flashing lights and a megaphone to roust Hinkle from his Donovan Road home in Wellsville at 6 a.m. Oct. 24.
The Buffalo News reported, “Hinkle, 47, who has a felony criminal record, hesitated before complying with the police warnings, but he finally opened the front door of his Allegany County residence. When FBI agents searched his property, they found 134 marijuana plants, 19 firearms, numerous rounds of ammunition and other evidence indicating a drug-production operation, according to a filing from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”
But that’s disputed. The News has quotes from prosecutors saying he deals drugs to make money with no job. Hinkle’s lawyer says he smokes marijuana, but lives off the land. His lawyer tried to explain people in Allegany County have a lot of guns and use them to feed their families.
There are other quotes and facts and interviews, you can Read the full article from Buffalo News here
Read our reporting on the federal law enforcement action in Wellsville on October 24 and the original story,
