A Syracuse University student arrested for allegedly stalking his uncle told detectives with the Syracuse Police Department he hired an Internet hitman to murder him too, said Lt. Joe Cecile of the Syracuse Police.

SU freshman Alida Sang Bender is charged with fourth-degree stalking, which means he was ‘putting someone in fear of their life,’ Cecile said.

On Jan. 4, Syracuse Police called Sang Bender, a child and family studies major and Syracuse native, to the station for questioning regarding his uncle, political science associate professor S. N. Sangmpam, Cecile said.

Sangmpam received news that day through friends and family that his nephew, Sang Bender, was plotting his murder, Cecile said.

When questioned, Sang Bender told the detectives that he paid $700 to a friend he made on the Internet to have his uncle killed. Sang Bender was frustrated with his uncle for ‘abandoning him and his family,’ Cecile said.

The $700 was stolen from his adoptive mother, Leslie Bender, Sangmpam’s ex-wife and associate professor in SU’s College of Law, Cecile said.

Sang Bender also told Syracuse Police he met the hitman, known only as ‘Love Monkey,’ several months ago in an online chat room while using the computers in Bird Library, Cecile said.

The two ‘really hit it off,’ and they began a friendship, said Cecile, quoting Sang Bender in the police report. After a few months, Sang Bender mentioned his frustration with his uncle to Love Monkey, which is when Sang Bender agreed to pay Love Monkey to kill Sangmpam.

After Sang Bender sent $700 to a 31st Street address in New York City, the address Love Monkey specified, nothing happened, Cecile said.

Love Monkey did not carry out his end of the deal, Sangmpam soon found out about his nephew’s plan and called Syracuse Police.

‘(Sang Bender) hasn’t been charged with anything else yet because we have to verify that he paid someone,’ Cecile said.

Detectives with Syracuse Police are still conducting an investigation to find the identity of Love Monkey and verify Sang Bender did pay an Internet hitman, Cecile said.

If arrested by any policing agent, SU students are immediately suspended from the university, according to SU’s Judicial Affairs Handbook. However, Sang Bender’s arrest is different.

Almost a full month before his arrest, Sang Bender requested a leave of absence from SU on Dec. 9, and it became effective on Dec. 17, said Kevin Morrow, director of SU News Services.

‘He is not currently enrolled in the university,’ Morrow said. ‘He did take a leave of absence.’

The reason for his leave of absence is unknown, Morrow said.

Since he is not currently a student at the university, SU is not involved in the matter, Morrow said. Even though Sang Bender used an SU computer to find his Internet hitman, the university is not in a position to be ‘looking over the shoulders of the students,’ he said.

Sangmpam has not requested a leave of absence for the spring 2006 semester and has not requested any on-campus protection for his safety, Morrow said.

Published on January 15, 2006 at 12:00 pm