Thread: Boyfriend Charged in Slaying

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 00294.html

Boyfriend Charged in Slaying
Man Had Been Accused in Previous Attempt to Kill Woman

By Ernesto Londoño
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 6, 2006; B05


A man charged with first-degree murder for allegedly stabbing his girlfriend in Rockville on Sunday night had previously been accused of trying to kill her and was ordered deported last year, according to court records and other sources.

Nicolas Serrano, 33, also may have been released early from custody in exchange for cooperating with the FBI after his arrest in 2000 in a federal drug case, according to his probation records.

Serrano fatally stabbed Sandra E. Campusano, 37, with a kitchen knife in front of their daughter Sunday during an argument at the woman's townhouse, police said.

The daughter, who was not identified in court documents, ran out of the residence and tried to alert neighbors of the crime in the 200 block of Cork Tree Lane.

When a neighbor tried to help Campusano, Serrano "made an aggressive move toward the neighbor while holding the large knife," according to a charging document.

He drove off in his turquoise Nissan Armada sport-utility vehicle but was quickly captured on Rockville Pike near Congressional Lane, police said.

Police found Campusano lying on the kitchen floor. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Serrano, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic who has used the aliases Juan Santana and Papinu, has faced attempted murder, assault, battery and state and federal drug charges, court records show.

In 1997, he was charged with attempted murder and assault in a case in which Campusano was the victim, according to a police document filed a year later in an unrelated drug case in Maryland. The disposition and other details of the attempted murder case were unavailable yesterday because the file is in a storage facility.

The year before, Evangelista Tejada -- the mother of one of his children -- pressed battery charges against Serrano after he showed up at the Wheaton Plaza eatery where she worked and attacked her.

"Due to his state of drunkenness he became physically and verbally abusive toward me and my manager," Tejada wrote in her application for charges.

Serrano flung a bottle of salad dressing toward Tejada but missed and hit her manager instead, according to the document. Then he "sprayed both of us with more salad dressing."

Serrano was convicted in that case.

He was arrested by a Maryland State Police detective in February 1998 after selling crack cocaine to police informants. He told the arresting officer, James L. Wobbleton, that his name was Juan Santana and provided a false address.

Wobbleton wrote that he believed "Serrano is using a fictitious name in an attempt to avoid being arrested for the open attempted murder warrant."

Serrano was convicted in the drug case and served roughly four months in jail, court records show. His attorney filed a motion asking that he be released early because Serrano is an "amputee" who at the time was using a "badly-broken" prosthesis on his right leg.

He violated the terms of his probation at least twice. He was convicted of a misdemeanor sex offense in the District in 2000 and later pleaded guilty in a federal drug case.

Sandra Ferguson, his probation officer in the Maryland drug case, wrote in a report documenting the federal drug case that Serrano's probation would probably expire before his release from federal custody. She wrote that he would be turned over to immigration officials after the adjudication of the federal drug case.

"However, the U.S. Attorney's office has informed this writer that Mr. Serrano may be released prior to his sentencing so that he can cooperate with the FBI," Ferguson wrote.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Washington did not respond to an inquiry about Serrano's role in that case yesterday afternoon.

Serrano was placed in deportation proceedings in 2004 and was ordered deported Nov. 1, 2005, in Baltimore, according to a law enforcement source with access to immigration records who spoke on condition of anonymity because the source is not allowed to speak to reporters.

It is unclear whether Serrano dodged the deportation order or whether he reentered the country recently. Ernestine Fobbs, a spokeswoman with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said she would look into Serrano's case but did not return a call last night.

Staff researcher Madonna Lebling contributed to this report.

It is unclear whether Serrano dodged the deportation order or whether he reentered the country recently. Ernestine Fobbs, a spokeswoman with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said she would look into Serrano's case but did not return a call last night.

So why is he even in our country? Oh, I know, we have unsecured borders.

He drove off in his turquoise Nissan Armada sport-utility vehicle but was quickly captured on Rockville Pike near Congressional Lane, police said.

Wow! Pricey car. I'd like to have one of those myself. Was wondering how this scumbag afforded it till I read he was convicted of selling crack cocaine.

If that's the route to a new car for us, we'll never have one and we're darned proud this is a job we and most of you WON'T do (peddling drugs).

Hey Jorge - is this fellow just a "good-hearted folk?" Killing his daughter's mother in front of her?