NJ: Questions abound for murder suspect
Questions abound for murder suspect
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
By PAUL BRUBAKER
HERALD NEWS
GARFIELD – Few details Tuesday give insight into Gabriel Romero Sanchez, the man accused of killing an 81-year-old widow in her home Sunday.
U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials on Tuesday said they could not corroborate the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office reports that Sanchez entered the United States from Mexico in April on a work visa that expired at the end of the year.
There were multiple listings under Sanchez in government records, according to Adam Buharik, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman. When Sanchez's birthday, reported by law enforcement as Feb. 27, 1961, was used to narrow an immigration records search, it yielded two results for a man who entered the United States in 1982, Buharik said.
Authorities said that on Sunday morning Sanchez killed Angelina Costa at her home on 246 Gaston Ave. during an attempted burglary.
One of Costa's three sons found her dead and called the police at 12:22 p.m. A trail of blood led investigators to Sanchez's apartment a short distance away at 248 Gaston Ave.
On Monday, Sanchez pleaded not guilty in state Superior Court in Hackensack to murder, burglary and weapons charges.
Juan Huaman, 54, who was Sanchez's most recent landlord, said that the suspect moved into the second-floor apartment on June 1.
Sanchez was one of seven people – four men, two women, and a toddler – in the three-bedroom apartment, Huaman said.
Previously, Sanchez lived at 98 Belmont Ave., Huaman said.
Huaman, who is originally from Peru, said he had little information about his new tenants when they moved in. He said he and his wife, Balvina, were devastated by the tragic, brutal murder.
Huaman said he had no way of knowing whether Sanchez, or any of his tenants could commit such violence.
"You see the face, but you don't see the heart," he said.
The Prosecutor's Office confirmed on Tuesday that Sanchez was a laborer for Angels Landscape Contractors on River Drive in Garfield.
A receptionist at Angels responding to requests to interview company owner Hernan Lovato said Lovato declined to comment.
Reach Paul Brubaker at 973-569-7155 or brubaker@northjersey.com.
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