SEIZED ON ARRIVAL
Saturday, August 23, 2008
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Tips from the United States and the Caribbean led police to Newark Liberty International Airport Thursday night, where they arrested a Jersey City man wanted in last week's vicious murder near Pershing Field as he got off a flight from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

"This was not a surrender, said Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio of the capture of Darwin Rodriguez-Ferreira, 21. "Neither he nor his lawyer made contact with us to say he was surrendering."

County homicide detectives, Jersey City police and agents from the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency were awaiting Rodriguez-Ferreira's flight after getting tips from people here and in the Dominican Republic, DeFazio said. The prosecutor would not say who provided the information, saying only that they were from people who know the defendant.

On Sunday, Rodriguez-Ferreira, of Summit Avenue, was charged with the murder of Mark Kendall, 26, also of Summit Avenue.

Kendall's body was found with multiple stab wounds - the most serious to his neck and left arm - between parked cars outside his home at about 5:45 a.m. Saturday, DeFazio said. Blood was also found across Summit Avenue on the Pershing Field side of the road.

Rodriguez-Ferreira's mother and sister were arrested and jailed Tuesday after being charged with hindering apprehension for helping him flee by taking him to Kennedy Airport in New York City and getting him a plane ticket, DeFazio said.

Rodriguez-Ferreira appeared yesterday in Central Judicial Processing Court in Jersey City via video link from the Hudson County jail.

He rubbed his eyes, appearing tired, as Judge Richard Nieto formally informed him of the charges against him, read him his rights and told him he faces extremely serious charges that could put him in jail for life if he is convicted.

Wearing green prison clothes, Rodriguez-Ferreira spoke through a Spanish interpreter and told Nieto he had his own lawyer and did not want a public defender. Nieto informed Rodriguez-Ferreira that state Superior Court Judge Paul DePascale had set his bail at $500,000 cash or bond.

Kendall received more than one phone call before leaving his home the morning he died and the calls are believed to be connected to the crime, said DeFazio, who would not identify the callers.

Investigators believe the killing was the result of an ongoing beef between the two men over money.

Asked why Rodriguez-Ferreira had returned, DeFazio said: "I don't know if the motivation for coming back was that he was concerned about the status of his mother and sister, a lack of funds, maybe he was not greeted warmly back in the Dominican Republic based on the circumstances."
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