Shopper stabbed to death; Honduran charged
By Gene Warner

News Staff Reporter

Published:
October 31, 2011, 8:44 AM
A deadly assault described as a random act of violence has left a 45-year-old Albion woman dead and a Honduran national charged with murder, Orleans County sheriff's officials said today.

Kathleen I. Byham was walking toward her car in the Walmart Super Center parking lot in the Town of Albion shortly after 7 p.m. Sunday when she was accosted and stabbed multiple times, Sheriff Scott D. Hess reported.

Byham was taken to Medina Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 7:40 p.m.

A massive search, aided by K-9 dogs and a State Police helicopter, led to the apprehension of Luis A. Rodriguez-Flamenco, 24, identified by authorities as an illegal immigrant.

He was charged with second-degree murder and sent to the Orleans County Jail without bail, following his arraignment before Albion Town Justice K.J. Howard.

Two other men described as Mexican nationals and fellow illegal immigrants also were apprehended. While they accompanied Rodriguez-Flamenco to the Walmart, they did not participate in the attack, sheriff's officials said. They have been turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol.

Authorities emphasized that they have no evidence suggesting that Byham and her attacker knew each other. Investigators believe the assailant targeted the woman only after she left the store and walked toward her car.

Eyewitness descriptions and Walmart security video were crucial in the apprehension of the suspects, authorities said. The search involved numerous federal, state, county and local law-enforcement officers, including the state police, Albion police, the Niagara County Sheriff's Office and the Buffalo police.

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