Thread: Brewster Man Sentenced For Killing Day Laborer

http://www.wnbc.com/news/9680565/detail.html

Brewster Man Sentenced For Killing Day Laborer

POSTED: 8:45 am EDT August 15, 2006
UPDATED: 9:00 am EDT August 15, 2006

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- A Brewster man has been sentenced to 19 years to life in prison for killing a Guatemalan immigrant last year.

Rodolfo Sagastume, 31, was a fellow day laborer who killed Emilio Mendez Ventura, 52, for his money on Dec. 17, police said.

Mendez-Ventura was described as man who worked hard to support his wife and seven children, six of whom are still living in Guatemala.

He was known to carry large amounts of money and often loaned cash to other day laborers in Brewster.

Prosecutors said Mendez-Ventura was killed after he went to meet Sagastume to discuss $100 that Sagastume owed him.

Three days later, he was reported missing by his son who had been living with him in Brewster. A week later, state police discovered Mendez-Ventura's body in a field in Wingdale in Dutchess County.

Police said he had been beaten to death.

Sagastume, who is in the country illegally from Guatemala, pleaded guilty last month in exchange for the possibility of being released in 19 years.

http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs ... 023/NEWS07

Brewster man sentenced in killing of immigrant
By THE JOURNAL NEWS
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

(Original publication: August 15, 2006)

A Brewster man was sentenced yesterday to 19 years to life in prison for killing a Guatemalan immigrant last year.

"We often use the word 'senseless' to describe murders, but in this case it has particular meaning," Senior Assistant District Attorney Edward McLoughlin said in state Supreme Court in Dover, N.Y.

Rodolfo Sagastume, 31, a fellow day laborer, killed 47-year-old Emilio Mendez Ventura for his money Dec. 17.

McLoughlin described Ventura, also of Brewster, as a man who worked hard to support his wife and seven children, six of whom are still living in Guatemala.

The stonemason, who was known as a generous man among Brewster's community of day laborers, often loaned money to new arrivals to help them get started while offering practical advice on living in the area.

Ventura, who often worked seven days a week to support his family, was killed after he went to meet Sagastume to discuss $100 that Sagastume owed him.

Three days later he was reported missing by his son Juan Ventura, who had been living with his father in Brewster.

A week later state police discovered Ventura's body in a field in Wingdale, a small Dutchess County town between Pawling and Dover Plains on a farm where Sagastume once worked.

Ventura died as a result of blunt trauma to the head, and Sagastume was identified as a suspect and sought for questioning.

A day after the body was found, Sagastume was spotted driving a pickup truck by Putnam County sheriff's deputies in Patterson.

Sagastume attempted to flee and a chase ensued, which ended when Sagastume lost control of his vehicle and flipped it over into a ditch on Old Route 22 in Southeast. He was carrying $1,000 when he was arrested and was initially held on an unrelated forgery charge before finally admitting to the killing.

Sagastume, who is in the country illegally from Guatemala, pleaded guilty last month in exchange for the possibility of being released in 19 years.