New Brunswick man indicted in roommate's stabbing death

By KEN SERRANO • STAFF WRITER • October 29, 2009

MIDDLESEX COUNTY — A Middlesex County grand jury has handed up an indictment against a New Brunswick man charged with the murder of a man whose body was found in the room they shared in a French Street apartment building.

Reinaldo Fuentes, 20, is accused of stabbing and beating his roommate Adrian Betanzos, 26, early June 29.

Betanzos suffered several stab wounds to the abdomen and blunt force trauma to the head, said Nicholas Sewitch, assistant Middlesex County prosecutor. A friend found him dead on a bed in the room at 138 French St. after losing contact with him for a few days.

Fuentes was arrested two days later as he emerged from an apartment on Delavan Street in New Brunswick that he had moved into with his girlfriend. Authorities have not released a motive. The probable cause for his arrest listed in the complaint is police investigation and statements of the defendant.

Investigators recovered a knife possibly used in the murder.

Fuentes, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, has pleaded not guilty to the charges. He is being held in lieu of $1 million.

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