March 21, 2007

Man arrested in slaying of witness

NEW YORK A New York man is accused of killing a woman because she was going to testify that he raped her.

The 20-year-old woman was fatally slashed outside her Queens apartment last week. A fellow Guyanese immigrant, 29-year-old Hemant Megnath, was arrested yesterday.

Authorities say Megnath raped the woman in 2005. She had been apartment hunting in Brooklyn and he worked for a real-estate broker.

Megnath was free on bail while awaiting trial on the rape charges. He also was charged in 2006 with making threats against the woman and her family in retaliation for the rape allegation.

Police say the woman died before she could identify her assailant but her landlord witnessed the attack.

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