Jump to content

Gruesome slaying in Bronx


Nic Thamaire

Recommended Posts

By KERRY BURKE, BOB KAPPSTATTER and MICHELE McPHEE

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

 

Relatives of Eva Rebecca Madera watch as her body is removed from building.

Wilfred Lopez and Eva Rebecca Madera.

She broke his heart, so he went after hers - with a knife.

 

A spurned Bronx man allegedly slit open his girlfriend's chest yesterday, ripped out some of her organs and spread them across her parents' kitchen table like a macabre banquet, police sources said.

 

Investigators believe Wilfred Lopez, 24, killed Eva Rebecca Madera because the 20-year-old mother of his son wouldn't marry him. "He proposed to her on Valentine's Day and she turned him down," said a high-ranking police official.

 

After getting a call from Lopez's worried aunt, cops nabbed the blood-soaked suspect yesterday in Crotona Park, where he apparently planned to shoot himself after mutilating the love of his life, police said.

 

The aunt had gone to the park after finding a suicide note and disarmed Lopez, whose gun had apparently jammed.

 

"Just take care of my baby," Lopez told cops, who didn't yet know about the slaying, sources said.

 

"What about your wife?" one cop asked. Lopez replied, "No, I hurt her," sources said.

 

That statement - and a suicide note in Lopez's pocket saying he was "remorseful for hurting his girlfriend" - led police to the bloodbath, sources said.

 

At 12:53 p.m., Emergency Service Unit officers entered the fifth-floor apartment Madera shared with her parents on Valentine Ave. in Tremont.

 

Her savaged body was found on the dining room floor, with what appeared to be her heart and her voice box nearby.

 

"Her organs were all over the table. Her chest cavity was wide open. Her throat was slashed. There were so many stab wounds we couldn't count them," said an investigator at the scene. "It was gruesome."

 

Madera had been stabbed so hard the blade went through her body and into the wooden floor below her. She was stabbed at least a dozen times in the head, and 15 or more times in the torso, sources said.

 

"She had a set of keys in her hand like she was trying to get out of the apartment," one investigator said.

 

Bloody handprints covered a wall by the door.

 

Police recovered two knives in the bathroom, where Lopez had attempted to clean them, sources said. Investigators said it was possible a gun was also used.

 

Building manager Dennis Cruz, 43, said he saw the body. "Her face was so pretty, regardless of the blood," he said.

 

Louis Madera, 29, said his cousin Eva "lived for her son," 18-month-old Damian, but was no longer romantically involved with Lopez, who lived across the street.

 

"She didn't want to be with him," said another cousin. "He got obsessed. . . . I told him not to do anything crazy."

 

Damian was staying with a neighbor when his mother was slain. The victim had recently completed her GED and was working in a medical office while studying at Bronx Community College. She planned to go to nursing school, relatives said.

 

Lopez was taken to the psychiatric unit at Bellevue Hospital, sources said.

 

With Melissa Grace

 

 

Originally published on March 3, 2004

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This forum is supported by the 12ozProphet Shop, so go buy a shirt and help support!
This forum is brought to you by the 12ozProphet Shop.
This forum is brought to you by the 12oz Shop.

in a downward spiral we go. . .

 

........

........

........

.........

.......

.........

..........

.........

.........

..........

......

.......

......

.....................

..........................

 

 

. . . . ..... . . . .... . . . ... . . ... .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...