Police have arrested a Bronx man accused of torturing his girlfriend to death and leaving her body in the stairwell of his apartment building, a capture made possible after his neighbors chased him down.
According to police sources, 27-year-old Robert Strother was taken into custody after being recognized while attempting to return home. Local residents pursued him until officers arrived and placed him under arrest. He was charged Saturday with a slew of charges, including murder, manslaughter, hindering prosecution, concealment of a human corpse, and tampering with physical evidence.
Officers from the 46th Precinct said they discovered the body of 21-year-old Princesa Encarnacion-Soto in the third-floor stairwell of 2295 Grand Concourse. Police said her body showed signs of blunt force trauma to the face and multiple stab wounds throughout the body.
“The wounds themselves were inflicted for pain, not to kill,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said of the horrific crime. “The ones on her legs were fresh. The ones on her upper torso seemed like they were in the process of healing.”
Investigators were soon led to Strother’s apartment, where his mother — 54-year-old Naida Jorge — also lived. Police said Jorge initially allowed officers inside, but ordered them out after they eyed spots of blood. Law enforcement issued a search warrant and made a startling discovery.
“We recover bloody clothing, bloody sheeting, bloody blankets, bloody rope and bloody bungee cords,”
Chief Kenny said.
Police determined that Encarnacion-Soto had been tied to a mattress and tortured. They also found Jorge to be complicit in the killing, alleging she attempted to clean up the scene and dressed the victim in fresh clothing.
Jorge was taken into custody and charged with murder, manslaughter, hindering prosecution, concealment of a human corpse, and tampering with physical evidence.
