FREEPORT MAN SUSPECT IN KILLING

News: Freeport Man Suspected of Killing Young Wife

(Long Island, N.Y.) A forty-nine-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder after police found a twenty-two-year-old woman dead in her home. The man was picked up right away, and allegedly flagged down police instead of placing an emergency call. Police entered the home inhabited by the couple and were met with a barricade in front of the door.

In addition to the disturbing find, police at the scene reported the smell of gasoline or other accelerants. It is believed that the man murdered his young wife and tried to cover it up by setting fire to their home. Flames were ignited along the bed and surrounding area, burning the woman's body before being extinguished.

The man was escorted by authorities outside Nassau County Police Headquarters in Mineola. The woman had been brutally stabbed, an undisclosed number of times, before being discovered around six in the morning. The murder was said to have occurred on Monday after the couple argued over his sex abuse arrest.

The arrest was a major source of conflict for the couple, dating back to April when it first happened. It involved a seventeen-year-old and a love letter, allegedly written by the accused. The argument ended in the death of the young mother of two five-year-old and two-year-old sons.

The couple met at a Catholic home for unmarried mothers after she was kicked out at fifteen for being pregnant. He had been divorced with kids while she was living in Merrick with her son. They stayed married for two years and she was about to embark on a new career while taking pharmacology classes at Farmingdale State College.

Reports stated that the man didn't deny involvement but remained silent while being escorted from court. He pleaded not guilty at the First District Court in Hempstead and was later held without bail. Family members of the victim claimed that there were no warning signs to this gruesome act, saying that the accused had always been soft-spoken and articulate.

The children had been staying with a grandmother in Guyana at the time of the incident. It is also believed that financial issues, including the lack of rent payments since March, and the fear of being evicted escalated the argument. The husband had a background of tax warrants and bankruptcy, and it is still uncertain as to how much time had passed between the murder and the fire.

Jessica Cappelli

September 5, 2012 4:27 PM Eastern

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