Posted on 05/04/2005 10:36:52 AM PDT by chris1
Murder suspect living in U.S. illegally, police say
By STEVE LIEBERMAN slieberm@thejournalnews.com THE JOURNAL NEWS
Age: 29.
Education: High school graduate from Quesada, Guatemala.
? October 2000: Entered the United States legally on a tourist visa, which allowed him to stay for six months. He overstayed the visa.
? Came to Rockland from California within the past three years.
? July 2002: Charged with misdemeanor assault in Ramapo, under the name Ronald Douglas. He was accused of beating his girlfriend.
? September 2002: Justice Court warrant issued for his arrest when he missed a court date.
? 2005: Worked steadily for another contractor before joining Coloron Painting of New Jersey a month ago.
(Original publication: May 4, 2005)
A Guatemalan citizen charged with murdering a New City mother had lived in the United States illegally since 2001, when he overstayed his six-month tourist visa, Clarkstown police said yesterday.
Detectives confirmed the identity yesterday of Ronald Douglas Herrera Castellanos, 29, accused of Friday's slaying of Mary Nagle, 42. Police received the identification information from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Herrera has been charged with first- and second-degree murder in Nagle's slaying.
Herrera entered the United States in October 2000 on a tourist visa, which allowed him to stay for six months before he would have to return to Guatemala, Detective Lt. Charles Delo of the Clarkstown police said yesterday.
The suspect's visa didn't expire until October 2010, which meant he could have returned to the United States at any time until then.
Shawn Saucier, a spokesman for U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services, said it was common for people to overstay their visas, probably accounting for a good portion of the estimated 8 million to 12 million people living illegally in the United States.
"If you can get a multi-entry visa to enter the country for six months and even ask for an extension, why would you enter the country illegally?" Saucier said. "If someone doesn't leave within six months, they are in violation of the terms of the visa."
Herrera's legal status in the United States is secondary to the slaying, Delo said.
"His legality in the country is not an issue in this case," Delo said. "Getting the suspect caught and seeing that justice is done is our concern."
Other officers found Nagle's cell phone and wallet yesterday in the woods behind Georgetown Oval, about a mile from the Nagles' Tamarac Avenue house.
During a nearly four-hour police manhunt Friday, 51 calls were made from Nagle's cell phone to her friends and family by a caller scrolling through the telephone numbers stored in the phone's memory. The caller threatened some with death and told others lurid details about raping Nagle, Delo said.
Herrera is being held in the county jail without bail. A grand jury will hear the case tomorrow for a possible indictment.
Yesterday, police again scoured the banks of Lake DeForest and the grounds along the Reservoir Drive area for a black plastic garbage bag that Herrera was seen carrying from Nagle's property.
Police said they believe the bag contained bloodstained clothes worn by the person who strangled, beat, stabbed and raped Nagle inside her house. When arrested, police said, Herrera was wearing clothes owned by Nagle's husband, Daniel, 41, a Manhattan accountant.
"We don't know if he buried the bag or threw it into the water," Delo said. "We were out on a boat about 80 feet, and the water was crystal clear. We'll go up again in the helicopter."
Nagle, the mother of two elementary school children, was home alone Friday, preparing for a tennis game with her sister, Ann Fallon.
For the past month, Herrera had worked for Coloron Painting of New Jersey. He had driven to the Nagles between 8:30 and 8:45 a.m. Friday to power-wash the Nagles' back porch.
Police said Fallon and Nagle were talking on the telephone at 8:50 a.m. when Nagle told her a worker wanted to speak with her.
Herrera is accused of entering the house through the back door and killing Nagle in her upstairs bedroom as she tried to fight him off, police said. All other doors to the house were locked, Delo said.
Coloron's owner drove up at 9:20 a.m. and when he didn't see Herrera, he power-washed the porch and left, taking the keys to the company truck in the Nagles' driveway.
When her sister didn't call back, Fallon drove to the house at 10:20 a.m. and saw Herrera outside, police said. When Fallon questioned him about her sister's whereabouts, he gave vague answers, claimed not to speak English well and left carrying a black plastic bag.
Fallon then went inside and saw a trail of blood upstairs and her sister on the bed, partially clothed with her tank top pulled up across her chest.
Nagle's slaying has had a chilling effect on the hiring of immigrant workers for landscaping, house repairs and maintenance.
Pedro Velasquez, a Guatemalan day laborer, and a number of other men said about 11:30 a.m. yesterday that they normally would have been picked up for work by contractors by about 11 a.m. They said this had been the situation since the weekend and attributed the lack of work to fear rising from Nagle's killing.
"It hurts us all," Velasquez said, standing with more than two dozen men on Spring Valley's Maple Avenue.
Leaders of the Jornaleros Project, an immigrant advocacy and assistance group, remained hopeful that Rockland residents would not turn their backs on day laborers.
The Rev. Angela Boatright of the Jornaleros Project said she hoped the tragedy would not prejudice residents against immigrant workers, though she understood the trust had been damaged.
"We regularly open our doors to workers ? handymen, painters, meter readers, food deliverers and the like ? and our trust in them is seldom violated," Boatright said.
"There is no race, class, or ethnic group that is exempt from the temptation to take a life," she said. "But for every horror committed and drilled into our memories, there also are dozens of acts of kindness. ... We must not lose our perspective. And, most of all, we must not fear each other."
Herrera, a high school graduate from Quesada, Guatemala, had worked steadily for another contractor before joining Coloron Painting, a Park Ridge, N.J.-based company that had worked for the Nagles and other Rockland families for more than 10 years.
Herrera came to Rockland from California within the past three years. In July 2002, he was charged with a misdemeanor assault in Ramapo, under the name Ronald Douglas, after he was accused of beating his girlfriend. A Justice Court warrant was issued for his arrest in September 2002 when he missed a court date.
When police arrested Herrera on Friday, his California driver's license gave the name Douglas Martin Herrera, 39.
Delo said the real Douglas Martin Herrera lived in San Francisco, and police there had spoken to him on Monday. He told police he didn't know the suspect or that his information was being used
Haven't been to the Stadium since 1981.....I'm due!!!!!!
>>>>Agreed. This cop is a fool like so many else who are not doing their job. This criminal invader was arrested for assault in 2002. If it was an issue in 2002 and they deported this criminal invader, then this mother would be alive today. So - this cop is just another stupid apologist for illegals and this will go on and on.
The cop is a fool? Or the court system?
Both. Read the cop's statement.
Herrera's legal status in the United States is secondary to the slaying, Delo said.
"His legality in the country is not an issue in this case," Delo said. "Getting the suspect caught and seeing that justice is done is our concern."
Couldn't have said it better...BTTT
"Bush has lost all credibility with me over this issue as have all of our pols who refuse to deal with this."
Ah, but Mrs. Bush knows how to make the Hollyweird Left laugh their tails off with dirty jokes. So they aren't so bad after all, right? And they get along real good with Clinton. And they never cross the Clintonista when they pretend to investigate, such as Sandy the Sloppy Sock Burglar, for example.
What's not to respect?
After volunteering for the election for over a week in another state and taking off of work, GWB has been a huge dissapointment thus far.
God bless you for fighting the good fight. Your effort did bear good fruit. Imagine if FrankenSkerry were president! But we can do better. The key is the primary process. Once it's down to two front-runners, there's no chance to think like an idealist.
The GOP in the Sentate has been most dissapointing too. These bums spit in our faces. Santorum might be the first casualty of the arrogance of the gOP leaders.
I didn't see anybody bashing Mexicans per se. The subject is illegal immigration.
Bush Immigration Policy Supporter and Well-Educated Economist.
You sound more like a high school kid who has just learned how to have fun with strawmen.
The Senate is always a window into the past. The House is a window into the future.
The Republican Party is not the current people we entrust to lead it. The Republican Party is the people who vote. They are good people. That is why you and I both go here. Sure people could start a 'borders' forum. But it would be a wall between us and those fine people.
FRegards....
Hey genius, if you're an illegal alien, you're an illegal alien!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations! with your thinking you've just become a Liberal!
Not if we let in more legal immigrants to take the place of the illegal aliens (I mentioned this in my post #93).
Exactly. Legal immigrants are those that fill out applications, have two financial sponsors, and otherwise turn into good citizens.
It is like the whole gun control issue. After someone goes through the whole process of background checks, etc etc, are they likely to commit a crime???? Of course not!
This should read "Viva el Bush".
However, in the case of illegal immigration, the former will do.
Leni
Yes, and a very apt. title for them to boot.
Congratulations on having mastered race-baiting.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.