Posted on 06/17/2005 6:49:41 AM PDT by Born Conservative
MILTON (PA) — Fredil Omar Rodriguez-Fuentes admitted to a police investigator that he killed Carly Snyder at her home one week ago, according to testimony during a preliminary hearing Thursday.
"I stabbed her, I stabbed her," he confessed, before he put his head down on the table and began to weep, according to police Sgt. Dennis Derr’s testimony.
At the conclusion of the hearing, which also included testimony about the crime scene and autopsy, District Judge William F. Kear ordered Mr. Fuentes held for trial on a homicide charge.
Mr. Derr, of the Watsontown police department, was one of several officers who assisted Milton police investigating the death of the 20-year old woman on June 10.
Officer Derr described how he first noticed a cut on Mr. Fuentes’ left hand and later became suspicious when Mr. Fuentes changed his story about the injury.
As he was interviewing Mr. Fuentes in the Milton police station, Mr. Derr said, Mr. Fuentes gave yet another account of how he was injured, saying someone named "Manfredo" had cut him.
Mr. Fuentes said "Manfredo" had killed Ms. Snyder and then injured him before leaving the area.
Mr. Derr told Mr. Fuentes that the address he had given for "Manfredo" did not exist.
It was at that point that Mr. Fuentes suddenly blurted out his confession, Mr. Derr testified.
Mr. Derr then led Mr. Fuentes through a description of the murder.
"He described the knife as a black-handled cake knife," said Mr. Derr. "That information had not been released."
Mr. Fuentes also described first using two smaller knives, said Mr. Derr, "but he said they would not cut well. He said the blades bent almost to a U-shape, so he found a larger knife."
Mr. Fuentes demonstrated the circular motion he used in stabbing Ms. Snyder to him, Mr. Derr said, and told how he knocked Ms. Snyder to the floor before stabbing her repeatedly.
Contrary to earlier reports, Mr. Derr testified that Mr. Fuentes was able to understand and speak English. He said that a translator, Oscar Guerrero-Kees, assisted in questioning Mr. Fuentes. He said Mr. Fuentes switched back and forth from English to Spanish.
Police have not yet indicated any motive for Ms. Snyder’s slaying.
When James F. Kelley, Northumberland County coroner, took the stand, he said he pronounced Ms. Snyder dead at 1:10 p.m. on June 10. Because police were still processing the crime scene, he was not able to remove the body until later in the evening.
He took the body to Sunbury Community Hospital, where it was secured until Saturday morning, when he took it to Lehigh Valley Medical Center in Allentown, where an autopsy was performed.
Suspect held for court in slaying
"There were numerous stab wounds to the face, neck and chest," Mr. Kelley said. "There was also blunt force trauma to the face."
Ms. Snyder was stabbed 37 times, according to Mr. Kelley, and there were four "gaping" lacerations in her chest.
Several other police officers testified, including Curt Zettlemoyer, the Milton officer who was the first to find Ms. Snyder. He had gone to her home after her employer called and asked him to check on her.
Cpl. Troy Hickman, a state police crime supervisor stationed at Milton, said he was the first to notice blood on Mr. Fuentes’ pant leg.
Cpl. Shawn McGinley, a crime investigator from Stonington, gave testimony about the amount of blood inside the house, and he said "drag marks" indicated that the victim had been moved from the front door area to the kitchen.
He said blood was found on the walls, ceiling and floor, as well as on the lower stairs near the front door. He also said he noticed defensive wounds on the victim’s hands.
Other testimony concerned police procedures in securing the scene, canvassing the neighborhood for witnesses and obtaining search warrants.
Mr. Fuentes sat impassively during the proceedings. Edward Greco, his court-appointed public defender, sat at his right, while Esther Rhoades, a court-certified translator, sat to his left. Throughout the testimony, Ms. Rhoades quietly translated everything into Spanish for Mr. Fuentes.
To provide more space for spectators and witnesses, the preliminary hearing was held in the Milton borough council chambers rather than in Mr. Kear’s small Front Street courtroom.
Security at the hearing was high. All spectators were checked for weapons with hand-held scanners, and more than a dozen police officers surrounded the building. The drapes were drawn in the hearing room, and three officers stood near the defendant.
Mr. Fuentes was brought from Northumberland County Prison by U.S. marshals wearing body armor and carrying automatic weapons.
He was hustled into the hearing room through a side door. He wore a bullet-proof vest, and his chair was bolted to a sheet of plywood. His leg shackles were fastened to the chair.
At the conclusion of the hearing, Mr. Fuentes was taken out another door.
He was bundled into a vehicle which roared away before the small crowd waiting on the other side of the building even realized he was gone.
"We felt we had to do it this way," explained Sgt. Craig Lutcher. "There was too much risk."
One disappointed spectator said, "I just wanted to get close enough to spit on him."
Police: Accused murderer in U.S. illegally (left knife in victim's chest)
Neighbor charged in slaying (left knife in victim's chest)
You suppose Vincente will allow us to give this guy the needle? Maybe if we ask real nice? (sarc)
... just another hard working 'immigrant' committing murders us lazy American refuse to commit.
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Yes, well put. Thanks again to Washington, DC, for their undying support for illegal immigrants.
Yet another one of El Presidente's "family values" pals - just stabbing the women that Americans won't stab. Viva Jorge I, Rey de Mexiamerica!
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