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Slay suspect seen on tape hitting girl, cop says at hearing
A jealous ex-boyfriend accused of killing a 17-year-old North Salem girl was recorded on videotape a week earlier hitting her at the market where she worked, a state police investigator testified yesterday.
Prosecutors may want to use the tape at the upcoming murder trial of Ariel Menendez, 27, of the Bronx to show that he was abusive toward Elizabeth Butler and could not accept that she had dumped him.
The tape was discussed at a hearing on the admissibility of Menendez's statements and other evidence. He goes on trial next week, charged with first- and second-degree murder and other felonies in the June 5 slaying. Butler's body was discovered that morning by her parents after she did not show up for work at Hygrade Market. The body was in her Nissan Pathfinder, parked near the Croton F
alls train station and a short walk from the market.
Authorities contend that Menendez raped Butler before stabbing and strangling her. According to investigators, he insisted that the sex was consensual and that he flipped out and struck her with the knife as they argued in the car that morning.
The videotape was discovered after the killing and a clerk who was behind the counter at the time identified Butler and her ex-boyfriend on the tape, Investigator Darren Bialek testified. She told him that she had not seen Menendez hit Butler that day, May 28, but did remember overhearing Butler insist "we're on a friends basis now" and that Menendez was upset by that.
"She could sense the tension between them," Bialek said of the clerk.
Menendez's lawyer, Harvey Loeb, asked Bialek if the tape showed the two kissing outside after the fight. The investigator said it did not.
Bialek also testified about searching Menendez's Bronx home a day after the slaying and finding a set of st
eak knives that matched the knife found at the crime scene. The prosecution intends to use that to show premeditation on Menendez's part.
Loeb has refused to reveal a defense in the case. His client faces life in prison without parole if convicted of first-degree murder.
There were no eyewitnesses to the killing. But another prosecution witness testified yesterday about seeing Menendez at the train station about the time Butler's body was discovered. The woman, Selvi Sinanaj, said she saw a Hispanic man walk out from the parking lot, enter the train platform and then walk toward her.
She was unaware of the killing but recalled what she had seen a week later when investigators were canvassing the area for witnesses. She testified that the man got visibly nervous and cursed when a police car pulled up near the station.
When Assistant District Attorney Paula Branca Santos asked if she could identify the man in court, Sinanaj said she couldn't remember. Without looking at Menendez,
she said she thought it was the man in the white shirt, which the defendant was wearing.
When Westchester County Judge Barbara Zambelli said, "You have to look at him," Loeb objected to her phrasing it that way. The judge said it was clear the witness was nervous. When Loeb then asked Sinanaj whether she was sure the defendant was the man she saw, she answered, "I'm sure it looks like him."
The hearing is expected to wrap up today and jury selection could begin as early as Monday.
http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060505/NEWS07/605050391/1018/NEWS02
A jealous ex-boyfriend accused of killing a 17-year-old North Salem girl was recorded on videotape a week earlier hitting her at the market where she worked, a state police investigator testified yesterday.
Prosecutors may want to use the tape at the upcoming murder trial of Ariel Menendez, 27, of the Bronx to show that he was abusive toward Elizabeth Butler and could not accept that she had dumped him.
The tape was discussed at a hearing on the admissibility of Menendez's statements and other evidence. He goes on trial next week, charged with first- and second-degree murder and other felonies in the June 5 slaying. Butler's body was discovered that morning by her parents after she did not show up for work at Hygrade Market. The body was in her Nissan Pathfinder, parked near the Croton F
alls train station and a short walk from the market.
Authorities contend that Menendez raped Butler before stabbing and strangling her. According to investigators, he insisted that the sex was consensual and that he flipped out and struck her with the knife as they argued in the car that morning.
The videotape was discovered after the killing and a clerk who was behind the counter at the time identified Butler and her ex-boyfriend on the tape, Investigator Darren Bialek testified. She told him that she had not seen Menendez hit Butler that day, May 28, but did remember overhearing Butler insist "we're on a friends basis now" and that Menendez was upset by that.
"She could sense the tension between them," Bialek said of the clerk.
Menendez's lawyer, Harvey Loeb, asked Bialek if the tape showed the two kissing outside after the fight. The investigator said it did not.
Bialek also testified about searching Menendez's Bronx home a day after the slaying and finding a set of st
eak knives that matched the knife found at the crime scene. The prosecution intends to use that to show premeditation on Menendez's part.
Loeb has refused to reveal a defense in the case. His client faces life in prison without parole if convicted of first-degree murder.
There were no eyewitnesses to the killing. But another prosecution witness testified yesterday about seeing Menendez at the train station about the time Butler's body was discovered. The woman, Selvi Sinanaj, said she saw a Hispanic man walk out from the parking lot, enter the train platform and then walk toward her.
She was unaware of the killing but recalled what she had seen a week later when investigators were canvassing the area for witnesses. She testified that the man got visibly nervous and cursed when a police car pulled up near the station.
When Assistant District Attorney Paula Branca Santos asked if she could identify the man in court, Sinanaj said she couldn't remember. Without looking at Menendez,
she said she thought it was the man in the white shirt, which the defendant was wearing.
When Westchester County Judge Barbara Zambelli said, "You have to look at him," Loeb objected to her phrasing it that way. The judge said it was clear the witness was nervous. When Loeb then asked Sinanaj whether she was sure the defendant was the man she saw, she answered, "I'm sure it looks like him."
The hearing is expected to wrap up today and jury selection could begin as early as Monday.
http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060505/NEWS07/605050391/1018/NEWS02
