Rent argument leads to ‘gruesome’ murder of New York superintendent, officials say
An apartment superintendent and father of three was killed by a tenant while he was trying to collect unpaid rent from her, New York authorities said.
Sandra Coto-Navarro, 48, was charged Jan. 16 with second degree murder, two counts of tampering with physical evidence and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, according to police records and a Jan. 17 news release from the Queens County District Attorney’s Office.
According to authorities, 55-year-old Jose ‘Rene’ Portillo went to Coto-Navarro’s apartment in Kew Gardens Hills in Queens at about 9 a.m. Jan. 14 to gather rent money, but when he didn’t return for a few hours, his co-workers became concerned.
At approximately 5 p.m., after Portillo’s co-workers tried calling his phone with no luck, they called the police, authorities said.
When officers spoke with Coto-Navarro that day, she told them Portillo had stopped by earlier and left after she paid him the $23,000 she owed in past-due rent, according to the release.
But security footage of Portillo at Coto-Navarro’s apartment never showed him leaving, authorities said.
Then officers returned to Coto-Navarro’s unit, where they were directed to a bedroom that smelled strongly of bleach, according to police.
Portillo’s body, which had sustained blunt and sharp force wounds to his head and neck, was found underneath a bed in the room, “wrapped in clothing and black garbage bags,” police reported.
The New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled his death a homicide, and Coto-Navarro was arrested, according to police records.
If convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, authorities said.
“This was a gruesome murder,” District Attorney Melinda Katz said in the release. “Now, a life has been lost and a family is in upheaval because the defendant allegedly chose to resolve a rent dispute with violence.”
Portillo was remembered as a dedicated father and hardworking community member, according to a GoFundMe page.
“Truly such a great man gone too soon — blessed to have known him in my life,” one person commented. “Thank you Rene for creating such great memories for us in our childhood. May you rest in peace.”
