26 y.o.ex-con is arrested for beating & stabbing 11 y.o.newspaper delivery girl to death,in CT
Joe1orbit
Believe it or not, there are only about 20 hours left until I must and will
leave on my regulart monthly trip. Luckily I am all packed & ready to go, so
can devote a fair amount of my remaining time to reading & posting about true
crime news items.
There have been several posts made to this NG in the past two weeks
concerning the case of 11 year old Angelica Padilla, she is the Connecticut
girl forced to work as a newspaper delivery person, who disappeared on August
13th, and was found murdered shortly thereafter, in a wooded area behind the
apartment building where she lived. She had been beaten, then fatally stabbed
in the neck. She PROBABLY was sexually assaulted, although there is no official
confirmation of this.
Police took their time investigating this case, but we learn below that they
finally have made an arrest. 26 year old Jose Torres is in custody, and will be
arraigned today on murder charges. Jose lived in the same building as Angelica,
and did know her personally, in a casual way. He does have a past criminal
record involving at least one conviction for sexual abuse. And in fact, was
released from prison just last year after serving time for sexual abuse of a
child. Detectives have been focusing on Jose for a few days, at least, as being
their prime suspect. They even monitored his apartment and movements for the
past few days, tipping off other residents of the building that Jose was their
prime suspect in the killing.
Then, a few hours BEFORE taking Jose into custody last night, the police
PUBLICALLY announced that they had 'solved the murder of Angelica.' WHY the
HELL would they choose to make such a public announcement BEFORE arresting
Jose?? That is an OUTRAGE. The fact is, people in the building and neighborhood
ALREADY knew that Jose was a prime suspect. When police announced they had
"solved" the case, publically, a LARGE CROWD of people began to gather, outside
Jose's apartment and outside of the building as well. The police ENDANGERED the
safety and welfare of Jose by making this public announcement before they took
him into custody, and I think what they did should be ILLEGAL. Thank the
non-existent gods, Jose was not injured or directly attacked. If he had been,
he would be entitled to SUE the polce department and WIN a major cash
judgement, IMO.
There simply was no rational reason for police to announce publically that
they had "solved' the case, before they actually took Jose into custody. We
learn below that a large crowd did gather, and posed a significant threat to
Jose, in addition to shouting out pathetic slogans like "Kill him!" at Jose, as
he was being led out of the building in handcuffs.
How perversely hypocritical, for these inferior citizen-slaves, loyal and
brainwashed devotees of their society, to condemn Jose, while at the same time
UPHOLDING and celebrating the right of ALL parents/creators to enslave,
physically and emotionally abuse and torment their legally owned pieces of
human property.
But of course hypocrisy and irrationality are hallmarks of how you humans act
and think. You just LOVE to vent your bloodthirst towards death row inmates,
fetuses, Iraqi's, fish, deer, and of course, so-called "bad" child murderers,
who slaughter slaves that they do not legally own.
Anyway, Jose is in custody, facing murder charges. Luckily, he is safe
insofar as police were able to hold back the angry crowd of hypocrites that had
gathered to witness his arrest.
If you would like to see a photo of Angelica, taken before she got herself
slaughtered, you cab point your web browser to:
But be advised that this web page is changed every day, so do not delay if
you desire to gaze upon our now dead girl.
Take care, JOE
The following appears courtesy of today's Associated Press news wire:
Suspect Arrested in Girl's Slaying
By PAT EATON-ROBB
WILLIMANTIC, Conn. (AP) -- An angry crowd chanted ``kill him'' and ``loser'' as
a man was brought out of his apartment in handcuffs, accused of killing an
11-year-old girl who disappeared while delivering newspapers.
Jose Torres, 26, who lived in the same apartment complex as the young victim,
was arrested Wednesday evening as more than 500 people looked on.
He was to be arraigned today on charges of capital felony and murder.
Hours before the arrest, authorities announced they had solved the Aug. 13
murder of Angelica Padilla. As the report began to circulate, townspeople began
gathering in front of Torres' apartment, which had been the subject of
round-the-clock surveillance.
``I've never seen anything like it,'' said Sgt. Kathy Miller, a state police
spokeswoman. ``When we got out of our cars, the crowd began cheering. The three
detectives went up there, and when they came down with him, the crowd went
nuts.''
A barricade was formed to keep the crowd away from Torres. But one woman broke
through and began banging on the cruiser's window, Miller said.
Police Chief Milton King said Torres had served time after being convicted of a
sex crime, but he would not elaborate.
Angelica disappeared while delivering copies of the local paper, The Chronicle.
Her body was found in the woods behind the apartment complex. An autopsy showed
she had been beaten and stabbed in the throat.
``It was devastating, and not only for the parents of the little girl who was
murdered,'' said Sandra Ramos, who was among the throng who witnessed the
arrest. ``I'm happy. I'm happy. Everybody's happy. I can tell you everybody in
town is happy.''
AP-NY-08-27-98
-----------------------------------------------------------
The following appears courtesy of the 8/27/98 online edition of The hartford
Courant newspaper:
Neighbor Arrested In Girl's Slaying
By STEPHANIE BRENOWITZ
This story ran in the Courant August 27, 1998
WILLIMANTIC -- A 26-year-old convicted sex offender was arrested Wednesday
night in the slaying of 11-year-old Angelica Padilla as 300 neighbors and
friends cheered police on.
Jose Antonio Torres, known to neighbors as "Tony," was living with his
girlfriend in Building 14 at Colonial Townhouses on Foster Drive, three floors
above the laundry room where police say Angelica was killed on Aug. 13.
Torres knew Angelica and her mother and was a customer at her uncle's jewelry
store, relatives said. Angelica lived in the Colonial Townhouses complex.
Torres was arrested around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday in front of an angry crowd of at
least 300 people at Foster Drive. He was being held in lieu of $1 million bail
Wednesday night, said Windham County State's Attorney Mark S. Solak. He will be
arraigned on murder and capital felony murder charges this morning in Putnam
Superior Court.
Earlier in the day, Torres, who was under constant police surveillance, was
asked through his apartment door what he knew about the death of Angelica
Padilla.
Torres said, "Nothing."
Angelica failed to return home from her paper route on the afternoon of Aug.
13. Police later found she had been stabbed and bludgeoned in the basement
laundry room and then dragged into the woods behind Building 14.
Police have not said whether she was sexually assaulted, but Willimantic Police
Chief Milton King did say that Torres was listed on the local sexual offenders
list and had been released from prison in 1997 after serving time for a sexual
offense involving a child.
King also said he would be releasing the list of local sexual offenders, known
as the Megan's Law list, today, now that the investigation has concluded.
Police were withholding it during the investigation, despite a complaint by
residents.
As for any other evidence against Torres, that would have to wait until he
appears in court, police said, but one resident of the complex said she told
investigators she saw Torres run from the building the afternoon of Angelica's
death.
"He was running and he had a white shirt with something red all over it," said
the resident, who did not want to give her name or even leave her apartment for
fear of retaliation. "I thought it was blood. I didn't want to believe it, but
when police showed me his picture, I knew it was him."
Angelica was the woman's paper delivery girl, but the woman did not receive her
Willimantic Chronicle that afternoon. Around 6 p.m., she heard a rustling at
her door and found a crumpled newspaper jammed in around her doorknob. She
assumed Angelica's killer did it; she said police took it away as evidence.
Public Safety Commissioner Henry Lee said the arrest was the result of
excellent work by the state police major crimes squad, Willimantic police and
the state forensic lab but would offer no details on what was the final break
in the case.
"We have solved the crime," Lee said. "People can feel safe."
Police had been suspicious of Torres for at least a week because of his past
offense and had been showing his picture around. They had been watching him at
his apartment around the clock for days while they gathered more evidence for
the warrant.
Neighbors said they did not know Torres well and that he did not seem to work.
They said he spent much time working on cars in the parking lot of the complex.
Police had questioned several neighbors about mechanic's tools and anyone they
knew that used them, but have never said what connection the tools have with
the case.
As Torres was arrested and escorted to a police car, the crowd of more than 300
people shouted and cheered, hugging one another and their children in relief.
Some chased after the departing police car or shouted "Kill him!" Many
residents, including Angelica's family, said they would sleep better now that
the suspect is in custody.
"I'm glad it's over, it's finally coming to an end," said Angelica's uncle,
Israel Mercado.