The Queens woman accused of killing her building’s superintendent this week used a pipe in the sickening attack — and even tried to dismember the lifeless victim before stuffing his body in trash bags under a bed, according to the report. prosecutors.
Sandra Coto-Navarro, 48, was charged with second-degree murder in the deadly attack on 55-year-old Jose Portillo, who was trying to collect $24,000 in unpaid rent from the woman and her husband, police and prosecutors said.
Coto-Navarro – who was home alone in the Kew Gardens unit when she allegedly committed the murder – used a pipe in the killing, claiming it wouldn’t be a problem because “her fingerprints won’t be on it”, according to the police and a criminal complaint.
A doctor from the city’s medical examiner’s office determined that Portillo had suffered “multiple traumatic injuries” to his head and that a “heavy object” had been used to inflict those injuries, the court document said.
The victim also suffered post-mortem sharp force injuries to his neck and left leg near the knee, the doctor noted.
According to sources and prosecutors, Portillo entered the 70th Avenue apartment where Coto-Navarro lived with her husband around 8:40 a.m. to talk about the rent they owed.
The property owner told investigators he saw Portillo enter the couple’s apartment but never saw him leave, according to the sources.
Portillo’s brother requested a welfare check when he still had not appeared, the sources said.
The first time an officer responded to the couple’s unit, Coto Navarro allegedly claimed that Portillo was there earlier in the day, that she paid him $23,000 and that he left, according to the complaint.
But surveillance footage debunks that story because he is never seen leaving, the court documents say.
When the officer returned, the woman’s husband — who had not been charged in connection with the killing — led them “straight to the body,” a police source said.
According to the complaint, Portillo’s body was found around 5 p.m., tucked under the bed, wrapped in clothing and black trash bags.
He was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
The apartment smelled strongly of bleach and a mop could be seen in the bedroom, with some blood on the bottom of the bed and near a dresser that marred the apartment’s pristine appearance, the court doctor said.
“This was a heinous murder,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement. “As alleged, the defendant not only murdered the chief inspector who was attempting to collect the rent, but also attempted to dismember the lifeless victim, wrap his body in black garbage bags and attempt to bleach the area.”
“Now a life has been lost and a family is in turmoil because the defendant allegedly chose to resolve a rental dispute with violence,” Katz added. “This is not the way a civilized society functions. The defendant will appear in court for this gruesome murder.”
Coto-Navarro, who was also charged with tampering with physical evidence and criminal possession of a weapon, was ordered held without bail during her arraignment early Friday.
If convicted, she faces 25 years to life behind bars.
“It’s crazy,” a woman who identified herself as the victim’s ex-wife told The Post outside the apartment building on Thursday. ‘I want to see her. The one who hit him. The one who killed him. I want to see her.’
Allison Atlas, 31, who lives next door and works as a psychologist, said neighbors were “completely taken aback” by the killing.
“None of us can believe this,” Atlas said. “We all cared about him, we all liked him! He was a nice guy, a very nice guy. If I ever said anything he was so attentive and helpful.
