16 THE QUEENS COURIER • APRIL 20, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM Damning statements of Karina Vetrano’s alleged killer revealed BY ROBERT POZARYCKI [email protected] @robbpoz For six months, those following the Karina Vetrano murder investigation Queens man who works at UN pinched for bank robberies BY EMILY DAVENPORT was last seen wearing a black jacket, suspect entered an HSBC Bank located [email protected] a black hat and black gloves. at 617 Th ird Ave. and passed a note to @QNS Two weeks later on Monday, March 13, the teller, demanding money. Th e teller at 2:35 p.m., a man matching the description did not read the note and asked the suspect It wasn’t just another manic of the robber in the fi rst incident to produce identifi cation. Monday for a Jamaica Estates man entered a Bank of America located at 750 Police said the suspect told the teller to picked up on April 17 in connection 3rd Ave. Th e suspect approached the teller read the note while keeping his hand in with a series of bank robberies that and passed them a note, demanding his pocket, simulating a weapon, however occurred on Monday mornings in money. However, the teller ignored the the suspect grabbed the note and fl ed Manhattan this year. suspect and walked away from the window. the bank in an unknown direction. Law enforcement sources said Th e suspect then fl ed the scene, heading Following the incident at the HSBC Abdullahi Shuaibu, 53, a United south on Th ird Avenue empty-handed. Bank, police were called to the scene. Nations staff er and journalist for an Th e third incident took place on Th ey apprehended Shuaibu, who fi t the African news agency who resides on Monday, March 27, at 2 p.m. Th e suspect robber’s description, near 809 First Ave. Hillside Avenue allegedly attempted to Santander Bank located at 330 Madison entered a Santander Bank located Law enforcement sources said Shuaibu rob four banks in Midtown over the Ave. Th e man passed a note to the teller, at 1062 Th ird Ave. and passed a teller a was positively identifi ed as the robber course of two months. Each of the demanding money and stating that note demanding money. Th e teller complied by the HSBC teller, leading to his arrest. banks was reportedly close to the UN’s he had a gun. No fi rearm was displayed, and the suspect fl ed the location in Shuaibu was charged with two headquarters. however the teller complied and the man an unknown direction with an undetermined counts of robbery and two counts of According to police, at 3:30 p.m. on fl ed north on Madison Avenue with an amount of cash. attempted robbery. The investigation Monday, Feb. 27, the suspect entered a undetermined amount of cash. Th e suspect Finally, at 2:35 p.m. on April 17, the is ongoing. wondered not only who the killer was, but also why someone could have brutally raped and strangled the young Howard Beach woman found dead in Spring Creek Park last August. Some answers fi nally surfaced on Tuesday, April 18, as prosecutors released statements that Chanel Lewis — the young Brooklyn man arrested in February for allegedly killing Vetrano — made to detectives while he was in police custody. Th e statements were revealed as Lewis, 20, was arraigned on a 13-count indictment charging him with fi rst- and second degree murder, fi rst-degree aggravated sexual abuse and fi rst-degree sexual abuse. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown. Vetrano, 30, left her 84th Street home on the aft ernoon of Aug. 2, 2016, for her aft ernoon run but never returned home. Her father, Phil Vetrano, contacted police, and a search was started. Later that evening, Karina Vetrano’s body was found among the tall reeds of Spring Creek Park in the area of 161st Avenue and 78th Street; she had been beaten, raped and strangled to death. In the months that followed, NYPD detectives combed over the area for evidence; genetic material was recovered from crime scene, and while a DNA profi le of Vetrano’s killer was created, the profi le did not match anyone listed in state or national criminal DNA databanks. Th e case ran cold up until February, when police — acting on a lead — visited Lewis’ home on Essex Street in East New York on the morning of Feb. 2. At fi rst, according to transcripts of oral statements that Lewis made to police, Lewis told offi cers that he had been in Howard Beach in May of 2016 and “began walking around because it was nice out.” He denied loitering “in the weeds back there,” and agreed to provide police with a DNA sample to compare his genetic profi le with the DNA profi le recovered from the crime scene. Detectives returned several days later and brought Lewis to the 107th Precinct stationhouse in Fresh Meadows. Early on the morning of Feb. 5, prosecutors said, Lewis made statements in which he allegedly confessed to murdering Vetrano. Lewis allegedly said that he became aggravated on Aug. 2 aft er “a man came around” to his home and “played music and he brought around a lot of his friends.” “I didn’t like that stuff , I like peace and quiet and so I would go roam the streets and walk around,” Lewis said. “Sometimes I would go to Howard Beach.” Law enforcement sources said that Lewis allegedly told detectives he was in Spring Creek Park at about 5 p.m. on Aug. 2 and saw Vetrano running through the area. “I was mad and I was walking on the trail listening to music. She was running toward me, and I just lost it,” Lewis allegedly told police. “She didn’t do anything, I was just mad at the time. I beat her to let my emotions out.” Lewis then told detectives in detail the events that transpired: “I fought with her for about fi ve minutes. She scratched my face. I hit her about fi ve times and I knocked her out. Her teeth broke. I got madder and madder, and I strangled her. Aft er that, there was a puddle of water and she fell into it. She drowned. Her whole face was in the puddle, face up.” Aft erward, Lewis allegedly said, he dragged Vetrano’s body by her hands, which he claimed caused her pants to come off . “I left her in the weeds and I left through the Belt Parkway entrance,” Lewis purportedly said. “I went home and the people in my house noticed my hand and I told them that I fell in Gateway Mall Park. I never went back to Spring Creek Park aft er that.” As he was being booked on Feb. 5, further statements noted, Lewis seemed to express remorse. He asked detectives to see a picture of Vetrano’s parents, and made a second request: “Tell my mom that I’m sorry.” Lewis is being held without bail and is scheduled to return to court on July 13. Th e New York Daily News quoted a statement from the Legal Aid Society, which is representing Lewis, noting that their client pleaded not guilty to all charges in the indictment. THE COURIER/File photos In several statements to police, Chanel Lewis (at left) confessed in February to killing Karina Vetrano (at right) in a Howard Beach park last August. Photo courtesy of the NYPD
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