A pastor in New York is charged with murder after being arrested for killing his ex-wife in front of her neighbors and grandchildren, reports The New York Times.
Victor Mateo allegedly ran over Noelia Mateo twice with his car before hacking her repeatedly with a machete on a Bronx street. Pennsylvania State Police and the U.S. Marshals Regional Task Force took the 63-year-old pastor into custody. He has been charged with murder, manslaughter, endangering the welfare of a child and criminal possession of a weapon.
Noelia was discovered unconscious this morning with multiple lacerations. She was taken to the Jacobi Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.
After reportedly stabbing Noelia, Victor fled. Her two young grandchildren allegedly witnessed her gruesome death.
“I heard a loud bang; I actually thought it was a gunshot,” says witness Dave Colon, according to ABC 7. “I looked out my window and I saw a car struck another vehicle. I saw a man moving his car back and forth, and he got out. Then I heard a lady screaming, ‘Help her, help her, he’s going to kill her.’…It turns out he was hitting her with a machete, and I saw him take off.”
Colon says he watched Noelia crawl to the side of the street while covered in blood, reports the Christian Post.
Another witness, Kathy Bellwood, says Noelia “was suffering because she was crying or praying in Spanish.”
Victor is pastor of Christian congregation The Redemptor Inc., whose Facebook page describes the church as “a close-knit, Spirit-Filled, bilingual congregation of worshipers of Jesus Christ located in The Bronx, NY.” After Noelia’s death, the church posted on Facebook:
“With Great sadness we report the passing into eternal life of our beloved Noelia. We shall miss you sister, and hope that we shall see you again.”
“The defendant cruelly attacked his wife, from whom he had been estranged for approximately a month, in front of her two young grandchildren,” says Bronx defense attorney Darcel Clark. “The defendant allegedly struck her with his own vehicle, then ran her over with her car, and stabbed her with a machete. We will pursue justice for the victim, as well as her family members who have been deeply traumatized by the terrible attack.”
Mateo is scheduled to appear in court again in January 2020. {eoa}
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