CONVICTED DRUG DEALER FOUND GUILTY OF INTENTIONAL MURDER IN THE DEATHS OF TWO MEN IN JANUARY 1993

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that a 49 year old convicted drug dealer has been found guilty on two counts of Murder in the 2nd degree for shooting two men to death and dumping their bodies on the side of a highway nine years ago.

Victor Brito was found guilty of the intentional murders of 29 year old Steve Moses and 23 year old Francis Ramirez on January 22, 1993. Brito is facing a maximum term of up to 50 years to life imprisonment when he appears for sentencing before State Supreme Court Justice David Stadtmauer in Part T19 on Wednesday, May 15, 2002.

The murders occurred in an apartment at 55 Evelyn Place, the Bronx. Moses and Ramirez went there to buy cocaine and became involved in a dispute which resulted in both men being shot fatally in the head with bullets also striking Moses in the leg and Ramirez in the leg and arm. The bodies were then wrapped in plastic bags which were sealed with duct tape and placed in cardboard boxes. Two police officers from the 50th Precinct later discovered the bodies on the side of the Moshulu extension of the Henry Hudson Parkway.

The investigation was turned over to the NYPD’s Cold Case Squad in November 1999 and as a result of leads developed by Detective Kevin Lauler, Brito was charged with the murders and indicted in August 2000. At the time of his arrest, Brito was serving time in the state prison system for the attempted sale and possession of illegal narcotics.

Assistant District Attorney Gary Weil is prosecuting the case.