BRONX MAN IS SENTENCED TO A TERM OF UP TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR THE DEATH OF HIS WIFE

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that a 35 year-old Bronx man has been sentenced to a maximum term of up to life imprisonment for the suffocation death of his 28 year-old wife.

Manuel Vega, of 231 Echo Place, was convicted on April 12, 2002 of Murder in the 2nd degree in the death of Johanna Vega in August 1999.

Acting State Supreme Court Justice Ira R. Globerman sentenced Vega, to a term of 25 years to life imprisonment for smothering his wife with a pillow as she slept and then hiding the body behind a couch after wrapping her remains in a blanket.

The medical examiner determined that the murder occurred sometime between the evening of August 17, 1999 and the early morning hours of August 18, 1999. The jury heard testimony from a neighbor who had spoken with the deceased on August 17th when the two made plans to get together the following day. The neighbor testified that when she called the deceased the following morning at about 6:45 no one answered the telephone. The neighbor said she went to the victim’s apartment later that afternoon to check on her friend, the defendant hastily discovered the body in a bedroom. The defendant claimed that he just came home from work. Following an investigation by detectives, it was discovered that the couple had a history of abuse. The defendant was subsequently arrested three months later.

Assistant District Attorney David Birnbaum prosecuted this case.