75 YEARS TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR MAN CONVICTED OF MURDERING THREE MEMBERS OF THE SAME FAMILY

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that Jose Cosme Pizarro has been sentenced to consecutive terms of 25 years to life imprisonment for the murders of three members of the same family.

Pizarro, 42, of Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, was convicted last month of four counts of Murder in the 2nd degree for his role in the deaths of Denise Santos, 30, Eduardo Santos, 34, and Irvin Aguilar, 33. The victims were shot and stabbed at two separate locations in March 2000. The multiple counts of Murder in the 2nd degree involve two different legal theories of intentional murder and murder during the commission of a felony. Pizarro was found guilty after thirteen days of deliberations.

Acting State Supreme Court Justice Martin Marcus sentenced Pizarro to three consecutive terms of twenty five years to life imprisonment for the murders of Aguilar, Eduardo Santos and Denise Santos during the commission of a robbery. Pizarro was also sentenced to a concurrent term of twenty five years to life imprisonment for the intentional murder of Denise Santos. Pizzaro will not become eligible for parole until he has served at least 75 years in prison.

Pizarro’s co-defendant, Luis Garcia, 41, of Miami, Florida was sentenced on April 4, 2003, to a term of life without the possibility of parole for his role in these murders as well as the murders of two other family members, Evelyn Ortiz-Santos, 39 and Ismael Santos, 14.

The murders occurred on March 2, 2000 beginning with the deaths of Eduardo Santos, his nephew Ismael Santos and Irvin Aguilar, at 2975 White Plains Road. Eduardo Santos was shot once in the head. Ismael was shot twice in the head and Aguilar was shot twice in the head, once in the heart and also was stabbed numerous times.

Pizarro and Garcia fled after robbing the victims of jewelry and an undisclosed amount of cash. The knife that was used to stab Aguilar was left in his neck. The next victim, Denise Santos, the sister of Eduardo Santos and wife of Irvin Aguilar, was stabbed numerous times a short time later at 2934 Radcliff Avenue, where the defendants removed a safe and some jewelry. The body of Denise Santos was also discovered with a knife still in her neck.

The fifth victim, Evelyn Ortiz-Santos, also was stabbed numerous times and shot three times in the head and torso. Her body was discovered at 2825 Olinville Avenue.

The two defendants were arrested two days later in Kendall, Florida, a suburb of Miami. Police recovered the victims’ stolen possessions and the murder weapon, a 9MM Sigsauer semi-automatic pistol. The gun had been cut into more than five-dozen pieces.

Assistant District Attorneys William Flack, Jeremy Shockett and Peter Coddington prosecuted both cases.