BRONX MAN CONVICTED OF FIRST DEGREE MURDER IN THE DEATHS
OF HIS GIRLFRIEND, HER HANDICAPPED SON AND A BUILDING
SUPERINTENDENT’S ASSISTANT
Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today the conviction of a 40-year- old Bronx man on three counts of murder for fatally stabbing and bludgeoning his 56-year-old girlfriend, her 36-year-old son, and a 60-year-old building superintendent’s assistant in the Fall of 2006.
Rafin Vellon, of 1029 Hall Place, the Bronx, pled guilty to two counts of Murder in the 1st degree in the deaths of Gloria Valdez and Carl Valdez, and one count of Murder in the 2nd degree in the death of Polonio Peralta.
State Supreme Court Justice Margaret Clancy set sentencing for Friday, October 3, 2008 in Part T6. The judge has indicated that she would impose concurrent terms of 20 years to life imprisonment for the murders of Gloria and Carl Valdez and a consecutive term of 20 years to life imprisonment for the murder of Polonio Peralta. Vellon would have to serve a minimum sentence of 40 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole.
The murders occurred on October 23, 2006 in and near the basement apartment where the defendant resided with two of his three victims. Vellon admitted that he stabbed Gloria Valdez multiple times before bludgeoning her with a barbell that he then used to bludgeon her mentally retarded and dependent adult son. As Vellon fled the bloody crime scene he encountered Peralta outside the basement apartment and also beat him to death with the barbell. Vellon was later arrested at his parents’ apartment on Washington Avenue not far from the crime scene.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney David Birnbaum, Trial Counsel to the Domestic Violence Bureau.
|