A Brooklyn man was found guilty yesterday of kidnapping and murder for setting afire a 20-year-old college student he once professed to love like a sister. He was her friend and friend of her father and family. Four men were involved in these horrid crime. One was murdered, one turned the two others in for a deal.
They kidnapped her, stuffed her in the trunk of a car and, playing music to muffle the noises coming from the trunk, drove to an abandoned home in Woodhaven, Queens, where they tied her up to a chair and to a pole in the basement of an empty house that was abandoned. They kept her without a winter coat and shoes, food, water or blankets, for 4 frigid days, prosecutors said.
Jose torres 23, sat unmoved, as he had for most of the two-week trial, while the verdict was read: guilty on all but one of seven counts in Kimberly Antonakos's abduction and death. But he was found not guilty of killing Jose Negron, one of two men who prosecutors said helped him abduct Ms. Antonakos last year in a bizarre kidnapping-extortion scheme that went awry.
A sigh of relief went up last night in State Supreme Court in Queens, where Ms. Antonakos's family and friends have congregated every day, seeking -- and praying for -- the conviction of Mr. Torres.
''This is the day I had been waiting for,'' said Ms. Antonakos's father, Thomas Antonakos, 52, who raised a fist in the air when he heard the verdict and took a long, hard look at Mr. Torres, whom he once considered a friend. ''It's a bittersweet day. It had to be done.''
District Attorney Richard A. Brown of Queens said the murder was ''among the most savage and brutal crimes ever to have been committed in Queens.'' He added: ''The case cries out for the maximum penalty. And we will ask the courts to see to it that the defendant never again walks the streets of this city.''
Mr. Torres will be sentenced in a month. He faces 50 years to life in prison. The jury deliberated for nine hours before reaching its verdict. Mr. Torres, prosecutors said, killed the woman because he is a ''murderer'' and a ''moron.''
Mr. Torres's lawyer, Martin Chandler, said Ms. Antonakos's death was a horrendous crime but one in which his client played no part. He said the prosecution had based its case on ''innuendoes and lies.''
The lawyer said his client was framed by Julio Negron, a friend involved in the crime. Mr. Chandler said that Mr. Negron testified for the prosecution to receive a lighter sentence. Prosecutors said, however, that Mr. Negron received a harsher sentence, two to six years in prison, by revealing his role in the crime. Officials said Mr. Negron was not involved in the killing but knew about it and did nothing to stop it. He is not related to Jose Negron, who officials say helped abduct the woman.
According to Julio Negron's testimony, Ms. Antonakos died because Mr. Torres wanted money to buy an Infinity luxury car. He planned to ask Mr. Antonakos for $75,000 in exchange for the woman's release. But Mr. Antonakos said he never received the message, which Mr. Torres and his accomplices put on an answering machine that had not yet started recording.
Mr. Antonakos later said he would have paid any amount of money to get his daughter back.
Mr. Torres knew Ms. Antonakos because she was a good friend of his companion. When the couple and their 3-year-old child were forced to move out of the house they had lived in with relatives, Ms. Antonakos agreed to take them in while their new apartment underwent repairs.
Instead, Mr. Torres used his time in Ms. Antonakos's apartment in Canarsie, Brooklyn, to learn her routine and make final the details on his plan. In the early hours of March 1 last year, the police said, Jose Negron and Nicholas Libretti, at Mr. Torres's behest, dragged Ms. Antonakos from her car as she arrived home. They taped her eyes and mouth shut and bound her hands behind her back.
While the police and Mr. Antonakos were looking for Ms. Antonakos, Mr. Torres pretended to be a concerned friend, even taking Mr. Antonakos to a junkyard to search for her car. The one thing he would not do was to pray for Ms. Antonakos. When Mr. Antonakos, a Catholic, asked Mr. Torres, also a Catholic, to go into a church with him, Mr. Torres declined.
When it became apparent that they were not going to get any money, Mr. Torres decided it was time to kill her, Eugene Reibstein, the assistant district attorney who prosecuted the case, said in his closing arguments.
On March 4, he said, Mr. Torres poured gasoline over her upper body, kissed her head and lighted a match. The charred body was soon found by firefighters. A forensic pathologist testified that Ms. Antonakos was alive when set ablaze.
The lawyer said his client was framed by Julio Negron, a friend involved in the crime. Mr. Chandler said that Mr. Negron testified for the prosecution to receive a lighter sentence. Prosecutors said, however, that Mr. Negron received a harsher sentence, two to six years in prison, by revealing his role in the crime. Officials said Mr. Negron was not involved in the killing but knew about it and did nothing to stop it. He is not related to Jose Negron, who officials say helped abduct the woman.
According to Julio Negron's testimony, Ms. Antonakos died because Mr. Torres wanted money to buy an Infinity luxury car. He planned to ask Mr. Antonakos for $75,000 in exchange for the woman's release. But Mr. Antonakos said he never received the message, which Mr. Torres and his accomplices put on an answering machine that had not yet started recording.
Mr. Antonakos later said he would have paid any amount of money to get his daughter back. It was his only precious and adorable child whom he loved so much.
Mr. Torres knew Ms. Antonakos because she was a good friend of his companion. When the couple and their 3-year-old child were forced to move out of the house they had lived in with relatives, Ms. Antonakos agreed to take them in while their new apartment underwent repairs.
Instead, Mr. Torres used his time in Ms. Antonakos's apartment in Canarsie, Brooklyn, to learn her routine and make final the details on his plan. In the early hours of March 1 last year, the police said, Jose Negron and Nicholas Libretti, at Mr. Torres's behest, dragged Ms. Antonakos from her car as she arrived home. They taped her eyes and mouth shut and bound her hands behind her back. They stuffed her in the trunk of a car and, playing music to muffle the noises coming from the trunk, drove to an abandoned home in Woodhaven, Queens.
While the police and Mr. Antonakos were looking for Ms. Antonakos, Mr. Torres pretended to be a concerned friend, even taking Mr. Antonakos to a junkyard to search for her car. The one thing he would not do was to pray for Ms. Antonakos. When Mr. Antonakos, a Catholic, asked Mr. Torres, also a Catholic, to go into a church with him, Mr. Torres declined.
When it became apparent that they were not going to get any money, Mr. Torres decided it was time to kill her, Eugene Reibstein, the assistant district attorney who prosecuted the case, said in his closing arguments.
On March 4, he said, Mr. Torres poured gasoline over her upper body, kissed her head and lighted a match. The charred body was soon found by firefighters. A forensic pathologist testified that Ms. Antonakos was alive when set ablaze.
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I read the book called, Burned alive. I have never read anything so upsetting and revolting. How four young evil monster men, did such a horrible crime against a young girl, college student. They plotted the kidnapping of this young girl because her father had money. They bounded her, gag her, tape her eyes shut, she was wearing contancts and it hurt her so bad because her contacts were pressing against her corneas by the masking tape. They tape her hand to a chair that was empty.
The house belong to an elderly lady who did not want to sell it after her husband died. Her son actually would go the house periodically and picked up the mai and check that everything was all right. He never went into the basement where the poor girl was tied up with tape and gag.
The neighbor next door a woman, had a dog who kept barking for four days straight at the empty house. The dog could hear the young girl whimpering and so did the woman neighbor but she did not call anyone or went to investigate why there was whimpering coming from the house. The poor girl was not able to scream and she whimpered as loud as she could to attract attention for she heard a dog barking so she knew she was in a neighborhood with houses around.
Another woman who lived near by was walking during the dusk hours and looking across the stree she saw lights flickering in the basement. She knew the house was empty and no one should be there. All the lights upstairs were turned off. She ignored it and continue her merry way. No one called the police nor went to investigate the strange occurances. If they had that poor girl might have been safe from a horrible death by fire.
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