Global Courant
A former New York detective was arrested this week in the March 1997 murder of his ex-wife.
Rafael Ramos, 54, had been a prime suspect in the death of his ex-wife Nusinaida Ramos since the early 2000s, just a few years after police found her bloodied body in the living room of her Yonkers, New York home. miles north of the Bronx.
He allegedly strangled Ramos with a T-shirt and beat her, Westchester County District Attorney Miriam Rocah said at a news conference Thursday.
The former Sing Sing corrections officer was arrested and charged on Wednesday. He pleaded not guilty to manslaughter during his arraignment and is being held at the Westchester County Jail.
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Westchester County District Attorney Miriam Rocah said a former district attorney was arrested in the 1997 death of his ex-wife (Westchester County District Attorney)
Rocah gave no motive for the alleged murder, but Nusinaida’s sister-in-law, Eva Beauchamps, told The Journal News that Rafael was “extremely angry” at the time because Nusinaida wanted to increase child support and was considering moving to Florida.
“I thought I was going to the grave without anything ever happening in this case,” Beauchamps told the local newspaper after Wednesday’s indictment. “It’s been a long time… She was so vibrant, so beautiful. You could be having the worst day ever, and she made you laugh until your cheeks hurt.”
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Rocah announced the indictment on Thursday, along with the conviction of the man who killed Pamela Graddick in 2012, saying she hopes these actions “bring some degree of closure to the families who have lived with these unsolved cases for a combined 36 years.”
Christopher Sapienza, Yonkers Police Commissioner, praised the efforts of Yonkers Police Department Cold Case detectives, who worked on both cases.
This house at 98 Colin St. in Yonkers, New York, a few miles north of the Bronx, is where a former detective allegedly killed his ex-wife, according to the Westchester County District Attorney (Google Street View)
“Words cannot ease the grief of losing a loved one to violence, so we hope these efforts bring some measure of closure to those who knew Pamela and Nusinaida,” Sapienza said in a statement.
There are still 135 unsolved homicide cold cases in Westchester County, which borders New York City, said Rocah, who founded the Cold Case Bureau when she took office in 2021.
Global Courant
To bolster the efforts of the Bureau’s work, the Bureau was selected for the 2022 Bureau of Justice Assistance Grant from the Department of Justice for the prosecution of cold cases using DNA.
The $500,000 award, funded over the course of three years, supports an additional full-time ADA to prosecute cases where a suspect’s DNA has been identified.
Anyone with information pertaining to an open murder case in Westchester County is encouraged to call the U.S. Attorney’s 24-hour tips line at (914) 995-TIPS. Language assistance is available.
Chris Eberhart is a crime and American news reporter for Fox News Digital. Email tips to [email protected] or on twitter @ChrisEberhart48
