The Queens woman accused of killing her building’s superintendent this week used a pipe in the sickening attack – and even tried to dismember the lifeless victim before stashing his body in garbage bags underneath a bed, prosecutors said.
Sandra Coto-Navarro, 48, was charged with second-degree murder in the deadly attack on 55-year-old Jose Portillo, who was trying to collect $24,000 in unpaid rent from the woman and her husband, cops and prosecutors said.
Coto-Navarro – who was home alone in the Kew Gardens unit when she allegedly carried out the murder – used a pipe in the slaying and claimed that it wouldn’t be an issue because “her fingerprints won’t be on it,” according to cops and a criminal complaint.
A doctor from the city medical examiner’s office determined that Portillo suffered “multiple blunt force trauma injuries” on his head, and that a “heavy object” was used to inflict those injuries, the court document said.
The victim also suffered “post-mortem sharp force injuries to his neck and left leg near the knee,” the doctor found.
Around 8:40 a.m., Portillo had gone inside the 70th Avenue apartment here Coto-Navarro lived with her husband to talk about the rent they owed, according to sources and prosecutors.
The owner of the property told investigators he saw Portillo go into the couple’s apartment, but never saw him leave, according to the sources.
Portillo’s brother requested a wellness check when he still hadn’t emerged, the sources said.
The first time an officer responded to the couple’s unit, Coto Navarro allegedly claimed that Portillo was there earlier in the day, that she paid him $23K and he left, according to the complaint.
But surveillance footage debunks that story because it never shows him leaving, the court docs say.
When the officer returned, the woman’s husband – who was not charged in connection to the murder – led them “right to the body,” a police source said.
Portillo’s body was found around 5 p.m. tucked under the bed, wrapped in clothing and black garbage bags, according to the complaint.
He was pronounced dead at the scene by EMS workers.
The apartment smelled strongly of bleach and a mop could be seen in the bedroom, with some blood at the bottom of the bed and near a dresser marring the apartment’s spotless appearance, the court doc said.
“This was a gruesome murder,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement. “As alleged, the defendant not only murdered the superintendent trying to collect rent, but attempted to dismember the lifeless victim, wrapped his body in black garbage bags and tried bleaching the area.”
“Now, a life has been lost and a family is in upheaval because the defendant allegedly chose to resolve a rent dispute with violence,” Katz added. “This is not the way a civilized society operates. The defendant will face justice for this heinous murder.”
Coto-Navarro, who was also charged with tampering with physical evidence and criminal possession of a weapon, was ordered held without bail during her early Friday arraignment.
She could face 25 years to life behind bars if convicted.
“It’s crazy,” a woman who identified herself as the victim’s ex-wife told The Post Thursday outside the apartment building. “I want to see her. The one who hit him. The one who killed him. I want to see her.”
Allison Atlas, 31, who lives next door and works as a psychologist, said neighbors are “all completely taken aback” by the murder.
“None of us can believe this,” Atlas said. “We all cared about him, we all liked him! He was a nice guy, a really nice guy. If I ever even mentioned anything, he was so thoughtful and helpful.”
