NYPD: Man Runs Over Ex-Wife With Car, Hacks Her To Death In Gruesome Machete Attack
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Police say a man brutally murdered his ex-wife Thursday – running her over with her own car and then hacking her to death in broad daylight.
According to the NYPD, 58-year-old Noelia Mateo was found outside of her Bronx home around 7 a.m. on Ellsworth Avenue.
Police sources told CBS2 the woman was savagely attacked by a 63-year-old man – believed to be her former husband.
Neighbors say Mateo hadn't lived in the Throggs Neck neighborhood for long.
The murder suspect allegedly drove up and sideswiped Mateo as she was getting into her own car Thursday morning. Mateo fell under her car, and the suspect crashed into a van and other parked cars.
"He was trying to pull her out by her leg and she wouldn't come out, and then he got in and ran over her," neighbor Victor DiChristina told CBS2's Aundrea Cline-Thomas.
Police say the suspect got into Mateo's car and backed over the injured 58-year-old while she was in the street.
Neighbors say she managed to crawl to the sidewalk when police say the suspect then stabbed and slashed the victim with a machete before leaving the scene.
"I heard a lady screaming 'help her, help her, he's going to kill her.' It turns out that he was actually hitting her with a machete," neighbor Dave Colon said.
"I was yelling at him to stop and then I decided to go to my yard and get a stick maybe because I see he's attacking her. Then I realized with the machete, I can't do nothing and I walked back," DiChristina said.
Police said the ex-husband took off in the victim's car.
Neighbors did what they could to help the victim and say Mateo spent her last moments praying.
"Everybody was screaming. We just yelled across the street 'get a blanket for her' and waited for the cops," another neighbor added. "You could see her on the floor, praying. That's how bad she was. It really was a shame what happened to her."
Mateo was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Police say they are searching for 63-year-old Victor Mateo in connection to Noelia Mateo's murder.
Victor Mateo is described as 5 feet 9 inches tall with salt and pepper hair.
Anyone with information about this murder is asked to call NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or 1-888-57-PISTA (74782) for Spanish. You can also submit a tip via the Crime Stoppers website, by Tweeting @NYPDTips or by texting a tip to 274637.
