“We believe that some squatters took the apartment over and this woman came home … and walked in on the squatters that were there.”
Police are looking for two suspects wanted for the alleged murder of a woman who walked in on them squatting in her mother's New York City apartment.
ABC reported that Nadia Vitel, 52, came to the US from Spain to get the Manhattan apartment spruced up for a family friend, as it had been vacant for several months since her mother passed away.
Sources told the outlet that when Vitel entered the apartment, she found a man and a woman living there. A scuffle ensued and Vitel was allegedly thrown into a sheetrock wall.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said, “We believe that some squatters took the apartment over and this woman came home" and "walked in on the squatters that were there.”
Additionally, the suspects were caught on surveillance footage stealing the victim’s Lexus. They allegedly drove it to New Jersey, then Pennsylvania, where they crashed near Harrisburg, PA.
According to police, the suspects had visited several local car dealerships attempting to buy a new car for $1,000.
On March 14, after not hearing from his mother for two days, Vitel's 19-year-old son enlisted the building superintendent to access the apartment and discovered her body in a duffel bag in a closet, with a foot sticking out of the bag.
According to city officials, Vitel died from blunt force trauma to the head, and her death was ruled a homicide. She also suffered multiple facial fractures, a brain bleed, and two broken ribs.
The suspects remain at large and though their identities have not been revealed, they have been described as a man and woman in their 20s.
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