Investigators are focusing on two persons of interest in the death of a 52-year-old woman whose body was found inside a duffel bag in the closet of her Manhattan apartment, police sources reported.
Via El Diario NY
An autopsy revealed that Nadia Vitale died of blunt force trauma to the head, with the medical examiner ruling her death a homicide.
A man and a woman were seen leaving their sublet apartment that Vitale recently occupied on Third Ave in Kips Bay. near E. 31st St. At the time, detectives believed she had been murdered, sources said.
Officers went to the apartment Thursday and found the victim’s dog barking at people who knocked on the door.
Inside, officers found signs of a struggle, including a dented and broken plaster wall, which may have been inflicted by the fatal blow, officials said.
According to building superintendent Cam Pompey, the woman moved into the apartment on Tuesday.
“He’s a very nice guy,” Pompey, 67, said. “(She was) very humble. Always very accommodating. He also gave me advice and things like that. He even gave me something for Christmas.”
After not hearing from him for two days, a family friend called Pompey on Thursday and asked to check on him.
“I knocked on the door and the dog barked,” Pompey recalled. “I called (a friend) and said, ‘There’s a dog barking and I don’t want to just knock on the door and have the dog attack me.'”
A family friend told the building superintendent that the dog was friendly and begged him to open the door, he said.
“I saw the dog alone and the places where he had peed,” he said. “There were no lights.”
Pompey saw the broken wall, where he had recently replaced a switch panel, but not Vitale, the Daily News reported.
“Maybe there was some kind of fight. Maybe they pushed her against the wall,” he said.
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