A 25-year-old man who was charged with killing a woman found burning in a garage behind her apartment and took a nap after he set her on fire, officials said. Continue reading after the jump.
Pedro Cruz, who lived in the same building as the woman he is accused of killing, appeared in Central Bond Court this morning on a first degree murder charge and was denied bail.
Maria Santiago, 54, died from multiple blunt trauma and strangulation, according to authorities. Her body was found on fire in a garage in the 5000 block of North Clark Street about 9:53 a.m. Thursday, police said.
According to the court proffer of the prosecution’s preliminary reports on the case to the court, Cruz and Santiago were in his third-floor apartment when he began severely beating her with his hands and feet. Cruz, a dishwasher, then strangled her with his hands before stuffing one of her socks down her throat. No reason was given for what caused the beating.
Cruz then carried the woman down three flights of stairs to the garage, where he covered her with Match Light charcoals briquets and lit her on fire, according to the proffer. He then went back to his apartment and went to sleep, prosecutors said.
Santiago suffered three broken ribs, a punctured spleen and numerous injuries to her face, head and body from blunt force trauma, prosecutors said.
Santiago’s sister discovered her burning inside the garage and notified authorities, records stated. Public records showed Santiago lived at the building about 10 years and shared the apartment with her mother and sister.
Cruz is a Mexican national, according to court records.
