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Sleepy Hollow Prison Guard Arrested For 1997 Cold Case Murder
Rafael Ramos is accused of killing his estranged wife Nusinaida Ramos more than 25 years ago.
A former guard at the infamous Sing Sing prison in New York has been arrested and charged with the murder of his estranged wife in 1997, the Westchester County DA’s Office has announced.
Rafael Ramos, now 54, was taken into custody from his home in Sleepy Hollow after investigators apparently found new evidence in the brutal killing of Nusinaida Ramos.
Nusinaida was 34 and originally came from the Dominican Republic, but she had moved to the US and was married to Ramos for five years. However, the two had split up and had been separated for around a year, with Nusinaida still living in the apartment they had shared in Yonkers.
She had custody of their two children, aged three and five respectively, but Ramos had unlimited visitation rights.
On the morning of Sunday March 9th 1997, Ramos and his girlfriend arrived at the apartment to collect the children and, according to a statement made by Ramos and reported by the Rockland/Westchester Journal News, Nusinaida brought the kids outside.
She realised she had forgotten something and went back inside to collect it, whereupon Ramos asked if could use the bathroom. Ramos claimed he followed her in, used the bathroom and then left as planned.
However, when Ramos brought the kids home later that evening, there was no answer at the apartment. After asking around relatives, Ramos made arrangements for the children to stay elsewhere that night.
When there was still no sign of Nusinaida the following day and neighbours realised they could hear music coming from inside the home, the police were called to carry out a welfare check.
Officers broke down the door and discovered Nusinaida lying dead on the floor of her living room. She had been beaten and strangled with a T-shirt, although it was clear she fought valiantly and desperately for her life: the apartment was in disarray and three of her fingernails had broken off in the struggle.
