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The accused stabber is being held on $1 million bail in the Bergen County Jail pending a 3:30 p.m. hearing Tuesday in Superior Court in Hackensack, according to a media release issued late Sunday by Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli’s Office:
“An investigation by the Englewood Police Department and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, Homicide Squad, revealed the following: At 3:46 a.m., the Englewood Police Department received a 9-1-1 call from a 14-year-old child at 261 West Englewood Avenue.”
“The child repeatedly asked for the police but did not specify the problem. Responding officers found a male, later identified as Darwin Villalta, dead on the kitchen floor from what appeared to be stab wounds. Also found in the house was Marco Antonio Guillen, his wife, and three children (ages 17, 14 and 11). It was quickly learned that Guillen had attacked the victim, and he was taken into custody without incident.”
The release doesn’t specify how long it took before law enforcement arrived or whether quicker medical treatment might have given Villalta a shot at survival. Nor does it say what prompted what must have been a crime of passion, given that Guillen, 46, a local landscaper, and Villarta knew each other well.
The media release continues:
“A search warrant executed on the residence resulted in the recovery of a folding knife which is believed to have been used in the stabbing. The children did not witness the event, but awoke and were present immediately after. The victim is a family member of Guillen’s wife who entered the country illegally several months ago from El Salvador and was staying at the home.”
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