45°
Pedro Gutierrez (MUGSHOT courtesy Bergen County Prosecutor)
Gutierrez, a 24-year-old Colombian native legally living in New Milford, waived extradition Wednesday afternoon and was expected back in Hackensack before Friday to face murder charges. Additional counts are expected, Molinelli said.
Gutierrez, a busboy at a West Palisade Avenue restaurant, was married to 23-year-old Shaday (Sade) Betancourt several years ago in their native Colombia, but the two separated in July, the prosecutor said. There was no documented trouble between the two before Tuesday, he said.
Early that morning, Gutierrez got into the East Forest Avenue house where Betancourt had been staying and attacked her, Molinelli said.
The relative who lives there took the critically injured woman to Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, where she later was pronounced dead, he said. Englewood police were summoned and they alerted Molinelli’s detectives.
After ditching his car at JFK Airport in Queens, Gutierrez bought a one-way ticket to Bogota, Colombia, the prosecutor said.
But an alert already had gone out, and federal authorities corraled him during a layover in Orlando — literally minutes before his flight left, Molinelli said.
Evidence was found in the car, the prosecutor said, without elaborating.
{loadposition log}
Click here to follow Daily Voice Hackensack and receive free news updates.
