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Milan Ghimire, a 23-year-old Nepali national, is accused of shooting and killing station co-worker Phu Tsewang, 56, in the West Mahwah residence the night of July 12.
Both were among several residents who rented the 1,760-square-foot home in a residential neighborhood between Route 202 and Route 17 within walking distance of work.
Township police called to the Avenue A home by another resident found Tsewang's body. He'd been shot several times.
Ghimire, who'd fled in black Chrysler with Mississippi license plates, called 911 himself to report the shooting, court records show.
"I just shot a man," he says on a recorded line before repeating it.
"I have a gun on myself, so don't shoot me," he adds. "But I want to report myself."
The dispatcher kept Ghimire on the line while the cellphone was pinged to several locations in Rockland County, including Washington Avenue in Suffern and the Palisades Center Mall in West Nyack.
Authorities had another co-worker call Ghimire, who admitted that he was in the Bronx, according to court records.
Mahwah police and detectives from Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella's Major Crimes Unit headed to the 45th Precinct, joining a trio of police officers from the NYPD's Emergency Service Unit (ESU) who eventually captured Ghimire.
Extradition proceedings finally ended with Ghimire being taken to the Bergen County on Thursday. He remained held in the county lockup, where records list him as a citizen of Nepal, charged with murder, weapons possession and evidence tampering.
There's also a federal detainer signed by an immigration agent. It doesn't necessarily mean that Ghimire is an undocumented immigrant -- only that ICE suspects he may have entered the U.S. unlawfully or overstayed the time authorized on a visa or other permitted stay.
An immigration hearing would have to be held. But that wouldn't come unless or until Ghimire is released for some reason or the local charges against him are resolved one way or the other.
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