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Lourdes Ramos Baez, 67, was found dead by her daughter inside her home in the first block of South Main Street in Dover Borough around 2:19 p.m., according to the York County Coroner's office.
Ramos Baez was "the victim of traumatic injuries" and scissors were found stabbed into her back, authorities in York County said.
Ramos Baez's official cause of death was "blunt force head and neck injuries with strangulation" and the manner was "homicide" per the results of the autopsy, according to authorities in York County.
William Emilio Torres-Gautier, 42, Ramos Baez's son-in-law, was found at the scene, according to Northern York County Regional Police.
When the officers arrived at what had been reported as "a disturbance" the daughter and her two small children were waiting at the rear of the victim's home with her husband, Torres-Gautier.
While he spoke with the police, she was "observed to be signaling for help. As officers attempted to speak to the (daughter), (Torres-Gautier) intervened and pushed a section of wooden fence at officers, striking one of them. The officers took (Torres-Gautier) into custody after a brief struggle," the police stated in a release.
The mother-in-law was found under some clothes in a room smelling of bleach, bound with duct tape, and tortured in an upstairs bedroom according to NYCRPD Chief David Lash.
"The death appears to be domestic-related and is being investigated as a homicide. At this time, minimal detail is being released as this is an ongoing investigation," the coroner's office said.
The daughter told police her husband talked of killing her mother and stealing all her money the day before, according to court documents.
Torres-Gautier has been charged with the following:
- Criminal Homicide.
- Aggravated Assault on Law Enforcement Officers.
- Terroristic Threats.
- Abuse of Corpse.
- Resisting Arrest.
- Criminal Mischief.
His preliminary has been set before Magisterial District Judge David C Eshbach at 9 a.m. on June 21, 2023, according to his latest court docket.
On the day of the killing, Torres-Gautier was also charged with Institutional Vandalism of an Educational Facility, Disorderly Conduct Hazardous/Physical, Offense, and Criminal Mischief-Tamper With Property, court records show.
His preliminary hearing, in that case, has been set before Magisterial District Judge Thomas L. Harteis at 2:45 p.m. on June 20, according to that docket.
He was previously sentenced to time served for harassment in 2021, according to a previous court docket. Torres-Gautier remains in the York County Prison after being denied bail per the judge's order and state law on the nature of the charges.
Anyone with information is asked to the Northern York County Regional Police tip line at 717-467-TELL (8355) or email tips@nycrpd.org referencing case number: 2023-024254.
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