STATEN ISLAND — An ex-con strangled his wife and then wheeled her dead body around Staten Island on a metal dolly Friday morning, prosecutors said.
Anthony Lopez, 31, of the Bronx, strangled his wife Obiamaka Aduba, 21, inside a Richmond Terrace apartment between midnight and 7 a.m., prosecutors said.
"Every loss of life is a tragedy and the horrific circumstances surrounding the victim's death makes this case no less troubling," District Attorney Michael McMahon said in a statement.
Officers responded to 911 calls at about 7:10 a.m. of a man wheeling a body around Mariners Harbor. They spotted Lopez when they arrived, police said.
Lopez then ditched Aduba's body in front of 42 Post Lane and ran away from officers, the NYPD said.
EMS workers who responded pronounced Aduba dead at the scene.
Lopez was arrested Saturday inside a deli near the 121st Precinct and charged with murder at his Sunday arraignment, according to the Staten Island District Attorney's office.
He was also charged with criminal mischief Sunday after he allegedly smashed the windshield and driver's side window of a car in front of 96 Davis Ave. on May 9, prosecutors said.
Lopez was held without bail on the murder charge and assigned $1,000 bail for the criminal mischief. He is due back in court for both on Tuesday, according to the DA's office.
He's been arrested several times before and was jailed for attempted robbery in 2003, according to police and the state Department of Corrections.
His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"My office takes any case involving allegations of domestic violence very seriously," McMahon said. "I want to applaud the NYPD for their great work in locating and apprehending the defendant."
