Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Chelsea Event Planner Murder Suspects Nabbed in Florida

By Mathew Katz | March 15, 2012 2:54pm | Updated on March 15, 2012 6:33pm
Cops arrested Juan Carlos Martinez-Herrera, 26, and Edwin Faulkner, 30, in connection with the March 2 killing of John Laubach, 57. They were arrested March 15, 2012, in Florida.
Cops arrested Juan Carlos Martinez-Herrera, 26, and Edwin Faulkner, 30, in connection with the March 2 killing of John Laubach, 57. They were arrested March 15, 2012, in Florida.
View Full Caption
NYPD

CHELSEA — Two suspects wanted in the killing of a Chelsea event planner were captured Thursday in Florida, NYPD officials said.

Edwin Faulkner, 30, and Juan Carlos Martinez-Herrera, 26, were taken into custody by the Orange County Sheriff's Office in Orlando Thursday at 11:30 a.m. for their suspected role in the slaying of John Laubach.

Laubach, 57, was discovered dead in his apartment on West 22nd Street on March 2.

"I'm thankful to the NYPD for their work. Now they're going to be brought back and brought to justice," said Steven Kopf, a close friend of Laubach. "The question now is why? Why would they do something like this?"

Cops from the 10th Precinct, Manhattan South Homicide Squad and the NYPD's Violent Felony Squad helped out with the capture, police said.

Police sources said cops used the pair's phone records to pinpoint their location in Florida.

Faulkner and Martinez-Herrera were taken into custody without incident, the NYPD said.

The suspects were awaiting extradition from Orlando, NYPD officials said. They have not been charged.

It was unclear why Faulkner and Martinez-Herrera were in Orlando. The Orange County Sheriff's Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The NYPD released a photo of the suspects on Monday. They also had surveillance of the men using Laubach's ATM card at a nearby bank. Cops also recovered some of the victim's jewelry at a local pawn shop, sources said.

Friends of the victim, who was frequently seen with his cockatoo Bolo, said Laubach had befriended two men who were "hustlers and grifters" in the time before he was killed, but the relationship was not sexual.