MANHATTAN — A 29-year-old man was extradited back to New York from the Philippines after being charged with murdering his 87-year-old boss in his Murray Hill home, the Manhattan District Attorney announced Friday.
Miguel Abarentos, who helped the elderly man with household tasks and running errands, fled the country after crushing Thawerdas Sadhwani’s neck with a ceramic lamp inside his East 36th Street home back in October 2012, prosecutors said.
Authorities finally caught up with Abarentos in Makati, Phillippines on June 20, and he was sent back to the United States and arraigned Friday on his indictment.
“Miguel Abarentos is accused of brutally murdering his 87-year-old employer, and fleeing to Southeast Asia in a failed attempt to evade accountability,” District Attorney Cyrus Vance said in a statement. “I thank my Office’s prosecutors for working doggedly for nearly four years to ensure that he faces justice, and hope that his extradition and prosecution brings a measure of comfort to the victim’s family.”
The Filipino man went to an Internet café in Queens after leaving Sadhwani’s apartment and sent a Facebook message to a friend stating he had just killed someone and needed to leave the country, according to the DA.
He boarded a flight to the Philippines at JFK Airport the following day.
Building staff then found Sadhwani’s body the day after Abarento fled.
He was eventually found working at a construction site in Makati, according to a report on a Filipino news site.
Abarento was held without bail after being arraigned in New York Supreme Court and is due back in court on Feb. 1.
His lawyer, Toni Messina, declined to comment.
