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Woman Fatally Stabbed, Beat With Dumbbell by Longtime Boyfriend: Sources

By  Gustavo Solis and Ben Fractenberg | October 24, 2017 9:05pm 

 A woman was fatally stabbed by her long-time boyfriend inside her Washington Heights apartment on Dongan Street Tuesday, police sources said.
A woman was fatally stabbed by her long-time boyfriend inside her Washington Heights apartment on Dongan Street Tuesday, police sources said.
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DNAinfo/Gustavo Solis

MANHATTAN — A 63-year-old woman was found fatally stabbed and beaten by a dumbbell in her Washington Heights apartment and her longtime boyfriend was taken into custody after being found in the home with slash wounds to his wrists, according to law enforcement sources.

Police found Claudina Cruz with multiple stab wounds to her torso and trauma to her head inside her fifth-floor apartment at 25 Dongan Place after doing a wellness check Tuesday afternoon, police said.

She was pronounced dead at the scene and her 59-year-old common law husband was taken into custody and is being treated at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in stable condition.

He hadn't been formally charged as of Wednesday morning, police said.

Investigators recovered a bloody knife and dumbbell at the scene, a police source added.

There was no immediate information on whether there was a history of domestic abuse between them, an NYPD spokesman said, and it was also not immediately known if the man lived in the apartment. 

Neighbors said the couple lived together and they never seemed to have any issues. 

"They are a nice couple, I don't know what happened," said Brigida Santa, 65. 

Santa added that she was standing outside when responders brought down the boyfriend, whose ankles were cuffed.

"His face was swollen, like he had been in a fight," Santa said, adding that the man drove cabs for a living. 

Police in white hazmats suits were seen walking into the building Tuesday night while they continued to investigate the grisly murder.