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Cops Puzzle Over Strange Westchester Shooting
By
Jen Chung
Published Nov 21, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Nov 21, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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Chappaqua resident and teacher's assistant Peggy Perez-Olivo died from injuries sustained when she was shot in the head Saturday night. Her husband, Carlos Perez-Olivio, a recently disbarred defense lawyer, had told police that a car forced them to pull over on Saw Mill River Road, and a man shot his wife in the head and him in the stomach. Though injured, he was still able to drive to a hospital.
Naturally, some suspicion has shifted to Carlos Perez-Olivo. New Castle police say that while Perez-Olivo is being treated "like a shooting victim," Detective Marc Simmons said, "We haven't ruled anyone in or anyone out." The authorities are looking at surveillance footage from a nearby gas station and also released a sketch of the shooter, as per Perez-Olivo's description of a Hispanic male. The Post notes some curious things about the shooting, including the fact that somehow the gunman could cut off the Perez-Olivo SUV "without damaging" it. Simmons added, "It's an unusual-sounding incident. That is something we need to flush out."
But Perez-Olivo may have had his share of enemies. He was disbarred in August for mishandling client money, but now his defense of Eliot Cruz, who was accused of killing his wife's lover in a NYC subway station is facing scrutiny. The NY Times on details from the trial:
One of those he lost was the murder trial last year of Elio Cruz, a room service waiter who was convicted of killing his wife’s lover in a Chelsea subway station. In a candid note to the judge, a juror at the trial complained that Mr. Perez-Olivo had bungled the defense.
The juror, Anne Alexandra Holland, wrote that she was “appalled at the inept performance of the defense attorney who appeared to be totally unprepared.”
In fact, in his summation to the jury, Mr. Perez-Olivo said that he had forgotten what he wanted to say. “There is a lot of other things that honestly I thought of and I can’t think of right now,” he said.
Ms. Holland’s note asked the judge, “Can nothing be done about lawyers like this?” It ended, “He should not be allowed to practice.”
A relative of Cruz told the Post, "When you do bad things, bad things happen to you. She [his wife] didn't deserve this, but he did." Cruz is appealing the case.
The Perez-Olivos live three houses about from the Clintons in Chappaqua; Senator Hillary Clinton's spokeperson said the couple was saddened to hear about the death. Teachers at the elementary school where Mrs. Perez-Olivo taught weren't sure how they would explain her death to students.
Photograph of police detective Sergeant Marc Simmons with a police sketch of the gunman by Louis Lanzano/AP
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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