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Hunter College Student Found Fatally Stabbed In East Harlem Apartment
By
Ben Yakas
Published Nov 25, 2011
Modified Nov 25, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Nov 25, 2011
Modified Nov 25, 2011
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A 36-year-old woman was found stabbed to death in her East Harlem apartment on Wednesday evening. Police say Hunter College student and waitress Rita Morrelli had her throat slashed, and was discovered by her live-in boyfriend in their East 120th Street studio apartment at around 10:15 p.m. Wednesday night. “She was always in a rush, either going to work or going to class. Always moving. She was very sweet,” neighbor Cicely Black told the Post.
Residents in the building told DNAInfo that Morrelli had moved in about a year ago, and that she seemed to keep to herself. Her boyfriend, who worked at the same Upper East Side italian restaurant as her, was the one who found her: her throat was slashed, she was stabbed twice in the chest, and there were signs of strangulation.
Police released the boyfriend after questioning him, but say there was no sign of a break-in, and are still investigating possible motives. Black told DNAInfo understatedly, "It's odd living in a building where somebody just got murdered. It's sad."
Tagged
death
harlem
hunter college
manhattan
Rita Morrelli
stabbing
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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