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Bronx Man Arrested For Fatal Stabbing Of Italian College Student
By
Ben Yakas
Published Dec 1, 2011
Modified Dec 1, 2011
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via Il Centro
By
Ben Yakas
Published Dec 1, 2011
Modified Dec 1, 2011
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a Bronx man yesterday who is accused of fatally stabbing a 36-year-old woman in her East Harlem apartment last week. Borough of Manhattan Community College student and waitress Rita Morrelli was discovered by her live-in boyfriend with her throat slashed in their East 120th Street studio apartment last Wednesday. And police say that as they closed in to arrest him, they found a suicidal Bakary Camara stabbing himself in the stomach on his couch. “He made admissions about killing [Morelli],” a police source told the News.
Morrelli, who moved to the city five years ago from her hometown of Spoltore, Italy, was a waitress at Caffe Buon Gusto on the Upper East Side. Her live-in boyfriend, who also worked at Caffe Buon Gusto, was the one who found her last Wednesday; police say Camara tried to strangle her, then stabbed her twice in the chest and slashed her throat.
CBS identifies Camara as an ex-boyfriend of Morelli. Police tracked him down thanks to an "anonymous" 911 call he allegedly made from a Bronx payphone to report her dead body: “By now you’ve found the body on East 120th. When you find my dead body, you will find a note in my pocket explaining everything,” he allegedly said. Investigators began calling numbers on Morelli’s cell phone and recognized Camara's voice. They tried to trick him into coming to the 25th Precinct by saying they had some personal property he needed to collect, but he didn't bite.
Barry Rosen, a spokesman at BMCC, who confirmed her registration to DNAInfo, gave this statement: "On behalf of the college, we're very saddened by the news of her death. We admire somebody who has taken on the time and effort to try to get an education for themselves. It's a tragedy for her, for the school and for the City of New York." Camara has been charged with second-degree murder.
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Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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