Fatima Perez, the New Jersey woman missing since Monday, was buried alive in a shallow grave by her landscaper with her mouth and eyes covered with duct tape, said police. An autopsy determined she smothered to death.
Police said landscaper Carlos Alicea-Antonetti admitted burying her alive after offering to drive Perez to buy a new car. He and another man have been arraigned on murder charges.
Perez was reported missing on the same day she left her Camden home to buy the car. The body of the 41-year-old woman was found Wednesday in Monroe Township, about 20 miles away.
Urgent: Do You Approve Or Disapprove of President Obama's Job Performance? Vote Now in Urgent Poll
Alicea-Antonetti, of Camden, and one of his employees, Ramon Ortiz of Pennsauken, told investigators where they buried her, according to authorities. Perez had previously employed Alicea-Antonetti.
Both men applied for public defenders at their arraignment, where they were ordered held on $5 million bail each.
Investigators said Alicea-Antonetti, the owner of Villa Coamo Landscaping and General Maintenance, picked up Perez on Monday in his van to drive her to buy the car. She carried $8,000 for the purchase, according to her family.
According to a probable cause statement, Alicea-Antonetti told police he argued with Perez and she fell out of his van. He said despite being injured, Perez got back into the vehicle and was lying in the back when he stopped to pick up Ortiz.
Court papers said Alicea-Antonetti told detectives he and Ortiz bound and blindfolded Perez before driving to a wooded location where they dug a hole and dumped the woman in it, then poured lime over her and attempted to conceal the ditch by covering it with branches and debris. The suspects told police that Perez was still alive when they left her.
Detectives tracked the two men down after Perez's family said she had told them of her car-buying errand.
Police said Alicea-Antonetti had more than $7,000 in cash on him at the time of his arrest.
Urgent: Assess Your Heart Attack Risk in Minutes. Click Here.
© 2018 Newsmax. All rights reserved.