Dismembered-body case stems from women's fight, prosecutor says

An Oakdale contractor and his son were heading to work one morning in July 2014 when the men discovered a torso lying in an abandoned lot in Bay Shore, not far from the ferry terminal, the contractor testified Monday at Leah Cuevas' murder trial in Riverhead.

"It looked like the upper part of a mannequin," Ronald Sparwell told jurors. "On second look, I can tell it wasn't."

Sparwell called 911.

The torso belonged to a young Brooklyn mother, Chinelle Latoya Thompson Browne, 28, whose head, arms and legs had been hacked off after she was killed by Cuevas, a neighbor, over a dispute about rent and utility payments, Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Robert Biancavilla told jurors Monday during opening statements. Browne's legs were found near her torso. Her head and arms were found days later in three different locations in Hempstead.

Biancavilla walked a few feet to a table where Cuevas was sitting with her team of lawyers in Suffolk County Court Judge John J. Toomey Jr.'s courtroom and pointed at Cuevas.

"The evidence will prove she is a stone-cold killer," he said.

Cuevas, 44, who is charged with second-degree murder, has pleaded not guilty. She showed no discernible reaction, but her attorney, Mary-Elizabeth Abbate of North Babylon, jumped to her feet and complained to the judge that Biancavilla's behavior was inappropriate. The judge allowed it and Biancavilla moved on.

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Browne, a Guyanese immigrant, was last seen alive entering her Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment building July 5, having just returned from doing the wash at a local coin laundry, Biancavilla said. Neighbors in the building heard Browne and Cuevas arguing again, a continuation of the same fight the women had throughout the July 4 weekend, Biancavilla said. That was the last time anyone heard from Browne.

Abbate told jurors her client argued and fought with Browne, and that was how Browne's blood ended up on Cuevas' wall and curtains. However, Abbate said, Cuevas did not murder Browne, cut her into pieces and dump her body parts across Long Island.

"Those drops of blood are consistent with the fight," Abbate said.

Abbate did not explain how a pool of Browne's blood, which she described as the size of a dinner plate, ended up on Cuevas' carpet. She told jurors they should ask themselves why the large amount of Browne's blood wasn't discovered in Cuevas apartment until five months after Browne's death.

The circumstantial case against Cuevas is pieced together by witness testimony, DNA evidence, surveillance videos and cellphones, Biancavilla said.

Investigators tracked Cuevas' cellphone to learn of her movements in the days after Browne disappeared, and used witness testimony to corroborate Cuevas' whereabouts.

A cabbie who drove Cuevas and her large suitcase, which investigators believe contained Browne's body parts, to Brentwood, said they stopped at a Brooklyn pawnshop. The store's surveillance camera, Biancavilla said, showed that Cuevas sold two rings -- a wedding band and an engagement ring that belonged to Browne -- for $170, the cost of the cab ride.

Later, Cuevas gave a large bag of clothing, shoes and other items that belonged to Browne to a friend to be donated to those living in Haiti.

The trial resumes Tuesday.