Man charged in '95 Westbury fatal shooting
Paul Sampson, 65, of 5 Burr Ave. in Hempstead, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the killing of Vilma Portillo, 60, of Westbury on Sept. 14, 1995. (April 20, 2011) Credit: NCPD
Homicide detectives arrested a Hempstead man Wednesday and charged him with murder in a 15-year-old fatal shooting in Westbury, Nassau police said.
Paul Sampson, 65, of 5 Burr Ave., Hempstead, was arrested and charged with second degree murder in the killing of Vilma Portillo, 60, of Westbury on Sept. 14, 1995.
Portillo was fatally shot and robbed in her vehicle in the parking lot at the company where she worked, EZ-EM Corp., 717 Main St., a pharmaceutical firm.
Sampson, who was arrested at his home, was to be arraigned Thursday in First District Court, Hempstead.
Investigating detectives were not available Wednesday night to provide additional information concerning the crime and arrest.
Portillo, the mother of eight and grandmother of 18, was planning to leave her janitorial job at EZ-EM the following week and retire to her native country, El Salvador, after working here about 30 years, her family said.
At the time of the killing, detectives suspected she tried to fight off her attacker because she was beaten before she was shot.
Rosa Huezo, her daughter, said shortly after her mother's death: "Her goal was to go back to her country and build a house there and live there for the rest of her life."
