Former Brentwood couple arraigned on indictment accusing them of killing drug dealer
A former Brentwood couple lured a fellow drug dealer from the Bronx to Medford with the intent of ripping him off, but instead shot him to death and set him on fire, a Suffolk prosecutor said Monday in court.
Tommy Bisbal, 39, pleaded not guilty Monday to an indictment charging him with second-degree murder in the July 2012 death of Felix Hidalgo Jacquez. Bisbal's girlfriend, Sabrina Hornoff, 42, was charged last month.
In addition to shooting Hidalgo in the head and neck, Bisbal and Hornoff made the mistake of being videotaped trying to cover up their involvement in the crime, Assistant District Attorney Robert Biancavilla said.
"The evidence in this case is formidable," he said. Suffolk County Court Judge John Toomey Jr. in Riverhead ordered Bisbal held without bail. Bisbal is already serving 3 1/2 years in prison for first-degree attempted robbery.
"My client maintains his innocence" in this case, said defense attorney George Duncan of Central Islip. "He's looking forward to a trial so he can be exonerated."
Biancavilla said Bisbal and Hornoff brought their 7-year-old child with them to the crime. They are also charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
Hidalgo was shot with a .32-caliber handgun in his sport utility vehicle in an office building parking lot.
Video surveillance recorded at nearby gas stations shows Bisbal driving Hidalgo's car -- probably with Hidalgo's dead body in the backseat -- and filling a container with gasoline before heading toward where the burning body was found, Biancavilla said. Other video footage shows the couple's car, with their child visible in that backseat, he said.
Yet another video shows Bisbal lifting the lid to a garbage can at a gas station, apparently to put something in it, Biancavilla said. When detectives examined that garbage can later, they found Hidalgo's personal papers and the murder weapon, he said.
Biancavilla said the couple had known Hidalgo for about a year. The plan that day was to rob him, he said.
In addition to the surveillance video, he said detectives have cellphone records and witnesses implicating Bisbal and Hornoff.
"It's really a testament to great investigative work," Biancavilla said.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
