A woman about to start a new chapter of her life was brutally murdered by a squatter who used her stolen credit card to buy a PlayStation 5 after stuffing her body in a duffel bag. Nadia Vitels, 52, was found dead inside a duffel bag at her Manhattan flat, just as she was moving into the New York property on March 14, 2024.
Prosecutors accused Halley Tejada and Kensly Alston of having entered her flat while she was moving in, and of being present in the home when she returned some days later with her dog. Tejada was charged with her murder, with a court hearing that he had left Ms Vitels' body stuffed in a bag inside a closet which was later found by her horrified son.
An indictment posted in April 2024 by prosecutors with the Manhattan District Attorney's office alleged that Tejada had beaten the mother to death. Prosecutors said Tejada had inflicted the kind of fracture typically seen when someone gets struck by a train or falls from a great height.
The pair then stole her credit card, stashed her body, and drove off with Alston in his victim's car headed for Pennsylvania, where they went on a nine-day spending spree using the card. Among items they purchased, according to prosecutors, was a PS5, clothing, food and a diamond ring prosecutors said they 'got engaged with'.
Tejada was sentenced this week at the Manhattan Supreme Court, after pleading guilty to second-degree murder on December 17 last year. He was handed a 20-year-to-life prison term. Ms Vitels' son provided a victim impact statement, slamming the murderer as an 'animal' and vowing to live his life 'the Nadia way'. Prosecutors said Alston's case is still pending; she has pleaded not guilty.
