Cops are hunting a Bronx man accused of one of the most disturbing subway crimes in recent memory – and that’s saying something.
New York’s subway has seen its fair share of bizarre human behavior, but Tuesday night took a stomach-churning turn even by city standards: police say a man was caught on camera sexually abusing a corpse aboard an R train in lower Manhattan.
The grim scene unfolded around 11:45 p.m. as the train rumbled toward Whitehall Street station, according to NYPD sources cited by the New York Post. The alleged necrophiliac – still unidentified – was seen committing sexual acts on the lifeless body of another man, who had apparently died of natural causes hours earlier.
By 12:08 a.m., the suspect had left the station, vanishing into the city as investigators scrambled to piece together what had happened in the late-night horror show.
So far, police don’t believe the two men knew each other. The victim boarded the train around 8 p.m. and never made it off. The suspect got on roughly three hours later. Within minutes, the abuse began, captured in painful detail by subway surveillance footage.
Cops are also looking to speak with a woman who gave the now-deceased man a cigarette shortly before his death. Not long after he passed out, she was seen rifling through his pockets, police said. It’s unclear whether the smoke was just nicotine or something more sinister, but investigators want answers.
Meanwhile, the man fingered by police as the subway suspect is believed to be a heroin user with a long rap sheet. According to his 56-year-old brother, he’d only recently gotten out of prison and had been staying with family in the Bronx.
“He started staying out late. I haven’t seen him in a few days,” the brother said Thursday, speaking to The Post from his doorstep. “He’s never done anything like this in his life – not what they said he did.”
The brother couldn’t quite remember if his sibling’s last stint in prison was for robbery or assault – “a while” is all he could say – but he was adamant about one thing: “He’s not a pervert. They said he took his thing out and put it in the guy’s… yeah. I don’t think he did that.”
The family of the man, one of seven siblings, is reportedly reeling from the accusations. “We’re in shock. Mad,” the brother said. “The police need to investigate more. No matter how bad the heroin addiction is, he’s not like that,” he added, making the sign of the cross.
As of now, the suspect’s last known address is on Manor Avenue in Soundview, Bronx. NYPD is urging anyone with information, including details about the woman seen with the victim before his death, to come forward.
Even in a city used to strange, sad, and outrageous subway stories, this one has left riders shaken and cops baffled. And somewhere out there, a man who allegedly turned a subway car into a crime scene straight out of a nightmare is still on the loose.