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A female tenant has been charged in the murder of a building superintendent whose body was found stabbed, battered and wrapped in garbage bags inside a Queens apartment this week – following a dispute over $24,000 she and her husband owed in back rent, cops said.
Sandra Coto Navarro, 48, also faces raps for tampering with physical evidence and weapon possession in connection to the death of Jose Portillo, who was discovered around 5 p.m. Tuesday hidden under a bed with bags covering his body inside the Kew Gardens Hills apartment, according to police.
“It’s crazy,” a woman who identified herself as the victim’s distraught ex-wife said Thursday as she stood outside in the cold. “I want to see her. The one who hit him. The one who killed him. I want to see her.”
“He tried to help everyone,” she said. “He tried to help them and they killed him. It’s terrible.”
She later waited outside the 107th Precinct in tears, ahead of Coto Navarro’s expected perp walk.
Portillo had gone inside the 70th Avenue unit where Coto-Navarro lived with a man – to talk about collecting back rent – when a fight ensued, the sources said.
The owner of the property told investigators he saw Portillo go into the couple’s apartment, but never saw him leave, according to the sources.
Portillo’s brother requested a wellness check when he still hadn’t emerged, the sources said.
Portillo was declared dead at the scene by EMS workers.
He was found to have suffered blunt force trauma to the head, a stab wound to the neck and cuts behind his knees, the sources said.
The city’s medical examiner’s office did not immediately respond to a request about his official cause of death.
Coto Navarro and her husband had owed $24,000 in back rent, cops said.
She was home alone when she launched her attack after Portillo was sent to collect the rent, according to authorities.
The woman’s husband — who was initially questioned by police — was released when investigators reviewed video and realized he wasn’t there at the time of the slaying, cops said.
When cops showed up for the wellness check, he led them “right to the body,” a police source said.
NYPD detectives were seen carrying bags of evidence out of the building Thursday afternoon.
An upstairs neighbor, Jessica Avila, said in Spanish that she “did hear something about a rent dispute.”
“The guy was looking to collect rent from someone that night and asking about them,” Avila said. “I’m not sure if it was for the suspect or someone else, but he was looking out for someone.”
Avila said the victim “kept to himself a lot and always complained about my two kids playing upstairs.”
“My husband would get into verbal fights with him about it,” she added. “A lady who used to live here had worse fights with him over the same issue, so she moved away even if it meant paying more.”
Allison Atlas, 31, who lives next door and works as a psychologist, said neighbors are “all completely taken aback” by the murder.
“None of us can believe this,” Atlas said. “We all cared about him, we all liked him! He was a nice guy, a really nice guy. If I ever even mentioned anything, he was so thoughtful and helpful.”
“I just told him that I was feeling cold in my apartment and he came and told me it was because [of] my air conditioner and that he would take it out and then in the spring he would put it back in, no problem,” she said. “It’s absolutely crazy. This whole community is in shock. Absolutely crazy!”
A single rose was laid on Portillo’s doorstep Thursday.
“[Portillo] has been the super for 20 to 30 years here,” said Jessica Cortes, 25, another neighbor. “He has children. He is divorced. He was always willing to help people in need with any problems. He was a good man.”
Cops confirmed a man was taken into custody as well, but it was unclear Thursday whether he would be charged.
Additional reporting by Ronny Reyes
English (US)