A deranged man from Staten Island, N.Y., who rolled his pregnant wife’s dead body around on a dolly was convicted Monday of murder.
A jury convicted Anthony Lopez, 33, in the 2016 strangulation death of his wife, Obiamaka Aduba, 26.
Aduba’s mother — Lynette Aduba — shouted “Yes!” as the verdict was announced and hugged Assistant District Attorney Tuesday Muller-Mondi, who’d worked on the case, the Staten Island Advance reported. Aduba had shown up to court daily in the four-week trial, according to the Advance.
The police became suspicious after Lopez exhibited odd behavior after Aduba’s death.
In a failed attempt to hide her, he wheeled her body on a dolly through the Staten Island community of Mariners Harbor, partially wrapping her in blankets, garbage bags, and other items from home, the New York Daily News reported.
An off-duty police officer spotted Lopez with the body, and authorities later found evidence that included Aduba’s blood at Lopez’s home, according to the Daily News.
“This tragic case of domestic violence shocks the senses due to the truly horrific nature of this defendant’s actions,” Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon said.
Lopez appeared emotionless when the verdict was announced, the Advance reported. The jury found him guilty of second-degree murder, strangulation, concealing a human corpse, and evidence tampering, according to the news organization.
Lopez is a repeat offender who’d been married to Aduba for three years although he testified that they spent little time together, according to the Advance.
He fatally strangled Aduba on May 20, 2016. When the off-duty police officer spotted him rolling Aduba’s body along on the dolly, he fled, abandoning the dolly on a lawn.
Prosecutors said Lopez killed Aduba near his home in Staten Island because she wanted a divorce, the Advance reported.
Lopez will be sentenced March 26th in Staten Island Supreme Court. He faces a sentence of 25 years to life.
