Man accused of burning woman alive on New York City subway told police 'he drinks a lot'
Share:
A man has been charged with murder and arson after a woman burnt to death inside a New York subway train. Sebastian Zapeta was arrested and questioned by police, during which authorities say he claimed not to know what happened despite identifying himself in photos and surveillance footage at the scene.
The horrifying footage appears to show him lighting the fire and then fanning it, watching from a bench as the woman he set ablaze roasted and ultimately died. She was burned beyond recognition and has yet to be identified. Zapeta's indictment on state charges is slated to be unsealed on January 7, prosecutors said. He remains on remand at the city's Rikers Island complex as he awaits trial.
The disturbing incident unfolded on Sunday morning with the woman asleep on a stopped F train at Brooklyn's Coney Island station, the last stop on the line. It has since renewed concerns about safety on the United State's largest mass transit system. While the victim’s body was badly burned, investigators are making progress using advanced fingerprinting and DNA to confirm the victim's identity, the district attorney Eric Gonzalez said. Dental records are typically one of the ways burn victims can be identified, law enforcement sources told CNN.
Zapeta, 33, is a Guatamalan citizen, according to immigration officers, and entered the US illegally before he was charged in a criminal complaint with murder and arson. Filings like those are often the first step in the criminal process, since, in New York, all felony cases require a grand jury indictment to proceed to trial, unless a defendant waives that requirement.
