man arrested for burning sleeping woman alive on subway

He “calmly approached” the victim, before setting him on fire. A man, suspected of having burned a woman alive on the subway in New York this Sunday, was arrested by the police a few hours later, reports the New York Post.

According to American media, the man set this victim on fire before watching her “burn”. “This is one of the most depraved crimes a person can commit,” said New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

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The man remained seated at the crime scene

The events occurred on a subway, which had just entered the Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn, around 7:30 a.m. According to authorities, the man then “calmly” approached the victim “sitting at the end of the car.”

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“He used what we believe to be a lighter to ignite the victim's clothing, which burned to the ground in a matter of seconds,” said Jessica Tisch. The suspect and the woman reportedly had no interaction before the crime.

In certain video surveillance images from the metro, the suspect gets out of the train, sits down, before looking at the victim who was burning alive.

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Police officers alerted by the smell in the station

In the station, the police officers present were alerted by the smell and smoke emanating from the metro. When they arrived, they managed to put out the fire but the victim was already dead. As the officers arrived, they passed by the suspect.

The latter, a man from Guatemala who arrived in the United States in 2018, then fled. It was only a few hours later that, alerted by a call for witnesses, high schools warned the police: they spotted the suspect in a Manhattan station.

Thanks to this testimony, he was able to be arrested. A few hours after the incident, the victim was taken out of the metro but his body could not be identified.