A 70−year−old man and his live in girlfriend were found murdered in their Bay Parkway duplex apartment last Thursday in a building that the down−on−his−luck senior once owned, officials said.
Police said that William Romano and Elviza Aronova, 36, were found dead in their home near 80th Street shortly after 5 p.m. on April 23.
Investigators believe that both victims died of blunt force trauma. Aronova had also been stabbed repeatedly, according to published reports.
Sources said the killer orchestrating the grisly scene left the senior dead in the bottom of a filled bathtub and may have sexually assaulted the senior’s longtime female companion, who was found on the bed naked from the waist down.
Cops were called to the apartment when a longtime friend of Romano’s stopped by to visit. The man reportedly let himself inside with a key Romano had given him and found Elviza lying on the bed.
Just moments earlier, Aronova’s mother had visited the upstairs apartment to bring her daughter some food.
The door was ajar, but no one answered her calls, prompting her to ask a neighbor to call 911.
Cops were already responding to the 911 call when the neighbor found the bodies.
It was unclear just when the two victims died, although sources told the New York Times that neighbors had seen Romano about 9 a.m. that Wednesday.
As this paper went to press, investigators were wading through a number of motives and scenarios that could have led to the double murder.
According to published reports, Romano was a reputed member of the Genovese crime family. At the same time, the senior had come into some financial difficulties and was forced to sell the Bay Parkway property in 2006, although he was able to keep two apartments.
Yet things were still pretty dire financially – so much so that Con Edison had shut the electricity to one of the apartments, officials said.
It’s also been theorized that there could be a drug connection to the murders since Aronova was allegedly a recovering addict.
Cops are asking anyone with information regarding this incident to come forward.
Calls can be made to the NYPD CrimeStoppers hotline at (800) 577−TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
