FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, November 19, 2021
Fugitive Arraigned for Cold Case 1996 Murder After
Extradition from the Dominican Republic
Allegedly Stabbed Victim on Bushwick Street After Argument Over a Woman and Subsequently Fled the Country
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, together with New York City Police Department Commissioner Dermot Shea, today announced that a 51-year-old man has been arraigned on a murder charge in connection with a 1996 fatal stabbing of a romantic rival in Bushwick. The defendant was extradited from his native Dominican Republic after being indicted in Brooklyn following a cold case investigation.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “The charges in this case show that in Brooklyn, justice will not be denied, even when it is delayed. It took more than two decades to determine the whereabouts of this defendant, but once he was found, my office moved swiftly to charge him and bring him back to Brooklyn. I would like to thank the NYPD for never giving up on this investigation as well as the U.S. State and Justice Departments for assisting in the international extradition process.”
Commissioner Shea said, “This case – decades old and enhanced by a tip from the public – highlights the NYPD’s core value to never forget and never give up on crime victims and those in need. Working together, our NYPD detectives, law enforcement partners at home and abroad, and prosecutors of the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, never wavered in their commitment to establish justice in this Cold Case, just as they do every day across every square mile of our great city.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Bienvenido Rodriguez, 51. He was arraigned today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Vincent Del Giudice on an indictment in which he is charged with second-degree murder. The defendant was ordered held without bail and to return to court on December 17, 2021. He faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison if convicted.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, on July 17, 1996, at approximately 10:45 p.m., near 1438 Dekalb Avenue in Bushwick, Brooklyn, the defendant was confronted by Giovanni Malpica, 21, who accused the defendant of romantically seeing his girlfriend. Malpica then struck Rodriguez in the head with a boombox.
According to the investigation, Rodriguez then allegedly stabbed Malpica numerous times with a knife, killing him. Later that night, the defendant allegedly went to a hospital to treat a laceration to his head and falsely reported that he sustained a cut when falling from a bicycle. He subsequently fled the country.
The break in the case came in 2018 after the TV network Univision aired a piece about the homicide and asked for information about the suspect’s whereabouts. A tip came in, reporting that he resided in Chile. In November 2018, an NYPD detective and a Brooklyn prosecutor obtained a statement from the defendant in Chile in which he denied knowing both Malpica and their mutual love interest.
In September 2019, the defendant was deported from Chile to the Dominican Republic. He was arrested there last month in connection with the extradition request from Brooklyn and arrived in the United States yesterday.
The case was investigated by retired Detectives Jason Palamara and Evelin Gutierrez, of the NYPD Cold Case Squad as well as Detective Carlos Vasquez of the NYPD Cold Case Squad.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Andy Palacio, of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Timothy Gough, Homicide Bureau Chief, and Rachel Singer, Chief of the Cold Case and Forensic Science Unit.
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An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.