A human torso that was found inside a suitcase drifting down the East River earlier this month was identified as the remains of a 65-year-old man, Edwin Echevarria, and his roommate was charged with his murder, the police said Thursday morning.
Christian Millet, 23, was charged with second degree murder for the killing of Mr. Echevarria, who had lived with him on Columbia Street on the Lower East Side, the police said.
Mr. Millet told the police that he had knocked Mr. Echevarria to the ground, then stamped on his head, killing him, according to a law enforcement official. He then used a tool to cut his body in pieces and put his remains in a suitcase, the official said. It was not immediately clear what happened to the rest of Mr. Echevarria’s body.
The police did not say how they learned the identity of Mr. Echevarria or provide a motive for the killing.
A New York City ferry captain discovered the suitcase drifting in the East River on Feb. 5, according to an internal police report.
Unable to fish it out of the river, the captain called the Police Department’s Harbor Unit for help, the report said.
Officers from the unit pulled the suitcase from the water at around 5:30 p.m. and, after seeing what was inside, brought it to Pier 16 on the East Side of Manhattan, about a quarter-mile south of the Brooklyn Bridge, the police said.
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