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Diplomat found slain in NYC apartment
Source: Agencies |
September 25, 2010, Saturday
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A NICARAGUAN diplomat was found dead on Thursday, his stomach stabbed and his throat slashed, in his blood-spattered apartment in New York City, hours before he was to attend the United Nation General Assembly's annual meeting, officials said.
Cesar Mercado, who had worked at the Nicaraguan consulate as acting consul general, was found at 10:35am in his apartment in the Bronx by the driver who went to pick him up to attend the meeting, police said. He was last seen alive the day before.
Police said the driver knocked on the door, which was unlocked, opened it, saw Mercado's body lying just inside the studio and called police.
It was initially thought one knife was used in the attack and was found near the body, but investigators later determined there were two knives involved, found in and near a blood-filled bathroom sink.
Police were investigating, but no suspects were immediately identified. Investigators were looking into Mercado's recent contacts, his relationships and where he had been in recent days.
A motive remained unclear.
"He had no enemies. He was loved by everyone who knew him," a friend, Amparo Amador, said in Spanish. "When I first heard of his death, I thought he must've died from natural causes because there would be no way he could be killed."
Mercado, 34, came to the US in 2001 to work as an assistant in the office of Nicaragua's ambassador to the United Nations, the friend said. He was single, and his family was in Nicaragua.
Nicaraguan Vice President Jaime Morales said US Ambassador Robert Callahan assured him that the FBI would do everything possible to investigate.
Cesar Mercado, who had worked at the Nicaraguan consulate as acting consul general, was found at 10:35am in his apartment in the Bronx by the driver who went to pick him up to attend the meeting, police said. He was last seen alive the day before.
Police said the driver knocked on the door, which was unlocked, opened it, saw Mercado's body lying just inside the studio and called police.
It was initially thought one knife was used in the attack and was found near the body, but investigators later determined there were two knives involved, found in and near a blood-filled bathroom sink.
Police were investigating, but no suspects were immediately identified. Investigators were looking into Mercado's recent contacts, his relationships and where he had been in recent days.
A motive remained unclear.
"He had no enemies. He was loved by everyone who knew him," a friend, Amparo Amador, said in Spanish. "When I first heard of his death, I thought he must've died from natural causes because there would be no way he could be killed."
Mercado, 34, came to the US in 2001 to work as an assistant in the office of Nicaragua's ambassador to the United Nations, the friend said. He was single, and his family was in Nicaragua.
Nicaraguan Vice President Jaime Morales said US Ambassador Robert Callahan assured him that the FBI would do everything possible to investigate.
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