MIDDLETOWN - The slaying of a beauty salon owner led to the arrest of two men Tuesday, including the victim's ex-boyfriend, who tried to kill himself just before he was charged in the murder-for-hire plot, police said.
Patrick Bowie, 42, stabbed himself in the arms, neck and groin with a kitchen knife as authorities arrived at his Middletown home late Tuesday morning, Middletown Police Lt. Paul Rickard said.
He was bleeding from the wounds when he came out to surrender and was later arraigned on a first-degree murder charge in his bed at the Orange Regional Medical Center in Middletown, Rickard said.
Police said Bowie is a former boyfriend of 36-year-old Fermina Nunez, who was shot in the head at her Middletown beauty salon late Saturday. The gunman, Melvin Green, was arrested by New York City police during a raid on his Bronx home Monday night, police said. A handgun found at Green's home was taken for ballistics testing.
“We believe Bowie plotted and conspired with Green in the murder of Nunez,” said Rickard. “We believe there was a financial agreement for him to murder the ex-girlfriend.”
He declined to comment on a motive.
Green, 36, was arraigned on charges of first-degree murder and first-degree robbery Tuesday morning.
Police said Green went to the Final Touch salon just before midnight Saturday, when Nunez was still open to help customers primp for New Year's festivities.
While police released few details of the attack, witnesses told the Middletown Times Herald-Record that a man entered through a door left open when one of Nunez's customers went to get pizza. He forced Nunez and her three female customers to lie face down on the floor.
The suspect began yelling when he could not get the cash register open as Nunez had instructed. She gave the instructions again and pleaded for the man to take the cash and spare their lives.
“Shut up!” the man shouted, before firing the gun into the back of Nunez's head. The other women, who had their faces to the ground, did not know Nunez had been shot until one of them felt Nunez's blood on her hand, according to the woman's account.
Rickard said Green stole cash before he ran off.
Nunez, 36, a single mother with four teenage sons, was born in the Dominican Republic. She moved her family to Middletown five years ago from Manhattan and opened the salon in 2005.
Middletown is 59 miles north of New York City.
He was bleeding from the wounds when he came out to surrender and was later arraigned on a first-degree murder charge in his bed at the Orange Regional Medical Center in Middletown, Rickard said.
Police said Bowie is a former boyfriend of 36-year-old Fermina Nunez, who was shot in the head at her Middletown beauty salon late Saturday. The gunman, Melvin Green, was arrested by New York City police during a raid on his Bronx home Monday night, police said. A handgun found at Green's home was taken for ballistics testing.
“We believe Bowie plotted and conspired with Green in the murder of Nunez,” said Rickard. “We believe there was a financial agreement for him to murder the ex-girlfriend.”
He declined to comment on a motive.
Green, 36, was arraigned on charges of first-degree murder and first-degree robbery Tuesday morning.
Police said Green went to the Final Touch salon just before midnight Saturday, when Nunez was still open to help customers primp for New Year's festivities.
While police released few details of the attack, witnesses told the Middletown Times Herald-Record that a man entered through a door left open when one of Nunez's customers went to get pizza. He forced Nunez and her three female customers to lie face down on the floor.
The suspect began yelling when he could not get the cash register open as Nunez had instructed. She gave the instructions again and pleaded for the man to take the cash and spare their lives.
“Shut up!” the man shouted, before firing the gun into the back of Nunez's head. The other women, who had their faces to the ground, did not know Nunez had been shot until one of them felt Nunez's blood on her hand, according to the woman's account.
Rickard said Green stole cash before he ran off.
Nunez, 36, a single mother with four teenage sons, was born in the Dominican Republic. She moved her family to Middletown five years ago from Manhattan and opened the salon in 2005.
Middletown is 59 miles north of New York City.
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