Two Knives Found Near Body Of Slain Nicaraguan Diplomat

Yesterday, the body of senior Nicaraguan diplomat Cesar Mercado was found inside his Bronx apartment. His driver, scheduled to take him to the U.N. General Assembly, found the 34-year-old with his throat slashed behind an open door. A neighbor told NY1, "[Wednesday night] I heard a lot of things on the floor, like 'boom, boom,' but I don't know what they were doing. I heard somebody banging on the wall and all that and somebody screaming."

The Daily News reports, "Furniture was overturned, but there were no signs of robbery or forced entry, suggesting that if the diplomat was murdered, he might have known his killer." Cops were looking into whether a tryst went bad, combing through Mercado's computer and phone records," while the Post comes out and says, "Investigators are probing the possibility that the killing was caused by a gay relationship gone wrong, police sources said." A neighbor said, "I saw him often with young men who looked like they were unsavory," and the Post adds, "A co-worker told cops Mercado was depressed, lost weight and had recently said he had tested positive for AIDS, the sources said. Detectives are exploring the possibility he was murdered by someone outraged after he told them of his diagnosis, according to the sources said."

According to the Wall Street Journal, "Detectives recovered two knives—a 12-inch steak knife found at the side of a blood-filled bathroom sink and a 4- to 6-inch paring knife found in the sink. Mr. Mercado had deep lacerations to the neck and stab wounds to the abdomen." The neck lacerations were so deep that he was nearly decapitated.

Danilo Rosales Diaz, Nicaragua's Permanent Representative at the U.N, told the WSJ, "He was a very friendly person—somebody who was very pleasant to work with. He will be very much missed by his colleagues," and said Mercado handled the needs of Nicaraguans in the tri-state area. The police, who have no suspects yet, are reviewing video, but the video cameras in the building's lobby haven't worked for years.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on September 24, 2010 12:26 PM

Comments [rss]

John L

It's really horrible that the NYPD throws out these horrible scenarios without fully knowing what happened. It seems to me that they have no idea what happened yet, and that's ok because the investigation is still ongoing, but then they give the media these guesses that may or may not be true instead of just saying that the investigation is not complete. If it turns out to be something else they've destroyed this man's character for no reason.

jaycjay

We have no idea what anyone connected to the NYPD said in full. All we know is how the local media chose to cover the story.

John L

"Investigators are probing the possibility that the killing was caused by a gay relationship gone wrong, police sources said."

The point is that if this man was a closet homosexual then that should be respected in death as well, for the sake of his family and friends. If it turned out that he died as direct result of his lifestyle then there's no getting around it and it will have to revealed but it seems that they're merely speculating at this point.

If this turns out that his death is totally unrelated to his lifestyle then they outed this man for nothing. He'll have been victimized twice, once by his killer and once by the NYPD for recklessly divulging his private life to sensationalize the case.

All they had to say was, "the investigation is ongoing" and if there's a description then they should share that. In my opinion, it's wrong to put out this man's personal life unless it's really pertinent to the solving of the case and it this point it seems nothing more than a guess.

Also on a whole other level, I think that the insinuation that because he was gay he must have been killed as a result of that, might be insulting to members of that community. Unless there's proof linking the fact that he was gay with his death I think that linking the two might be more the investigator's bias than reality.

When I first read this story the first thing I thought was that he was killed either for political reasons or for being involved in the drug trade and the fact that he might be gay doesn't change that because I don't find that most gay people are psychos looking to decapitate their partners but if the investigating officers think that homosexuals are sexual deviants and capable of anything then they might make a connection like this.

Bottom line is that if the NYPD doesn't have a clear motive or idea of what happened they should just STFU and keep investigating and stop feeding the media their bullshit scenarios.

suepart

all the while, he was crying out the usual catch phrase 'diplomatic immunity' but the knives weren't listenin' and went a-stabbin'

Rocknrope

I heard a lot of things on the floor, like 'boom, boom,' but I don't know what they were doing.

Yeah, it could have been nothing.

Or it could have been the stomping of a heel on the floor from the involuntary twitching of someone's leg as the scalene muscles in his neck are being severed.

Good thing you checked it out.

JenChungsBaby

Leave the gun, take the cannolis.

jaycjay

Updated for this story: "Leave the knives. Take the nacatamales."

longacre

Sad that Nicaragua houses their diplomats in the Bronx.

Huffy6241

"[Wednesday night] I heard a lot of things on the floor, like 'boom, boom,' but I don't know what they were doing. I heard somebody banging on the wall and all that and somebody screaming."

Annnnd why didn't you call the police?