LES Stabbing Suspect "A Good Person," According To His Dad

Barrera being led by police officers earlier this week (WCBS 2); inset of Coit

As family and friends mourned Sarah Coit, the 23-year-old who was stabbed to death over the weekend, more people came forward with stories about Raul Barrera, the man who allegedly confessed to killing Coit in their Lower East Side apartment. Barrera's father, who convinced him to turn himself in, gave his sympathy to the Coit family and spoke about his son: "He's a good person. I'm sure it was the passion in the moment...If I could see [the Coit's] in person, I'd tell them my heart goes out to them," Raul Barrera Sr. told the Post.

Barrera Sr. and his wife visited their son in the jail ward of Bellevue Hospital yesterday, where he has been on suicide watch since being arraigned. A witness told the Post that the accused killer "was crying through the whole time. His mother was on her knees, holding him, praying and crying. Nobody said a word the whole time." Barrera's ex-girlfriend whom he has a child with, Marisol Reyes, told the News that she felt "sorry about the girl's family," but her ex-husband alleges that she was reluctant to say anything more because Barrera had beat her up in the past. "People told me what he was doing to her. He used to hit my ex-wife," said Ramon Pabey. A police report confirms Pabey filed a harassment claim against Barrera in March 2003.

A friend of Reyes told the News that Barrera made fun of Reyes for getting fat, and routinely physically harmed her: "He tortured her for three years. She would walk around with black eyes and broken ribs. He's not crazy, he's a bastard." Coit's hairdresser, Amanda Giorgi, gave the Post a similar account about Barrera being a controlling boyfriend: Coit "said she planned on moving apartments when her lease was up, and she wasn't going to tell him where she was going. She was always trying to break up with him, but he wouldn't take no for an answer." Barrera's old boss B.J. Coleman, president of Coleman Entertainment Group, called him a "cool, chill guy:" "He wasn't a monster. He was ambitious. This is not someone who goes around hacking people."

Coit's family and friends are still reeling from the shock of the horrific attack. Many gathered to mourn for her in Greenwich: her old track coach sounded shaken by the attack, and told the News, "We had a moment of silence for her yesterday. We remembered her. Even those students who never met her. We are all part of the same team." Neighbors have been coming forward left and right with their own take on the troubled relationship: "When she first moved in, she was all smiles. Then he came. She became quiet," said Kata Miskovic, who took an apartment in the E. 33rd St. building two years ago.

Some in the building said the screaming and fighting went on for 20 minutes, and neighbors have been forthcoming about their opinions on the couple; one even claimed, "I knew he was going to kill her," which has led some to wonder whether the neighbors have a responsibility to pay more attention to whether abuse was going on. Suzanne Adam, director of Domestic Abuse Services at the YWCA of Greenwich, thinks this was a classic case of domestic abuse fueled by a need for control: "This was not a random murder. This was about control. And the ultimate way of showing control is by taking someone's life...The fact her face was mutilated shows it was personal. This was a person of great rage."

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By Ben Yakas in News on April 13, 2011 11:38 AM

Comments [rss]

JesseCal

Geez- this guy doesn't sound 'cool' OR 'chill to me. . . Sounds more like a self-centered hot-headed asshole!

So what the hell does a WASP girl from Greenwich, Connecticut know about a guy from an American subculture. . . a subculture that actually thinks that women are not worthy of even basic human respect; beats-up and disrespects them all the time!

( I'll bet that 'RAUL' doesn't even know how to spell 'Greenwich'. . .)

Avatar Jack

For all intensive purposes Raul Barrera was a ladies man. A staple of high society fetes and indeed once a staple of Louis Vuitton launch parties- he was considered a connoiseur of the good life. That was of course until Monday when he was charged with the murder of his live in girlfriend Sarah Colt.

http://scallywagandvagabond.co...

MartinBurgisser98204

Go black you get attacked. bet the rage was over the bills this moron keep increasing. she thought she was going to bail and milk some other sucker. karma she got what she deserved!!!!

DC

Yikes!

It's okay, I know you're just caught up in the passion of the moment.

My thoughts and condolences are with the family, this is truly horrible.

whatidsay

Maybe if Senior had resisted his "passion in the moment" 36 years ago, there would have been no Junior to worry about today.

Guest

"He's a good person. I'm sure it was the passion in the moment."

Sounds like Papi is trying to get his son's indictment reduced to manslaughter by slyly slipping that little bit of speculation into the conversation.

theevilerone

Yeah, Pops should have just kept his mouth closed. But come on, what parent is going to say something else? No one expects their kid to turn out to be a sadistic murderer.

Guest

you sure it was just 'the passion in the moment'?
"yes, i'm sure."
so... he could be free right now, and he won't hurt anyone else, right?
"he's a good person."
ok. he's free to go then.

...right. what the father said also sounds spineless; no one is taking any responsibility here.

a righteous dad would have said, "i have nothing to say -- i'm sorry."

...

sommelier

He's a good person. Right. Good people do not do what he did.

WetButt

Nice that everyone comes out of the woodwork with their stories about this animal after the fact, where were they with their concerns before?

MermaidFornicator

they were being ignored by the women who chose to continue seeing this loser.

RabbiLaFunque

"His mother was on her knees, holding him, praying and crying. Nobody said a word the whole time." Although apparently Papi Barrera slipped the boy a note that said, "Damn son what I always tell you?!?! Yeah you gotta smack these hoes to keep em in line, but damn, son, don't be choppin them all up! Specially them white hoes from the suburbs, now they gonna lynch you son!"

masterjarvis

Did you get that refill on your medication yet?

HJaySimpson

Annnnnd Jeffrey Dahmer was charming... whats his point?

Ms. Pants

Serial abuser =/= good person. Sorry Pops. Face it. Your son is a piece of shit.

Bugenhagen

I wouldn't be surprised if dad did a little wife beating of his own while junior was growing up. Kids learn by example.

evbo

Poor girl. My heart goes out to her family.

schmeep

In other news, Dad Not A Good Judge of Character.

Spirit of 76

I don't think that's the real reason. At least subconsciously, a parent won't admit that their kid is bad because it calls all of their parenting into question.