After the horrifying discovery of a woman's body stuffed into a suitcase left on East 114th Street across from Thomas Jefferson Park (a passer-by noticed a foot sticking out early yesterday morning), surveillance video has emerged of a man dragging a suitcase down the very same street. The video (below) shows a man walking down the street, pulling the suitcase, but then pauses a few times as people walk by or to wipe his face. The person who provided the video told the Post, "He's got a body in his suitcase and he's just standing there like nothing's going on. I freaked out when I saw that... It's f--ked up. [He's] just standing there."
Also freaked out was the person who found the body : According to the Daily News, Jody White said, "I was just walking by and came across it. I unzipped it a little bit. I saw that it was a body. I saw a leg from the knee down." White then ran into Rao's, where someone called 911; White added, "I wish I never found it."
An autopsy report shows the victim, identified as 28-year-old Betty Williams, as being strangled. The News says Williams had a history of drug problems, "Williams did brief stints on Rikers Island for 12 different arrests dating to 2007, law enforcement sources said. Five of the busts were for trespassing and three were for selling drugs. Records show three of the remaining collars were for drug possession and one was for theft."
Police are asking the public for information about the suspect—contact Crime Stoppers. Back in 2004, a body was found in a trunk on 13th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues in the East Village.
