A man wanted in the slaying of a Shenandoah woman on Tuesday has been arrested by police and the U.S. Marshals Service in New York City.
According to a press release late Wednesday from Trooper David Beohm, state police information officer for Troop L, Reading, Luis Ramos Nunez-Calderon was taken into custody Wednesday night without incident. The arrest was made with the help of the U.S. Marshal's Office, the New York Police Department and the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
According to the report, arrangements were being made Wednesday night to extradite Nunez-Calderon back to Schuylkill County to face charges.
State police Trooper Melissa Kyper has charged Nunez-Calderon with killing Wendy Contreras-Hernandez, 38, in the home they once shared at 518 W. Centre St., Shenandoah, between 12:35 and 4:08 p.m. Kyper filed charges of murder, criminal homicide, voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault and criminal trespass, all felony offenses, against Nunez-Calderon.
The charges were filed with on-call Magisterial District Judge David J. Rossi, Tremont, who issued a warrant for the man's arrest.
In court papers, Kyper outlined the series of events that led to Contreras-Hernandez being found dead.
She said that about 12:35 p.m., Shenandoah police were called to the home for a report of a domestic dispute, but after arriving within minutes, they could not make contact with either party involved.
Later in the day, Kyper said Contreras-Hernandez failed to pick up her daughter from school and school officials called Lydia Contreras, who was listed as an emergency contact.
Contreras picked up Contreras-Hernandez's daughter and returned her to her home. When the two entered, they discovered the girl's mother lying on the bathroom floor in a pool of blood with her face covered, Kyper said.
Shenandoah police were called at 4:08 p.m. and entered the home, where they found Contreras-Hernandez dead from an apparent stab wound to the neck. A subsequent search revealed a knife was missing from a butcher block in the kitchen, Kyper said.
After taking over the investigation at the request of Shenandoah police, Kyper said a neighborhood canvass revealed neighbors and family members were aware of previous domestic disputes between Contreras-Hernandez and her former boyfriend, Nunez-Calderon.
Police interviewed Nicole Brobst, who was visiting a home across the street. She said she heard yelling from the 518 W. Centre St. home and witnessed the female resident and her ex-boyfriend in a fight. Brobst said the man pinned the woman on the ground and then dragged her into the home by the hair, Kyper said.
Another person told troopers he had provided alternate shelter to Contreras-Hernandez for several days, based on her fear that Nunez-Calderon would return to her home and stab her, Kyper said.
Kyper said investigators subsequently learned that about 1:30 p.m., two men in the Burger King restaurant were approached by a man later identified as Nunez-Calderon who asked for a ride to Hazleton. The men refused when they saw Nunez-Calderon had what appeared to be blood on him, Kyper said.
Across from the Burger King, at the Main Street Bar, Kyper said witnesses saw Nunez-Calderon drinking and he was captured on video surveillance wearing a dark jacket, striped shirt, blue jeans and a white hat.
A patron at the bar offered to give Nunez-Calderon a ride to Hazleton and told investigators he dropped him off in the area of C&G Transport. A clerk at that business verified Nunez-Calderon was there and a subsequent search of the bathroom turned up bloody towels in a waste basket, Kyper said.
Troopers then interviewed a driver at C&G Transport who said he transported Nunez-Calderon to 180th Street and Broadway in New York City and that during the ride, he noticed Nunez-Calderon's clothes were bloody and he was weeping and saying he needed to talk to his mother.
Kyper said investigators obtained an emergency ping on Nunez-Calderon's cellphone to determine his location and that the ping showed a route of travel from the point where he was left off toward the reported location of a family member's home.
When located, Nunez-Calderon will be formally charged with the homicide, brought back to Schuylkill County and arraigned.