Cops: Woman Landlord Decapitates Female Tenant

Alleged murder is over $200 in rent money
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 25, 2014 5:31 PM CDT
Cops: Landlord Decapitates Tenant in Rent Dispute
   (Shutterstock)

A New York woman viciously hacked apart a tenant and spread her body parts around Long Island after the woman refused to pay her entire rent, prosecutors say. Leah Cuevas, 42, is accused of decapitating 27-year-old Chinelle Browne earlier this month in a Brooklyn apartment building, the Daily News reports. "No, Leah! What you doing?" a neighbor heard Browne say, according to officials. "Oh, no! Oh, no! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!" Browne, a mother of four, had come from Guyana to find a place where their family could later move, her husband said.

Cuevas apparently rented Browne a room in her apartment for $400 a month, but Browne refused to pay half, saying the place lacked hot water or regular electricity, according to court documents. Tempers frayed, and Browne accused Cuevas (in front of Cuevas' husband) of fooling around with a guy on a city bus. Then the night before Browne died, police had to separate the two women, the New York Post reports, and on July 5 Cuevas allegedly hacked at Browne with "a sharp instrument" until her head came off. Her torso, limbs, and head were all found separately over the next few days. Browne's family, in from Guyana, cheered yesterday when Cuevas was held without bail on murder charges. "She made the sacrifice for her family," her husband said. "So we resolved together that we would make the sacrifice, as hard as it was, to do this." (Read about a man who allegedly hacked up and buried his parents in the yard.)

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