Police continue to track down a man accused of driving over and then fatally slashing his estranged wife with a machete on the dead end potion of Ellsworth Avenue in Throggs Neck on Thursday, October 4.
The NYPD has put out a $2,500 reward for information on 63-year-old Victor Mateo, the alleged killer of his of one time spouse, 58-year-old Noelia Mateo of 529 Ellsworth Avenue.
The 911 calls came in at around 7 a.m., about the time when neighbors were startled by the sound of a car crash, and seeing Noelia hiding underneath another car as Victor continued to pursue her.
After Victor tried to hit his ex with his own vehicle, she crawled under her own car while its engine was running, according to eyewitness and neighbor Victor DiChristina.
Police sources say that Victor then jumped into her car and repeatedly drove it back and forth over Noelia at least four times before he pulled a machete on the defenseless woman as she laid in the street.
“At first it seemed like she was trying to reach for something under her car and he was helping her out,” DiChristina said, noting that he didn’t witness the earlier car crash.
“Then it looked like he was just hitting her I didn’t see the machete,” the eyewitness continued.
When DiChristina saw Noelia being struck by Victor he ran over from his house to confront the attacker in the street.
“I told him to stop, then I looked for a stick to go over there and get him off of her,” he said.
“But then I saw that he had a machete and realized there wasn’t anything that I could do but call the police,” DiChristina recountered while remaining on the scene of the crime.
“Then he drove away in her car, just leaving the woman on the street,” he explained.
There wasn’t much that could have been done for Noelia by the time the ambulance arrived. She was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at Jacobi Hospital later that morning.
DiChristina said he had only seen Noelia around the neighborhood for just over a year and never spoke personally with her, mentioning that he had never seen Victor prior to the killing.
Sources say that the previously married couple had formerly lived in Westchester.
The grisly crime scene in front of 533 Ellsworth Avenue still contained Victor’s damaged gray Hyundai well into the afternoon, which contained a sealed letter on front side passenger’s seat and a hammer on the floor.
The entire front of Victor’s car was smashed when it slammed into a white van parked on the street. The van only received minimal damage, while the Hyundai was essentially totaled.
Only the driver’s side airbag had deployed in the car, indicating the probability that the driver was alone in the car at the time.
Police have not yet indicated a motive in the murder and continue to search for Victor Mateo as of the Bronx Times Reporter’s press time. Noelia’s car was found later that day on Logan Avenue
Anyone with information on the murder of Noelia Mateo is encouraged to contact NYPD Crime Stoppers.
