Jilted boyfriend stabbed au pair’s boss to death, chased her down street in Maplewood double killing, cops say – NJ.com

The New Jersey man accused in a double-killing used a key his au pair girlfriend gave him to enter a Maplewood home early Saturday, stabbed the woman’s boss to death and then chased her down the street to attack her with a knife because she tried to end their relationship, authorities said in court documents.

The new details in the bloody killings of New York City comedy club owner David Kimowitz, 40, and his family’s live-in nanny, Karen Bermudez-Rodriguez, 26, emerged in the affidavit of probable cause written by police in support of murder charges against Joseph D. Porter, 27, of Elizabeth.

Porter tried to flee the country after killing Kimowitz and Bermudez-Rodriguez, but was captured at Newark Liberty International Airport before he could board a flight to Cancun, Mexico, authorities said in the court documents.

Texts obtained from the couple’s mobile phones showed Bermudez-Rodriguez and Porter had messaged each other from 1:30 to 2 a.m. Saturday and that Bermudez-Rodriguez wrote she wanted to break up with Porter, authorities said.

“Joseph texted back that he was upset with Ms. Bermudez-Rodriguez because she was trying to end the relationship,” the complaint states. Bermudez-Rodriguez also texted Porter that she wanted her keys to the house back, according to the complaint.

In an interview with investigators at the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, Porter admitted he “used Karen’s key to open the door,” according to the complaint. “Porter then went to the second-floor bedroom where he proceeded to pick up a knife and stab David Kimowitz.”

After stabbing Kimowitz, Porter bound Bermudez-Rodriguez’s hands with tape, but she managed to break free and fled the house on the 400 block of Walton Road, authorities said. Porter caught up with her several hundred feet away in front of another house on Woodland Avenue, authorities said.

“Porter caught up to Ms. Bermudez-Rodriguez and attacked her with the knife,” investigators wrote in the complaint. “Porter then fled.”

Porter used a different knife in that stabbing, authorities said. Police received a call reporting a man attacking a woman around 6 a.m. and found Bermudez-Rodriguez in the street still with tape on her hands. She was rushed to a hospital, where she was later pronounced dead, authorities said.

The neighbor told police he heard people fighting and looked outside to see a man assaulting the woman, according to the complaint. At least a portion of the attack was captures on video surveillance, authorities said.

Inside the house, officers found Kimowitz dead from stab wounds and a knife on the floor nearby, police said. Kimowitz was a well-known entrepreneur who owned The Stand Restaurant and Comedy Club in New York City. He lived at the house with his wife and children, but they were not home at the time, authorities said.

Bermudez-Rodriguez was a student from Colombia who started babysitting for the Kimowitz familys more than a year ago, according to a family friend named Johan Montoya. He wrote in Spanish to NJ Advance Media that she was in the U.S. to learn English.

Porter had visible scratches and marks around his neck when he was taken into custody, authorities said.

Porter is charged with two counts of murder, two weapons charges and criminal restraint. He is being held in the Essex County Jail pending a first appearance hearing later this week, jail records show.

The killings stunned residents in Maplewood and a small vigil was held at a local park Sunday night.

“We’re sad for both families — the family who lives here and has been in the community for the last few years and of course the au pair who was working for them,” said Maplewood Mayor Victor De Luca, who did not know either of the victims. “It’s a very tragic domestic incident that had just a horrible, horrible result.”

A memorial of flowers stands outside the Maplewood home on a corner property.

Ritila Reis, a 30-year-old nanny from Elizabeth, approached the caution tape as she pushed a stroller on Jefferson Avenue on Monday morning. More than a dozen bouquets were at her feet.

“She was so far away from her family,” Reis said of Bermudez-Rodriguez.

Five houses down, a neighbor named Michael Cotler said he was shaken by the news.

But he was heartened to see discussions online about ways to help. One person wanted to raise money to send Bermudez-Rodriguez’s body back to Colombia. Another was looking for ways to support women in potentially abusive relationships.

“In the face of all of this, it’s good to see how a community comes together,” Cotler said.

Less than a half-mile from the Kimowitz family’s home, two five-year-old boys named Markus and Lukas Cano were walking near Ricalton Square Park Monday when they spotted a flag pole covered in colored paper.

Their dad, Jose Cano-Oconor, followed them over. Twenty-five messages, most in Spanish, covered the pole. Candles burned below, next to a framed picture of Bermudez-Rodriguez.

The boys asked what the notes meant. Cano-Oconor said they were for the woman in the photo.

“They say that we love you, we miss you, we’ll see you again,” Cano-Oconor said.

“Where is she?” one of the boys asked.

“She went to Heaven,” Cano-Oconor said.

Staff writer Rebecca Everett contributed to this report.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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