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Stamford prosecutor: Super 8 homicide victim was bound with duct tape and executed

Assistant State’s Attorney Margaret Moscati revealed those details as two suspects made their first appearance in Stamford Superior Court.

Marissa Alter

Oct 22, 2024, 1:38 AM

Updated 43 days ago

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A Stamford man killed at a local hotel was first bound and then executed, according to the prosecutor on the case.
Assistant State’s Attorney Margaret Moscati revealed those details as two suspects made their first appearance in Stamford Superior Court.
Moises Alejadro Candollo-Urbaneja, 22, and Gregory Marlyn Galindez-Trias, 24, were arraigned on multiple larceny and identity theft charges in connection to a deadly shooting at the Super 8 motel off exit 6 in Stamford.
On Oct. 14, hotel cleaning staff discovered Angel Samaniego, 59, of Stamford, in one of the rooms. Stamford police were called there around 11:40 a.m.
“The victim was found to be bound with duct tape on his arms and legs and executed,” Moscati said in court.
Samaniego was sitting upright on the floor in between the two beds with a bullet in his chest, according to the suspects’ arrest warrants. Police determined a nearby pillow was used to muffle the sound of the gun, the warrants said.
While investigating the incident, officers located surveillance video of Candollo-Urbaneja and Galindez-Trias leaving the hotel the night before Samaniego was found, getting into his vehicle and taking off with it.
Moscati said the pair had two kids with them as well, ages one and three.
“With the assistance of other law enforcement agencies, we were able to locate Mr. Samaneigo’s vehicle in Detroit, Michigan. However, at the time it was recovered, these two individuals were not in the vehicle,” explained Lt. Douglas Deiso.
According to the warrants, a man said he bought the car from two strangers and later identified Candollo-Urbaneja and Galindez-Trias from a photo lineup as the people who’d sold him the car. Police also located surveillance video from a gas station in Detroit that showed the two using the victim’s credit card, the warrants said.
“On Oct. 16, we were alerted that Mr. Samaniego’s credit card was being used in Rensselaer, New York at an Amtrak station,” Deiso said. “We contacted the Rensselaer Police Department. They responded over to the Amtrak station and took these two individuals into custody.”
The two children were with the suspects and turned over to Rensselaer County Child Protective Services. Galindez-Trias said she’s their mother, according to police.
Rensselaer’s police chief issued a statement at the time, saying both suspects are from Venezuela, in the country illegally, and believed to be members of Tren de Aragua. There was no mention of the gang during the arraignment Monday.
“At this point in the investigation, we have not been able to confirm that they are gang members. We also have not been able to confirm that Mr. Samaniego’s death is gang-related,” Deiso told News 12, adding that police don’t know the motive right now.
Moscati did share additional information about the ongoing police investigation in court and said further charges may be coming.
“There was a piece of paper that was recovered in this defendant and the codefendant's belongings that appears to have the victim's credit card information on it as well as what is presumed to be a blood droplet. Your honor, the state believes this is further evidence that ties this defendant and the co-defendant to that homicide that occurred last week,” Moscati stated.
Judge Kevin Randolph said he’d reviewed the arrest warrants and search warrants in the case.
“There is certainly, at this point, a strong suspicion that this defendant participated in what this court would describe as an execution,” Randolph stated during Candollo-Urbaneja’s arraignment, before raising his bond from $2 million to $5 million. The judge said and did the same when Galindez-Trias was arraigned next.
Randolph said if the defendants can make bond, they will be on GPS and IPS monitoring and cannot leave the state. They will also have to turn over their passports.
Both are set to return to court next in December.