Boyfriend Arrested in Killing of Bronx Woman, Even Though Body Is Still Missing: NYPD

A Bronx man has been arrested in the killing of his girlfriend, more than a month after she went missing and whose body remains unaccounted for, police say.

Miguel Bonilla, 44, was arrested on charges of murder, manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon Monday night, police said. He's accused of killing 52-year-old Juana Alvarez, who's been missing since July 11.

At his arraignment in Bronx Criminal Court Tuesday, prosecutors said Bonilla testified on video that he was sleeping next to Alvarez when he woke up and thought "I f---ing hate her." 

He stabbed her several times in the chest, turned on his phone to play music, then continued to stab her, prosecutors said. 

Bonilla put Alvarez's body in the closet and took her out when the stench got bad, according to prosecutors. He put a towel over her body, then put her in a cart and wheeled her out of their Grand Concourse building and dumped her body in a Dumpster. 

Police are now searching for Alvarez's body. 

The Daily News reports Bonilla confessed to a friend he killed Alvarez. Detectives acting on that tip recovered surveillance video showing Bonilla wheeling a shopping cart out of their apartment building. 

As police sarched for Bonilla Monday, he was caught jumping a subway turnstile at Penn Station, and he was taken back to the Bronx, where he was charged with murder, police said. 

Alvarez was remanded to jail after arraignment and is being held without bail. He's due back in court on Aug. 26. 

He did not enter a plea. 

Neighbors told NBC 4 New York they saw Alvarez last month crying and asking for money.

"Before she was missing, she was like crying. I never saw her crying," said Jassiel Herrera. "She would see me in the street, she'd ask me for a dollar. The last time, she was like crying and stuff." 

A close friend and neighbor told NBC 4 New York in Spanish that Alvarez had a drug problem but was seeking help.

"She was just trying her best to continue her life, and to show her family she was living a sober life," said a cousin of Alvarez who gave her name as Sonia. 

"She died horrible. And it's hard, really hard," said Zoraida Gonzalez, another cousin. 

Bonilla has 24 prior arrests since 1989, including for drugs and robbery.

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