A 72-year-old Staten Island man has been arrested after authorities say he tried to buy a gun to kill his girlfriend, exactly 21 years after he was arrested in the death of his wife.
Charles Baeza was arraigned Friday after authorities said he tried to buy a firearm and silencer from an undercover detective on Thursday.
The Staten Island District Attorney said he was seeking to kill his 50-year-old girlfriend.
After his arraignment, Baeza claimed the whole thing was "just a joke."
Baeza was paroled in February 2010, after a 1992 conviction of first-degree manslaughter and felony criminal weapon possession related to the shooting death of his wife.
In that case, Virginia authorities pulled over Baeza on I-95 and discovered his wife's body in the car. The couple lived on Long Island.
That was on Aug. 18, 1990, exactly 21 years before his latest arrest.
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There was no immediate information about a lawyer for Baeza.
