A law enforcement official says detectives are continuing to look for the landlord to question him in connection with the stabbing death of a 39-year-old Queens woman who was found dead in the bathroom of his apartment.
Police went to 6527 Seaspray Ave. in the Rockaways after getting a 911 call at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to the official. When they arrived at the home, they met the dead woman's husband, who told officers he hadn't seen or had contact with his wife since Sunday.
He also told police he saw stains that looked like blood on the stairway leading up to his landlord's apartment on the second floor.
Police found Karla Shah Boguwalski dead in a pool of blood, partially wrapped in a tarp, in the bathroom of the landlord's apartment. She had been stabbed seven times in the neck, according to the medical examiner.
She also had trauma to her head. A source familiar with the medical examiner's results said it appears Shah Boguwalski was struck in the head, lost consciousness and was then stabbed several times.
Shah Boguwalski worked as an ESL teacher at P.S 43 in Far Rockaway, according to the Department of Education.
"They only just got here," neighbor Phillip Coxon, president of the homeowner's association, said of Boguwalski and her husband. "We didn't get a chance to know them or to include them in the community, which is the most important thing we can do. That way, we can spot some of these things, maybe, before they start to happen, and maybe do something to prevent it."
Police say her husband has cooperated with authorities as they continue to look for the landlord, Keith Howard.
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Howard's son, who answered the door at their home, did not want to speak to reporters but said his father was not home.
An attorney representing the landlord and his wife has reached out to detectives, but his whereabouts remain unknown.
Frankie Feliciano, who has lived next door to the Howards since 1996, was floored by the allegations.
"He seems like a nice guy," he said. "We don't talk much, but he was always messing around with his garden."
The investigation is ongoing.
