Jennifer Millman

Bronx Pastor Indicted in Killing of Estranged Wife Whom He Ran Over, Stabbed With Machete in Front of Grandchildren: DA

Victor Mateo allegedly parked his car outside his estranged wife's Throgs Neck home on October 3 and launched the brutal attack in front of her grandkids

What to Know

  • A Bronx pastor was indicted for allegedly killing his estranged wife by running her over and hacking her with a machete, the DA says
  • Victor Mateo was arraigned and charged on Tuesday with murder, manslaughter, criminal possession of a weapon and child endangerment
  • Mateo allegedly parked his car outside Noelia Mateo's Throgs Neck home on October 3 and launched the brutal attack in front of her grandkids

A Bronx pastor has been indicted in the brutal killing of his estranged wife in which he ran her over, then stabbed her repeatedly with a machete in front of her grandchildren, the district attorney says.

Victor Mateo was arraigned and charged on Tuesday with murder, manslaughter, criminal possession of a weapon and child endangerment, Bronx DA Darcel Clark said.

Mateo allegedly parked his car outside the Throgs Neck home of Noelia Mateo just before 7 a.m. on October 3, according to investigators. When she left the home on Ellsworth Avenue to drive two of her grandchildren to school, Mateo struck hit her with his car, then ran her over with her own car that she tried hiding underneath, investigators said.

As she was on the ground after getting hit, Mateo went back to his car to retrieve a machete, which he hacked her with multiple times in front of her 11-year-old grandson and 9-year-old granddaughter, the DA said.

Neighbors up and down the Throggs Neck road came out of their homes after hearing the crashes and the woman's screams, with some witnessing the horrific final act of evil the ex-husband allegedly unleashed on the victim in front of her grandchildren.

They say the apparent killing happened after some sort of argument, though the details of that fight weren't immediately clear. 

He then fled the scene in his estranged wife's vehicle. In a joint effort by U.S. Marshals and the Pennsylvania State Police, Mateo was apprehended in Hazelton, Pennsylvania, on October 10 and extradited back to New York.

The 63-year-old Mateo was remanded, and is due back in court on January 22, 2020. He is a pastor at the Christian Congregation The Redeemer Church in the Bronx.

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