Sept. 3, 2002 – A man charged recently in connection with a series of sexual assault incidents in the Tutu area now faces additional charges of first-degree murder and rape. Jeffrey Warner, incarcerated at the Bureau of Corrections, was re-arrested on Monday night by Major Crime Unit detectives in connection with the 1999 death of Yadira Corona.
According to law-enforcement sources, Warner's arrest capped a three-year investigation, WVWI Radio reported on Tuesday. He was being held without bail on the new charges on Tuesday.
On April 10, 1999, Corona's nude body was found slumped outside the Midas Auto Service Experts shop in Tutu Park Mall by customers approaching the shop. An investigation determined that she had been raped and strangled.
Police officials have never said whether it appeared that Corona had been killed at the shop site or at another location. Nor would they comment Tuesday on Warner's arrest. But police said on Tuesday that fingerprints lifted from the scene were later matched to Warner's and that a DNA specimen taken from the woman's body also matched Warner's.
Corona, a native of Santo Domingo, worked in the bakery at the Plaza Extra supermarket in the mall. Her boyfriend, Reyad Hamdan, had reported her missing at 2:45 a.m. on the day her body was found. He said he was to have picked Corona up the night before at the mall, but she was not there when he arrived. Hamdan said he notified police after searching for her at the homes of friends and family members.
Warner's initial court appearance in connection with the murder and rape charges was scheduled before Territorial Court Judge Ive A. Swan.
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