A New York City woman was apprehended on Tuesday in the cold case murder of her girlfriend. The 41-year-old woman, Wanda Veguilla, is accused of murdering her girlfriend and dumping her body in a wooded area of Westchester County 10 years ago.
According to authorities and reports, Wanda allegedly shot her girlfriend, Pamela Graddick, in the back of the head in the Morris Avenue apartment they shared with Wanda’s children in 2012. She then disposed of the body in Yonkers with the assistance of a male accomplice named John Torres.
Wanda got the gun from Torres, who was 20 at the time, and another person who delivered it to her in a paper bag, The Journal News reported.
According to the news outlet, Torres and the third suspect helped the accused murderer wrap the dead body in a plastic bag then put it inside a vehicle and drive it out of New York City over the border into Westchester.
On Sept. 4, 2012, Graddick, 26, was found dead wrapped in plastic in an area adjacent to the Sprain Brook River Parkway, Yonkers Police Department said.
“The passage of time only reinforces our commitment to solving these heinous crimes,” Commissioner John J. Mueller said in a statement. “I hope that these arrests bring some degree of closure to Pamela’s family and friends; and I applaud the extraordinary efforts of our Cold Case Detectives in closing out this case after so many years – well done!”
Wanda has been a suspect since the murder but the case went cold until recently when she finally confessed to the murder during an interview at Yonkers police headquarters, the News said. It is unclear how the station got her to confess.
Wanda was apprehended in January this year and is charged with second-degree murder in addition to tampering with physical evidence, according to Westchester County District Attorney Mimi Rocah’s office. Torres is facing charges of criminal facilitation, hindering prosecution and tampering with physical evidence.
