Murder charge seen in barrel slay
The super of a Brooklyn apartment building is accused of burning a corpse in a barrel, and police suspect the dead man was murdered over a love triangle.
Derek Whitaker, 53, lit the dead man ablaze in the basement of the Bedford-Stuyvesant building where his mother still lives, and where residents say he works as the super, police allege
Cops are still waiting for a formal death certificate, but police sources said the victim was shot in the head. His name has not been released.
Whitaker is charged with arson, concealing a corpse, hindering prosecution and witness tampering — and he’s likely to be charged with murder, a police source said.
Firefighters encountered Whitaker Monday afternoon as they responded to a 911 report of someone burning a corpse in the basement of an apartment building in Brooklyn, said cops.
Whitaker let the firefighters through a bolted door into the building on Jefferson Ave. near Marcus Garvey Blvd. in BedfordStuyvesant.
Firefighters found the burning barrel, with the body stuffed inside. Whitaker ran off, but cops nabbed him a short distance away. Cops took him to the 81st Precinct stationhouse.
One neighbor, who saw police arrest Whitaker, said he lives in Westchester County with his wife.
When asked about the body in the barrel, the neighbor said, “It must be over his wife,” but didn’t elaborate.
Police suspect the victim might have been shot outside the city. Surveillance video shows someone pushing into the building a cart holding the barrel, sources said.
Whitaker might have had an accomplice, the sources added.
Sources said Whitaker has 19 prior arrests, including for robbery. A number of the arrests are sealed.
Whitaker’s brother, Dwayne, told the Daily News Wednesday night that he’s still in the dark about the arrest.