2 KILLS, 1 QNS. KNIFER
Cops hunt ‘monster’ who claimed innocents in Christmas week
A soccer-loving saxophonist, stabbed to death in a late-night holdup near his Queens apartment while walking home from church, became the second victim of a knife-wielding madman in three days, police sources said Friday.
Benjamin Vasquez Bulux, 29, was stabbed repeatedly in the back and chest at about 11:10 p.m. Thursday while on the street near 89th Ave. and 150th St. in Jamaica, the NYPD said. On Tuesday night, just over 48 hours earlier, a 25-yearold man was fatally knifed by the same assailant about 2½ miles away in another street robbery, cops said.
“He’s got to be a f-----g monster to do that,” said the latest victim’s cousin, Adan Bulux, as the family mourned Benjamin’s murder just two days before Christmas. “To kill two people.”
Bulux was pronounced dead at Jamaica Hospital, the same facility where Andrew
Cunje died Tuesday night from multiple stab wounds in a robbery committed by the killer and a second suspect, police sources told the Daily News.
“I can’t even fathom that mentality,” said the first victim’s older brother, Adrian Cunje, after learning about the subsequent slaying. “We have to find who did this to him and that other person. Nothing would make us happier.”
In the Cunje stabbing, the two suspects wore black hooded sweaters and black jackets. Police released a video of the pair walking side by side along a sidewalk, both with their hands in their pockets.
Cunje was stabbed multiple times in the chest before the pair fled with his wallet and backpack, sources said. The fugitive killer was described by police as a lightskinned man.
Bulux’s cousin recalled him as a fan of both FC Barcelona and Major League Soccer’s NYCFC, recently crowned champions of the U.S. league. The victim, a cook at a Manhattan deli, was a regular churchgoer and a casual soccer player.
“He was active, always excited for everything,” said the cousin, who appeared stunned by word of the first stabbing. “No complaints about nothing. When we celebrated something, he always enjoyed.”
The earlier attack, at 197th St. and
Carpenter Ave. in Hollis, left the dying Cunje lying on the street a few hundred feet from home as the the suspects headed south around 8:40 p.m.
“He was literally the sweetest kid,” said sibling Adrian Cunje. “He was a softie, wouldn’t raise his hands to fight anyone. He was probably scared, frozen with fear.”
Adding to the family’s heartbreak, many relatives from Guyana and Canada had come to New York for a Christmas reunion.
“He was really looking forward to spending time with family,” said Adrian. “But that went out the window when he didn’t come home.”
Luis Medina, a building superintendent in Bulux’s neighborhood, said there was a stabbing about three months ago on the same corner where a local man was killed Thursday.
Police sources said it remained unclear if the second suspect was at the scene of the second murder.
Anyone with information about the suspects was asked to call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.