Second man arrested in death of Danny Diaz-Delgado
TRENTON » A second man has been arrested and charged for his alleged role in the execution-style murder of 20-year-old Danny Diaz-Delgado in Hamilton last month.
Police hinted at the possibility of charging someone else in the grisly killing when they hit suspect Rufus Thompson, 29, with accomplice liability charges when he was arrested last month.
Another man, Akmal Alvaranga, 29, was arrested late last week at a South Cook Avenue home in Trenton and charged along with co-conspirator Thompson.
Police executed a search warrant at Alvaranga’s capital city home on Friday, but didn’t say what they may have recovered. Prosecutors didn’t provide details about Alvaranga’s alleged involvement in Diaz-Delgado’s slaying.
Both face murder, felony murder, robbery, kidnapping and weapons offenses stemming from the execution of Diaz-Delgado, who was found with his hands bound and mouth taped shut along the bank of the Assunpink Creek on March 24. He was shot multiple times in the head, torso and leg and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Thompson faces charges of third-degree trafficking in stolen property and receiving stolen property in an unrelated case.
In the theft case, Thompson is accused of stealing an iPhone 6 from a South Brunswick resident who had hired him to perform unspecified contract work and selling it at the new Walmart off Nottingham Way in Hamilton Township.
Authorities signed complaints against Thompson days before the heinous killing in which Thompson is accused of luring Diaz-Delgado into a Trenton alley in a twisted robbery turned murder plot on the bogus promise of selling him a Playstation 4.
Conversations Thompson allegedly had with Diaz-Delgado on Facebook Messenger in which Thompson went by the name “Ru Hunter” and “Ru Real Right,” helped authorities link him to the crime, according to court documents.
Thompson allegedly used pink duct tape and a severed power cord to bind DiazDelgado’s hands and further used pink duct tape to cover the victim’s mouth.
Authorities said Thompson used Diaz-Delgado’s banking info to withdraw $700 from an ATM in Trenton’s Roebling Market after Diaz-Delgado went missing.
On March 29, police searched a home on the 300 block of Ardmore Avenue where Thompson was known to live and found in the basement pink duct tape and a television lacking an electrical power cord, further linking Thompson to the killing, authorities outlined in court papers.
Thompson, who previously served time in state prison for burglarizing properties in Ewing and Lawrence, will remain jailed on pretrial detention until trial while prosecutors will seek to detain Alvaranga, who has prior convictions for eluding, burglary and attempted burglary, according to court records.
Staff writer Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman contributed to this report