Murder suspect made stunning confession to roommate
TRENTON >> Jeffrey VasquezCalderon confided in a roommate that he “did something bad,” authorities outlined in newly released court documents.
Vasquez-Calderon, 37, faces a murder rap in connection with the brutal slaying of his East Windsor neighbor, 30-year-old Luis Sanchez.
Sanchez, stabbed repeatedly, was discovered outside on the patio by his roommate around 8:30 a.m. Feb. 27.
Detectives wrote in an affidavit of probable cause that the two Bennington Drive neighbors spent the night together at a nearby lounge. Cops found a pair receipts at the grisly scene, near Sanchez’s body.
They were from the Exit 8, a local bar and liquor store, where the two men made purchases at 1:08 a.m. and 1:47 a.m. that same morning, according to the affidavit.
Detectives reviewed surveillance tape from the bar and spotted the two men on it leaving together.
One of them – who turned out to be VasquezCalderon – was wearing a light-colored hooded Polo sweatshirt, a green-striped Polo shirt, dark pants and dark sneakers.
Sanchez and VasquezCalderon were captured leaving around 2:10 a.m. and driving away together in Sanchez’s vehicle, the complaint stated.
Sanchez’s roommate identified the mysterious man accompanying Sanchez as “Flaco,” the cops said, telling them they had worked together at Diversified Rack and Shelving in the township.
Hot on the chase, cops spoke with a manager there who told them he believed Flaco’s real name was Jose Vasquez, and that his girlfriend was also employed by the company.
Cops spoke to the girlfriend who told them her boyfriend’s real name was actually Jeffrey Vazquez. She also informed them he lived on the same block of Bennington Drive as Sanchez.
She recalled receiving a message from VasquezCalderon about being the last person to see Sanchez alive, according to the complaint.
She informed the detectives that Vasquez also worked at the Cranbury Inn.
Detectives tried to track down Vasquez-Calderon at the hotel, but came up empty, until a manager phoned them later in the night and told VasquezCalderon had arrived.
Detectives who encountered Vazquez noticed he had with him a black lunch bag that had “reddishbrown” stains,” the complaint states.
Cops wrote they also found a light-colored hooded zip-up sweatshirt in the dumpster behind the hotel.
Vazquez identified himself as the man leaving the Exit 8 with Sanchez, and admitted he and Sanchez left the bar together and drove to Sanchez’s home, according to the complaint.
But, apparently trying to explain away the suspicious stains and his strange shedding of the clothes, he claimed he left Sanchez to get beers from his home, and when he got back, found Sanchez face-down on the ground.
He claimed he got blood on his clothing when he picked up Sanchez, and admitted using water to try to wash the blood off his sweatshirt, before ditching it, along with his sneakers, in the dumpster.
He got rid of his pants in another dumpster at another job, the complaint states.
Armed with a search warrant, detectives turned up more evidence at VasquezCalderon’s home.
They found suspected blood on the screen door and a knife with a wooden handle on the kitchen counter, the court docs stated.
Also, they found a black bag containing gray pants, with “reddish-brown stains,” stashed in the dishwasher.
Detectives interviewed Vazquez’s roommate who told them he asked her to “get rid of specific items from the basement,” the affidavit said.
She admitted moving a black bag and putting it in the dishwasher and moved the knife from the sink to the counter.
She also mentioned to detectives his bizarre incriminating comment.
Left out of the complaint was any possible motive for the slashing.
Vaszquez-Calderon, who was initially picked up by ICE agents and held in Essex County on an immigration detainer, was extradited to Mercer County for a detention hearing.
He was ordered detained until trial, a county spokeswoman confirmed.