{"id":76531,"date":"2025-12-20T15:06:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T15:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/76531\/"},"modified":"2025-12-20T15:06:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T15:06:09","slug":"exclusive-man-who-choked-a-cabbie-to-death-in-ny-to-settle-score-is-an-illegal-immigrant-guatemala","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/76531\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive | Man who choked a cabbie to death in NY to settle score is an illegal immigrant Guatemala"},"content":{"rendered":"

The man who allegedly confessed to strangling a cabbie in a fare dispute and then dumping his body in a city reservoir upstate<\/a> is an illegal migrant from Guatemala, The Post has learned.<\/p>\n

Santos Paulino Vasquez-Ramirez illegally crossed the border in 2013 at Hidalgo, Texas, under President Obama, and later ignored a final removal order issued in 2016 under the first Trump administration, according to sources and US Department of Homeland Security officials.<\/p>\n

He \u201cshould\u2019ve never been in our country in the first place and provided the opportunity to gruesomely take the life of Aurelio Zhunio-Orbez,\u201d Assistant Secretary of DHS Tricia McLaughlin told The Post.<\/p>\n

Santos Vasquez-Ramirez, 27, smiled for the camera at a hearing in Putnam County on Thursday. J.C. Rice<\/p>\n

\u201cOpen border policies have deadly consequences. ICE lodged a detainer with local authorities to ensure this criminal illegal alien is never allowed back into American neighborhoods. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, ICE is targeting the worst of the worst,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

In a tragic irony, the cabbie was a legal immigrant from Ecuador.<\/p>\n

The accused killer \u2014 who was photographed by The Post last week grinning in the back of a patrol car \u2014 has at least three prior arrests on his rap sheet, including two DWIs and a criminal mischief for breaking a deli window, according to the Putnam County Sheriff\u2019s Office. <\/p>\n

Vasquez-Ramirez, 27, confessed to barbarically throttling Zhunio-Orbez, 65<\/a>, in a chokehold after the hack picked him up at the Brewster MetroNorth station in Putnam County, according to the county sheriff\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

The two didn\u2019t know each other personally but coworkers said Vasquez-Ramirez had hired the victim \u2014 who drove for a car service \u2014 several times in the past, and the two apparently beefed over a recent fare. A trip from the Brewster MetroNorth station to the suspect\u2019s home in Pawley costs about $40.<\/p>\n

Aurelio Zhunio-Orbez was strangled to death in a dispute allegedly over cab fare on Dec. 1, according to police. Tribute Archive<\/p>\n

On Dec. 1, some time after 11 a.m., Vasquez-Ramirez hired the cabbie \u2014 but this time settled the score, cops said.<\/p>\n

After allegedly killing the Connecticut father of four in his black Toyota Sienna, authorities said Vasquez-Ramirez dragged the victim\u2019s body into the woods near the Croton Falls Reservoir, which is part of NYC\u2019s water system.<\/p>\n

He then stole the cabbie\u2019s minivan and abandoned it near the Purdy\u2019s MetroNorth station, cops said.<\/p>\n

A fisherman found Zhunio-Orbez\u2019s body a week later, floating in the massive reservoir.<\/p>\n

Vasquez-Ramirez allegedly stole Zhunio-Orbez\u2019s Toyota Sienna after dumping his body in the woods. facebook\/putnamsheriffny<\/p>\n

Zhunio-Orbez worked for Orbe\u2019s Taxi Service, which is owned by his cousin Homero Orbe, who mourned his loss. \u201cI never had a brother. He was like a brother to me,\u201d Orbe said. \u201cIt hurts my soul that he had to die like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The driver and fare had an unusual interaction, Orbe said. <\/p>\n

\u201cOne driver, who was working that day, told me it took a while until [Vasquez-Ramirez] got into the car. The driver saw Santos walking up to the window of the car, he talked to Aurelio \u2014 they were negotiating something, and then he walked off again,\u201d Orbe said. \u201cBack and forth for a while. Until Aurelio oepend the automatic door, the guy got in and they left.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zhunio-Orbez was remembered as a God-loving man who enjoyed
spending time watching Western films and playing with his dog. Facebook\/City of Danbury Police Department<\/p>\n

The exact details of the dispute are unknown, but colleagues said Zhunio-Orbez, a missionary leader at his local Mormon church, was not the type to fight over a fare.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe once told me about a female customer who had lost her wallet and couldn\u2019t pay her fare he said, \u2018Ok, mamacita, don\u2019t worry,\u2019\u201d a female cabbie, who chose to remain anonymous, told The Post.<\/p>\n

Vasquez-Ramirez \u2014 who being held at the Putnam County Jail on murder and robbery charges \u2014 is known amongst cab drivers in Brewster, many of whom, like Zhunio-Orbez, wait for commuters at the local MetroNorth station.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a regular client. Our cab company also drove him, but we never had any issues with him,\u201d the female driver said.<\/p>\n

Some neighbors feared the suspect. \u201cI don\u2019t want MS-13 gang members to come after me,\u201d one said before shutting their door.<\/p>\n

The Putnam County Sheriff\u2019s office said that Vasquez-Ramirez has no known gang ties.<\/p>\n

Zhunio-Orbez worked as a cab driver in the northern suburbs for the past four years while living with his family in Danbury, according to an obituary<\/a>. He loved country music, watching Western films, and playing with his dog. He is survived by life partner and the mother of his kids Irene Fernandez, four children, one grandchild, and six brothers and sisters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The man who allegedly confessed to strangling a cabbie in a fare dispute and then dumping his body…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76532,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3410,57,238,9,56,63,65,64,4893,5260,58],"class_list":["post-76531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-illegal-immigrants","tag-metro","tag-murders","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-taxi-drivers","tag-taxis","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76531\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}