Squatters beat woman to death and stuffed her in bag in NYC apartment: NYPD

MANHATTAN, N.Y. (PIX11) --- Two squatters allegedly beat a woman to death and stuffed her in a duffel bag in the closet after she walked in on them in her dead mother's Manhattan apartment last week, authorities said.

Police found Nadia Vitel, 52, in the closet with her footing hanging out of the bag in the 19th-floor apartment at 206 East 31st St. in Kips Bay at around 4:30 p.m. on March 15, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny. The woman had several facial fractures, a brain bleed, two broken ribs and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Vitel may have been dead for a few days before he family urged the building superintendent to check on her, police said. Her son made the initial gruesome discovery after sweeping the space.

"The (victim's) son opens up the closet door near the front door and discovers a duffel bag," Kenny said.

The apartment had been vacant for a few months since the victim's mother passed away. Vitel was in town from Spain to set it up for a family friend before she was brutally killed, police said.

"We believe that some squatters took the apartment over and this woman came home to get this apartment set up and walked in on the squatters that were there," Kenny said.

The squatters, a man a woman, were spotted on surveillance video coming in and out of the building and neighbors heard the garbage chute opening and closing the day of the murder, Kenny said. Authorities found the Vitel's belongings in the garbage in the basement.

It was unclear how the squatters gained access to the unique building where the elevator acts as the apartment's front door, Kenny said.

After the attack, the suspects allegedly stole the victim's Lexus and fled to Pennsylvania, where they crashed the car. But local police did not run the plates until finding the abandoned car the following day, police said.

The squatters were last seen on surveullance video trying to buy a new car for $1,000 at several Pennsylvania dealerships, according to Kenny.

There have been no arrests. A murder weapon was not recovered.

Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the New York City area for more than a decade. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here.