TWO MEN CHARGED IN MURDER OF 93 YEAR OLD RIDGEWOOD MAN. BODY FOUND IN ROADSIDE DITCH IN PENNSYLVANIA

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced today the arrest of two men on charges of murdering a 93 year old Ridgewood man and dumping his body in a roadside ditch in Stroud Township, Pennsylvania last May.

District Attorney Brown identified the defendants as Steven Smelefsky, 34, of 1724 Gates Avenue, Ridgewood and Ruben Ortega, 44 whose last known address is at 1117 Willoughby Street, Brooklyn. They are charged with murdering Louis Thumudo, 93, of 1722 Gates Avenue during a robbery and kidnapping on May 12, 1998.

District Attorney Brown said, "The defendants allegedly laid in wait for Mr. Thumudo inside the garage where he parked his 1994 Ford Escort. They are accused of robbing him of his wallet, watch and other valuables, taping his ankles, wrists and mouth and wrapping him in a tarpaulin. They then allegedly threw him into the trunk of his car and drove off.

"This was a cowardly and brutal crime deliberately committed against a frail 93 year old. As a result of the trauma Mr. Thumudo sustained at the hands of these defendants, his heart failed which, it is alleged, the defendants intended would happen".

Mr. Thumudo's body was found in a ditch near a side road in Stroud Township, Pennsylvania on May 18, 1998. His automobile was found in Queens on May 16, 1998 in a parking lot in Middle Village.

The defendants are charged with intentional murder, felony murder, robbery and kidnapping. The defendant Smelefsky is charged with Murder in the First Degree under the state's 1995 statute which provides that within 120 days of the defendant's arraignment on an indictment, the District Attorney must decide whether or not to seek a penalty of death or life without parole if he is convicted. The defendant Ortega is charged with Murder in the Second Degree and faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

The investigation leading to the arrests was conducted by Detectives William Ingwerson and Thomas Marsigliano and Sgt. Beth Kohlman of the 104th Precinct Detective Squad and Detectives Brian Quinn and Richard McCabe of the Queens Homicide Squad.

Assistant District Attorney Robert J. Schwerdt, Deputy Bureau Chief of District Attorney Brown's Homicide Investigations Bureau, which is under the supervision of Peter T. Reese, and Assistant District Attorney Kevin Power of the same bureau are in charge of the case. The Homicide Investigation Bureau is under the overall supervision of executive Assistant District Attorney Gregory L. Lasak.