D.A. BROWN: NIGHTCLUB CHEF GETS 18 YEARS FOR KILLING WIFE WITH STEAK KNIFE INSIDE THEIR WOODSIDE RESIDENCE IN FRONT OF 3-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced today that a former Manhattan nightclub chef has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of his wife last August as their 3-year-old daughter stood nearby.

District Attorney Brown said, “The defendant has been convicted of the brutal murder of his wife whom he stabbed multiple times in a fit of anger. His actions were violent and ruthless and have left his young daughter deeply and permanently traumatized and facing a life without her mother’s love and guidance. The defendant has now been held accountable for his crime and will serve a lengthy prison term.”

District Attorney Brown identified the defendant as Louis Roberto Jara Coello, 31, of 46-01 67th Street in Woodside, Queens, a former chef at a Manhattan nightclub. The defendant pleaded guilty on November 29, 2005, to Manslaughter in the First Degree before Queens Supreme Court Justice Randall T. Eng, who presided at today’s sentencing.

The District Attorney said that in pleading guilty the defendant admitted that, during a verbal dispute inside their residence at 46-01 67th Street in Woodside on the morning of August 28, 2005, he stabbed his wife, Fanny Anguisaca, 29, a hairdresser, multiple times with a six-inch steak knife in her abdomen and chest, causing her death. The victim had separated with her husband three weeks prior to the incident.

District Attorney Brown said that the couple’s three-year-old daughter was awake and present inside the residence at the time of the incident. Fortunately, she was not physically injured. The defendant fled the scene with his daughter and shortly after quit his job of eight years without citing a reason. The knife was recovered at the scene.

The investigation was conducted by Detective Joseph Bey of the NYPD’s 108 Precinct’s Detective Squad under the supervision of Lieutenant Salvatore Salerno, Commanding Officer.

Assistant District Attorney Jennifer L. Naiburg of the District Attorney’s Homicide Trials Bureau prosecuted the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Jack Warsawsky, Deputy Bureau Chief, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Charles A. Testagrossa and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Daniel A. Saunders.