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3 In Custody In Virginia Tied To Discovery Of 2 Bodies in Rensselaer County

WAMC photo by Dave Lucas

Three men are being held in Virginia in connection with two bodies found a day apart in Rensselear County.

"I would just like to send a message out to the members of to the community of Troy.  Although the investigation is still unfolding, we are very confident this was an incident between acquaintances. It was not a random event and the community is not in any danger whatsoever."   Troy Police Chief John Tedesco reassuring citizens they are safe:  he said Thursday his department has confirmed three arrests were made in the murder investigation surrounding 23-year-old Javier Gomez, originally of Mexico, found dead in his Glen Avenue apartment Monday, and Christian Gonzalez Hernandez, whose body was spotted in a creek in a neighboring town Tuesday evening by a woman out walking a dog. It turns out the men were cousins and roommates.

Murder charges have been filed in Troy City Court. Court documents obtained by NewsChannel13 accuse each of the men of participating, stabbing Gomez a number of times, and hitting him over the head with a hammer.

Credit wikipedia.org
Although grilled by reporters during a Thursday press conference, authorities declined to reveal specifics of their continuing investigation including the timeline and the likelihood of additional arrests as well as relationships and motivations particular to the killings.

WNYT spoke with Ray Wall, who was acquainted with Christian Gonzalez Hernandez:   "I'd kinda tend to gravitate to him. And he was very welcoming. I'm just.. I mean I'm shocked, I'm kinda beside myself. When I heard that there was a fair amount of violence involved I ... it was very upsetting,

Wall told the station that the three arrested in Virginia were found in Hernandez's car:  20-year-old Luis Monge Guevara, of Clifton Park; 28-year-old Magdaleno Perez-Calixto, of Latham; and 21-year-old Salomon Najera-Hernandez, of Mexico, were arrested Wednesday afternoon. They are awaiting extradition; the process is scheduled to begin November 17th.

Local media reports cited law enforcement sources as saying the suspects are linked to the Rosewood Garden apartments in Latham and the Quality Inn in Colonie, both locations checked by forensics teams.

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.
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