Latest news with #Villaquiran
Miami Herald
12-03-2025
- Miami Herald
Hungarian who overstayed visa, charged with Miami, Miami Beach murders, pleads not guilty
The Hungarian man charged last month with murders in Miami and Miami Beach after overstaying his visa waiver pleaded not guilty to the charges during a brief court hearing Wednesday morning. Zsolt Zsolyomi, 26, wasn't present as his attorney Arthur McNeil made the plea before Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Ramiro Areces. A tentative trial date has been set for May 12. Zsolyomi is charged with killing two older men two months apart and trying to cover up the murders. He was taken into custody on Feb. 19 after a seven-month odyssey that included charges of robbing a woman of $50 and a brief visit to the Krome Detention Center after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement discovered he'd overstayed a visa waiver by more than two years. Carlos Alonso Villaquiran, 66, was discovered face down in six inches of bathtub water in his Miami Beach apartment in November. And Rodolfo Fernandez de Velasco, 71, was found dead in his vehicle with the driver's side seat belt fastened tightly around his neck after his car careened into a fence in Miami in January. Police believe Zsolyomi tried to cover up both murders, which were staged to appear as accidents. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner determined both deaths were caused by strangulation. During a press conference after Zsolyomi's arrest, Miami Police Chief Manuel Morales and Miami Beach Chief Wayne Jones stopped just short of calling Zsolyomi a serial killer. They said they had little doubt he would have killed again and were concerned there may be other victims. Feds had man who overstayed visa, but let him go ICE records indicate Zsolyomi entered South Florida from Hungary in October 2022 on a 90-day visa waiver, but failed to leave as it expired at the end of the year. He wasn't on anyone's radar until April 2024 when the Broward Sheriff's Office charged him with petit theft and he gave the fictitious name Thomas Kray. In July of last year, police say, Zsolyomi committed another offense, this time robbing a woman on a Miami Beach trolley of $50. The woman and others on the trolley gave chase and pinned Zsolyomi just outside a Lincoln Road store, then called over a police officer. ICE records show the agency finally took custody of Zsolyomi on Sept. 6, 2024. He was taken to Krome, fitted with an ankle monitor and released through the Alternatives Detention Program. Two weeks later Homeland Security's Intensive Supervision Appearance Program alerted ICE that Zsolyomi's monitor had been tampered with. He had somehow managed to disable the monitor. ICE said Zsolyomi was notified and told to report, but 'he absconded.' On Sept. 25, Zsolyomi's case was referred to ICE's Fugitive Operations Unit. He remained a ghost for another two months, until he was identified after the November murder of Villaquiran in Miami Beach. He was also identified running from Villaquiran's stolen vehicle after a crash the evening the Miami Beach man was killed. Still, police and ICE couldn't find Zsolyomi until a month after the January murder of Fernandez de Velasco in Little Havana, which police say was staged to look like a car wreck, but was actually a strangulation. Zsolyomi has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder and grand theft auto. His case is expected to go before a grand jury which could up the charge to first-degree murder, a charge that could come with a death sentence.
CBS News
20-02-2025
- CBS News
Hungarian national accused of murdering 2 men in Miami Beach and Little Havana, arrest warrant says
MIAMI — A Hungarian national is facing murder charges after two separate death investigations in Miami-Dade County found him to be the person responsible, an arrest warrant said. Zsolt Zsolyomi, 25, was arrested Wednesday night on the charge of second-degree murder for his alleged involvement in death investigations coming out of Miami Beach and the Miami neighborhood of Little Havana. Zsolyomi, a reported Hungarian national, is currently being held without bond. The Miami Beach murder The case that put Zsolyomi behind bars began as a homicide investigation in Miami Beach back in November. Just after 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 21, Miami Beach Police were told of a dead man found inside an apartment on 1010 Pennsylvania Ave. Once officers arrived, they met with the man's family and identified the victim as 66-year-old Carlos Alonso Villaquiran. According to the warrant, Villaquiran's family became concerned about his well-being when he didn't show up to work that morning. They repeatedly tried to contact his phone to no avail before heading to his apartment to check on him. The family then knocked on his front door but still got no response, so they borrowed a spare key from the property manager and entered the apartment. Once inside, the family quickly found Villaquiran in the bathroom, "unresponsive and not breathing," the warrant said. The family then called 911, prompting police and Miami Beach Fire Rescue to respond. Despite paramedics' arrival, Villaquiran died at the scene. Per Miami Beach Police procedures, homicide detectives were assigned to investigate. When detectives arrived, they found Villaquiran "face down in the bathtub with his head and upper body partially submerged in approximately 6.5 inches of water," the warrant said. The warrant also noted that Villaquiran was an amputee of his right leg below the knee. It did not specify how he partially lost his leg and the initial examination of his body did not reveal any exterior trauma. The initial investigation revealed that a Nest camera mounted on the second floor near the building's stairs captured a man — later identified as Zsolyomi — wearing dark clothing and a baseball cap, entering and exiting Villaquiran's apartment numerous times between 9:30 and 11:30 p.m. the night before his body was found. The final time Zsolyomi is seen exiting the apartment, he's seen locking the door with a key and no other people are seen interacting with the apartment after that moment. Villaquiran's brother told police that he didn't see his brother's car — a 2002 Honda CRV — parked in its usual space and couldn't find it anywhere nearby. Following a search of its license plate, investigators found that Villaquiran's car was last seen driving west on the MacArthur Causeway just after 11:55 p.m., at least 20 minutes after Zsolyomi was last seen at the apartment. It was also revealed that Villaquiran's car and house keys were missing from the apartment, the warrant said. The next day, the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Department performed an autopsy on Villaquiran's body, which revealed that he had died of "homicidal violence to include strangulation" after the medical examiner found that he had sustained internal trauma to both sides of his neck, a fractured left rib and a broken hyoid bone — a small bone located in the front of the neck and below the jaw. The revelation led to the suspicious death being ruled as a murder. During a forensics search of Villaquiran's iPhone, detectives found a lengthy text conversation between him and another man named "Thomas," showing clear signs that they had an "intimate relationship" and would frequently meet at Villaquiran's apartment. However, their focus quickly turned to one conversation in particular. Detectives discovered a conversation where the two men agreed to meet on Halloween at Villaquiran's apartment before going out on Lincoln Road. Detectives then reviewed surveillance video from that time, which showed Villaquiran and "Thomas" leaving and returning to the apartment on Halloween. They also found photos of the two together from that night, showing "Thomas" wearing an ankle monitor, the warrant said. As their forensics investigation continued, detectives found that several days after Halloween, the texts between the two men became "contentious" where Villaquiran accused "Thomas" of assaulting him and stealing his property. "[Villaquiran] is seen saying 'I can't believe what you did to me and what you took from me,' and then sending 'Thomas' a picture of a prominent injury to his right eye," the warrant said. The warrant continued, saying that "Thomas" had first denied causing the injury before saying "Sometimes I don't know what I do when I'm drunk" and apologized repeatedly to Villaquiran. Villaquiran is then seen asking "Thomas" repeatedly to return his phone and property before filing a police report. "Thomas" then responds by asking him not to call the police and if he can come over to the apartment to return Villaquiran's items. However, Villaquiran denied "Thomas'" request, saying he was afraid of him and "does not want to see him ever again," the warrant said. Further examination of the texts revealed that Villaquiran had discovered that "Thomas" was just an alias for Zsolyomi, telling him that he knew his real name and that he would be going straight to the police with the new information to report the assault and theft. Upon further review, detectives then learned that Zsolyomi is a Hungarian national who is currently listed as an "illegal overstay" by Customs and Border Protection and was fixed with a GPS ankle monitor after he was released from custody following a Miami Beach arrest in July 2024. The warrant said that Zsolyomi told police his name was "Thomas Kray" at the time of this arrest. After cross-referencing his phone number with the number "Thomas" was using, detectives further confirmed that they were the same man. During the investigation, detectives also learned that Villaquiran's Honda was involved in a hit-and-run on the night of his murder at the intersection of SW 13th St. 22nd Ave. in Miami, where witnesses claimed they saw a man who resembled Zsolyomi exiting the car and running away from the crash. Detectives then went to the tow yard where Villaquiran's car was stored and brought it to Miami Beach Police's forensics lab, where they processed fingerprints that matched Zsolyomi's. The Little Havana death On Jan. 20, Miami Beach Police detectives were then advised of another case coming out from Miami, where the City of Miami Police were investigating a suspicious death that happened the day before. According to initial reports, a dead man was discovered sitting in the driver seat of a car found near NW 2nd St. 14th Ave. in Little Havana. The man's death was determined to be a murder by the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Department. According to the warrant, surveillance video from a nearby home caught a man, who resembled Zsolyomi, getting out of the car's passenger side, jumping over the vehicle and running away. After processing fingerprints found on the car, investigators were able to determine that it was Zsolyomi. After cross-referencing pictures and fingerprints from both the Miami Beach and Little Havana murders, police obtained a warrant for Zsolyomi's arrest and took him into custody on Wednesday night.
