A 36-year-old man was found stabbed to death in a bathtub inside his luxury Queens high-rise apartment after being visited by several men — including one caught naked on the roof trying to destroy building security cameras, police sources said Sunday.
The sequence of events began when cops received a 911 call from victim Carlos Penzo’s cell phone 9:59 a.m. Saturday, the source said. Cops responded but couldn’t get in to the victim’s apartment in the high-end Hayden building in Long Island City.
“He was the best person in the world,” the victim’s devastated brother told the Daily News Sunday. “Ain’t no soul as great as his in this world. He was an angel on earth for my whole family.”
Rebecca White / New York Daily News
The Hayden apartment building on Hunter Street in Long Island City, Queens. (Rebecca White / New York Daily News)
At 12:35 p.m. Saturday, an alarm went off and building security discovered a naked man on the roof of Penzo’s 51-story building spraying a fire extinguisher at security cameras in an apparent attempt to destroy them, the sources said.
The naked man was then taken into custody by cops in a fourth-floor hallway where he was trying to break into the victim’s apartment, according to the sources. No charges against him were immediately filed.
Cops gained access to Penzo’s apartment and found blood in a bedroom and the victim sitting upright dead in a nearby bathtub with a knife and a Taser in his lap. He had suffered deep stab wounds and slashes to his face and head and had also been stabbed in the chest, police sources said.
There was more blood on his kitchen floor and a broken knife in the sink, the sources said.
Security video recovered by cops shows Penzo entering his building about 10 p.m. the night before with a man. An hour later, the person later taken into custody naked showed up and went into the victim’s apartment, the sources said.
Police think up to two other men may also have also been in the apartment.
Obtained by Daily News
Carlos Penzo, 36, was found stabbed to death in a high-rise apartment in Long Island City on Saturday. (Obtained by Daily News)
The building boasts 30,000 square feet of amenities including a basketball court, duplex fitness center, roof deck grills, a large lawn with a movie screen and multiple lounges.
Nobody else has been taken into custody as cops continue to investigate the homicide.
