A 26-year-old Saint John man has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of his wife, whose body was found on a west side street early Christmas Eve morning.
Diego Alejandro Osorio Angarita appeared in a Saint John courtroom on Friday morning.
His wife, 30-year-old Nicsy Arboleda Rodriguez, was found fatally injured on Lancaster Avenue on Dec. 24.
A translator helped Angarita through the court process Friday, and duty counsel Shanna Wicks requested the case be adjourned without election to give him time to find a lawyer.
Provincial court Judge Andrew Palmer set the case over until Jan. 24.
Crown prosecutor Chris Titus objected to Angarita’s release in the meantime.
Palmer then told Angarita that he could request a bail hearing through the Court of King’s Bench.
Victim worked at restaurant
Police previously said first responders were called at 4:10 a.m. on Christmas Eve about an unresponsive woman lying in the 600 block of Lancaster Avenue.
Emergency first aid was given, but the woman was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Rodriguez and Angarita were from Colombia and has worked at Casa Latina for about seven months, according to Rodrigo Rea, the restaurant’s owner.
He said both worked under his wife’s direction in the kitchen.
“They were the leaders of it,” Rea said. “My wife is the chef. They were sous chefs, so they were an important part of the kitchen.”
Rea called the couple “nice” and “hard working.” He said he “never saw any issue with them.”
Saint John police say a 30-year-old woman was found unresponsive in the 600-block of Lancaster Avenue the morning before Christmas. (Roger Cosman/CBC)
“We’re devastated because we didn’t see that coming,” he said.
Rea said he had hoped to hear more details by attending Angarita’s court appearance.
“I wanted to know more but we didn’t hear anything.”
He said the couple were alone in Saint John, so he’s been dealing with both families back in Columbia.
Rea said he also helped set up a GoFundMe page to help pay to get Rodriguez’s body back to her family in Colombia.
“I was the one to set up the account under Diego’s name because I didn’t want to touch the money,” Rea told reporters outside the courtroom on Friday.
He said the police have promised to help redirect the money to her family.
Arrested Thursday
Angarita was arrested by police on Thursday.
He appeared in court in a grey hoodie with an NBA logo on front. His hair was cut short and he was sporting a patchy beard.
As he looked around the courtroom, he shook his head briefly when he met the gaze of people he knew, including Rea, who were sitting in the front row.
Rea said he first heard about what happened to Rodriguez on the morning of Christmas Eve, when Angarita phoned him after the police arrived at his Market Place residence.