Transit police in New York City apprehended a guy carrying a date rape drug at Penn Station in connection with the finding of a dead woman put in a suitcase near an apartment complex on suburban Long Island.
Ronald Schroeder, 41, pleaded not guilty to charges of hiding a human corpse and possessing methamphetamine and GHB at his arraignment on Saturday, according to court documents.
The victim, Seikeya Jones, 31, was found with her wrists and ankles bound inside a suitcase abandoned on Nassau Road in Huntington last week, according to Newsday, citing prosecutors’ courtroom remarks. That’s around 40 miles east of the city.
Schroeder, whose stated residence is in an apartment building next to the suitcase, did not present in court owing to illness, according to the tabloid, but prosecutors claimed he offered a “detailed admission” after detectives allegedly discovered the aroma of human remains in his home.
Judge Jennifer Henry remanded Schroeder without bail, and he is expected back in court on Thursday. Jones’ relatives reported her missing on August 16.
According to a statement from the Suffolk County Police Department, a 911 caller reported unusual behavior in the woods outside the Huntington apartment building on September 3.
Responding cops discovered the suitcase, and investigators later identified Jones as the victim. Schroeder was apprehended by Metropolitan Transportation Authority police at Manhattan’s Penn Station at 2 p.m. Friday on an outstanding drug warrant, according to authorities.
Then they added possession of a restricted substance charge after allegedly discovering gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, widely known as the date rape drug GHB.
As of Monday morning, police have not announced the cause and manner of Jones’ death. Additional charges seem expected.