NEW YORK — Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the sentencing of Edwin Faulkner, 33, and Juan Carlos Martinez-Herrera, 35, to 25 years-to-life in state prison for the 2012 murder of John Laubach in his Chelsea apartment. On October 21, 2015 a New York State Supreme Court jury found the defendants guilty of the top count in the indictment Murder in the Second Degree, as well as Manslaughter in the Second Degree, Kidnapping in the First Degree and Robbery in the First Degree.
“The defendants in this case displayed an utter disregard for human life,” said District Attorney Vance. “After kidnapping, murdering, and robbing John Laubach, they went straight to a bank and pawn shop in an effort to further profit from their crimes, before fleeing to Florida in an attempt to escape arrest. Thanks to the work of my Office’s prosecutors, they must now take responsibility for their horrendous crimes.”
As proven at trial, on the morning of March 2, 2012, Faulkner and Martinez-Herrera entered the West 22nd Street apartment of 57-year-old John Laubach. While inside the apartment, Faulkner and Martinez-Herrera bound and gagged Mr. Laubach, killing him.
The defendants later left the apartment in possession of the victim’s belongings, including a laptop computer, jewelry, and the victim’s ATM card. Subsequently, a concerned friend of Laubach’s discovered his body inside his apartment several hours after the defendants’ left the apartment.
At approximately 11:30 a.m. on March 2, 2012, video from a Chase Bank on 14th Street and 7th Avenue showed Martinez-Herrera unsuccessfully attempting to use the victim’s debit card to withdraw money from an ATM. The defendants then went to a pawn shop on 7th Avenue and sold a piece of jewelry belonging to the victim. On March 7, 2012, carrying three suitcases filled with the victim’s property, the defendants fled to Florida, where they were arrested ten days later.
