New York Post, Tuesday, August 6, 2019
nypost.com
HEARTBREAKING: Joseph Por-
ter fatally stabbed girlfriend Karen
Bermudez-Rodriguez (together
above) and her employer, David
Kimowitz (inset), hours after she
broke up with him, police say.FacebookBreakup slaughter
By CRAIG McCARTHY, KEVIN
SHEEHAN and KATE SHEEHYA New Jersey nanny broke up
with her boyfriend just hours
before he fatally stabbed her
boss, then chased her down a
street in leafy Maplewood and
killed her as well, authorities
said Monday.
The new details emerged as
court papers revealed that Jo-
seph Porter — who is accused of
knifing Karen Bermudez-Rodri-
guez and her employer, Manhat-
tan comedy-club boss David Ki-
mowitz — was later nabbed at
an airport while trying to flee to
Cancun, Mexico.
The brooding beau, 27, of Eliz-
abeth, NJ, apparently snapped
after receiving multiple textsfrom Bermudez-Rodriguez, 26,
between 1:30 a.m. and 2 a.m. Sat-
urday insisting that they were
through, according to the court
documents.
He had recently been seen
spying on her from outside Ki-
mowitz’s home, where she lived
with the club owner and his wife
while taking care of their two
young daughters, who were
away for the weekend at the
time, neighbors said.
In one of the predawn texts,
the au pair demanded back her
keys to the Kimowitz’s home.
Porter “texted back that he
was upset’’ by her messages, au-
thorities said.
Following his arrest, Porter al-
legedly told cops that sometime
before 6 a.m., he used the keysto sneak into the family’s home
in the quiet, high-end suburb,
walked to the second-floor bed-
room, picked up a knife and
stabbed Kimowitz to death.
A female voice could be heard
from inside the home scream-
ing, “Oh, my God! Oh, my God!
Oh, my God!’’ a neighbor said.
Porter then allegedly bound
Bermudez-Rodriguez’s hands
with tape — but she was able to
escape the home and run down
the road.
She got a few hundred yards
before Porter caught up with
her and allegedly stabbed her
with a different knife.
One or both of his victims ap-
parently put up a fight — Porter
had “visible scratches on his
arms and neck’’ when police col-lared him, the court papers say.
A neighbor who heard fighting
outside and saw Porter attacking
the au pair called police around
6 a.m., cops said.
Surveillance video from a
nearby home caught Porter
chasing the nanny, who died
within the hour at a hospital.
Kimowitz, who ran The Stand
near Union Square, was found
dead at the scene, with the knife
used to kill him next to his body.
Porter was intercepted by
cops at Newark Liberty Interna-
tional Airport.
A law-enforcement source
told The Post that Porter’s
mother ad given him $800 for
the plane ticket, although it’s
unclear if she knew he was try-
ing to abscond after the crime.The city’s chief administrative
judge, who was caught on video
berating and cursing at a female
police officer at City Hall last
year, has retired, officials said.
Fidel Del Valle, commissioner of
the Office of Administrative Trials
and Hearings, retired this month.
His last day was Aug 2, according
to city officials.
The acting commissioner is now
Tynia Richard,
who previously
was deputy com-
missioner and
general counsel
at OATH.
“Tynia brings a
great deal of in-
stitutional knowledge of OATH’s
40-year mission, having already
enjoyed a long and successful ca-
reer at the agency since 2003, first
as an administrative-law judge in
the Trials Division and then as
OATH’s general counsel,” City
Hall spokeswoman Laura Feyer
said. “We are excited to have her
serving with this administration
in this new role.”
Del Valle (inset) was accused of
flying off the handle after NYPD
personnel asked him for identifi-
cation when he was entering City
Hall on Nov. 13, 2018. Rich CalderCop-curse
judge quits
Environmental groups and one of
France’s largest labor unions called
Monday for stronger measures to
ensure cleanup work at fire-rav-
aged Notre Dame Cathedral does
not expose workers and nearby
residents to unsafe levels of lead.
The Paris regional administra-
tion suspended the job of cleaning
up the famed Paris cathedral last
month under pressure from labor
inspectors concerned about
health risks from the tons of lead
that burned in the April fire.
The administration planned to
resume work this week with
stricter procedures. But reps from
environmental groups and the CGT
union said they don’t think the
safety measures go far enough. APToxic fears at
Notre Dame
An Afghan policeman in the
southern province of Kandahar
opened fire on his colleagues, kill-
ing seven other policemen before
fleeing, a provincial official said
Monday. The Taliban claimed the
attack, saying the policeman had
joined their ranks.
The deadly shooting is the latest
“insider attack” against the Af-
ghan police or military. AP7 Afghan cops slain
PR high court to take on Senate suit vs. gov
Puerto Rico’s Supreme Court on
Monday agreed to rule on a lawsuit
that the island’s Senate filed in a bid
to oust a veteran politician recently
sworn in as the island’s governor.
The court gave all parties until
Tuesday at noon to file all neces-sary paperwork, noting that no ex-
tensions will be awarded.
The lawsuit seeks a preliminary
injunction ordering Pedro Pierlu-
isi to cease his functions immedi-
ately and also asks that the court
declare unconstitutional a 2005law that states a secretary of state
does not have to be approved by
both House and Senate if he has to
step in as governor.
“We are a people of LAW and
ORDER,” Senate President
Thomas Rivera Schatz wrote in aFacebook post. “There is no cir-
cumstance that places someone
above the Law.”
It is unclear how quickly the Su-
preme Court might rule or
whether it would hold a hearing
or issue a written opinion. AP