A Pennsylvania man accused of carrying out a brutal triple murder is now facing additional charges after prosecutors say he executed a couple and drowned their infant son in a lake because the child’s mother refused to leave her husband for him.
Berks County District Attorney John Adams announced Monday that Jose Luis Rodriguez, 61, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the killings of Geraldina Peguero-Mancebo, 30, her husband Junior Cabrera-Colon, 33, and their 1-year-old son, Jayden.
Rodriguez, who had already been charged in Cabrera-Colon’s death, allegedly confessed to police that he shot Peguero-Mancebo in the head before discarding her body, later throwing the child into a muddy lake while he was still alive.
“She did not want to leave her husband,” Rodriguez told investigators, explaining why he carried out the killing after financially supporting her.
According to investigators, Peguero-Mancebo was last seen on Sept. 12 getting into a white Nissan Quest registered to Rodriguez while holding Jayden. Cellphone tracking placed them at East Huller Lane, where Rodriguez admitted he planned her execution.
Police say Rodriguez shot the woman “in the back of the head” before driving to dump her body. He then placed Jayden in his vehicle, drove to another location, and tossed the baby into a lake. An autopsy confirmed mud in the child’s lungs, proving he was alive at the time of submersion.
Rodriguez later led police to the alleged murder weapon, a 9 mm handgun, which had previously been reported as “lost in shipping” by UPS in June.
Authorities believe the mother and child were killed before Cabrera-Colon. The father was discovered dead on Sept. 13 with a gunshot wound to the head near Baer Park in Reading.
Rodriguez told police he and Peguero-Mancebo had an intimate relationship in which he provided her with financial support, including rent payments. When she insisted she would not leave her husband, he claimed he became “infuriated” because she “was constantly taking his money.”
Legal Proceedings
Rodriguez is being held in Berks County Jail without bond. His charges include:
- Three counts of first-degree murder
- Three counts of third-degree murder
- Two counts of abuse of a corpse
- Possession of an instrument of crime
- Tampering with evidence
- Carrying a firearm without a license
He is scheduled to appear in court on October 3.
A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to raise funds to return the victims’ remains to their native Dominican Republic. The couple is survived by three other children, aged 8, 10, and 13.
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