2 charged in laundromat homicide

STAMFORD -- Just over a month after a beloved city man was beaten to death inside a Stillwater Avenue laundromat, police arrested two men in connection with the slaying, which police believe was a stunt to get noticed by a growing West Side gang.

Ivan Silva-Perez, 19, of 23 Ann St., Stamford, was charged Monday with murder in the commission of a felony, among other charges, for robbing and killing 50-year-old Jimmy DeCrescenzo the night of June 25.

A second man, 35-year-old Elmer Saenz-Machado, who police say Silva-Perez had enlisted to help in an attempted robbery of DeCrescenzo, was charged with felony murder, first-degree robbery and conspiracy.

The two men were arraigned in state Superior Court in Stamford on Tuesday. Judge Ken Povodator maintained their bonds at $ 1 million each and transferred their cases to the Part A docket where more serious cases are handled. They are scheduled to return to court Aug. 7.

DeCresenzo's body was found at about 1:30 a.m. the morning of June 26 inside Uncle Buck's Laundromat, where he ran a side business doing people's laundry.

Stamford Police Capt. Richard Conklin said Tuesday that Silva-Perez and Saenz-Machado had planned the robbery days in advance in hopes of getting noticed by MS-13, a Hispanic gang with a growing presence on the city's West Side.

"They wanted to join," Conklin said. "This was something they did on their own to get the approval of the gang. It was not something sanctioned by the gang."

Conklin said the suspects told police they didn't intend to kill DeCrescenzo, but the murder took place as a result of the trauma of the assault while the robbery was in progress.

In addition to the murder charge, Silva was charged with first-degree robbery; conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery.

Other charges Silva and Saenz-Machado are facing stem from a burglary done later that night and a street assault the two were involved in earlier in the evening, Conklin said.

Those charges include third-degree assault; first-degree unlawful restraint; conspiracy to commit first-degree unlawful restraint; third-degree burglaryl and conspiracy to commit third-degree burglary, police said.

Conklin said the detectives on the case, Sgt. Chris DeCarlo and investigators Angel Gonzalez, Shawn Boeger and David Rodriguez, worked hard to find DeCrescenzo's killers.

"There was really a lot of foot work," Conklin said. "These guys did a really good job speaking to the community and while investigating the homicide came up with these other crimes that occurred that evening that helped solve the homicide."

The community's love of DeCrescenzo also paid dividends during the investigation because people came to police with any information they could in hopes of helping to solve the crime, which is not always the case, Conklin said.

"We really appreciate that," he said.

In a news release, Stamford Police Lt. Diedrich Hohn said police determined several weeks ago that Silva, who is on probation from an earlier crime, and Saenz-Machado had been involved in the killing.

Silva had fled the area, but Saenz-Machado had already been arrested for the unrelated burglary and assault. Investigators spent several weeks trying to track down Silva-Perez before he turned himself in at police headquarters Monday.

Silva-Perez confessed to police that he was involved in the robbery/murder and said he had brought Saenz-Machado in to act as a distraction, Hohn said.

Silva-Perez was arrested Monday and held overnight on $ 1,075,000 bond. He and Saenz-Machado will be arraigned Tuesday at state Superior Court in Stamford.

DeCrescenzo's death was mourned around the neighborhood by friends who questioned why anyone would have harmed him. They said DeCrescenzo, 50, was not wealthy and probably had very little money when he was robbed.

Patricia Rowell, who has assumed DeCrescenzo's responsibilities at Uncle Buck's since the homicide, could barely contain herself Tuesday morning when told of the arrests.

Rowell, whose son Gregory was murdered in 1997 said of DeCrescenzo, "He was an awesome guy. Now he can rest in peace."

Conklin said the two received very little from the robbery. After the two left the Laundromat, the two then broke into the BP gas tation on the corner of Adams Avenue and W. Broad Street and took about $ 200 worth of tires.

Earlier in the evening, after a friend had been robbed on the street, the two went looking for the robbers. They caught one man and beat him and held him against his will, Conklin said. It turns out that the man they found had nothing to do with their friends getting robbed, Conklin said.

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