West Side Binghamton Man Indicted for Murder, Arson
A 45-year-old man accused of viciously attacking two neighbors and then torching their Binghamton apartment house has been indicted on murder and arson charges.
Wilfredo Pica-Torres of 107 Walnut Street was named in a five-count indictment handed up by a Broome County grand jury.
Pica-Torres was indicted on charges of second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder. He also was indicted on three arson counts.
Police investigators have said Pica-Torres attacked 61-year-old Victor Banayan and a 27-year-old woman with a blunt object on February 9. Banayan died; the woman was seriously injured.
Detectives said after the man and woman were assaulted, Pica-Torres set a fire in the apartment house at 109 Walnut Street. The woman managed to get out of the burning house, as did four adults and three children who were in another apartment.
Investigators said Pica-Torres fled to a nearby house on Thorp Street, where he barricaded himself and started another fire. He was taken into custody when he emerged from the building.
Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com
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