CARMEL – Court papers released Wednesday indicate that Brewster taxicab driver Aurelio Zhunio Orbez was murdered within a half hour after picking up accused killer Santos Vasquez-Ramirez at the Brewster Metro-North Railroad station on December 1.
The body of the 66-year-old Ecuadorian native was found by a fisherman floating in the Croton Falls Reservoir in southern Carmel one week later and within days, the Putnam Sheriff’s Department announced the arrest of the 27-year-old Pawling man on charges of murder and robbery.
After allegedly beating and strangling his victim, authorities allege Vasquez-Ramirez dumped the cabbie’s body and drove the taxi to the Purdys Metro-North Railroad station in North Salem before abandoning the vehicle.
Sheriff Brian Hess said Vasquez-Ramirez confessed to investigators from his department, indicating he had been a passenger of Zhunio Orbez’s in the past and the homicide occurred because of a dispute over the taxi fare.
Vasquez-Ramirez, who is represented by the Putnam County Legal Aid Society, is held without bail at the Putnam Correctional Facility awaiting grand jury action.
Meanwhile, well wishes and prayers continue in memory of the taxi driver.
Brewster Mayor James Schoenig described Zhunio Orbez as “a dedicated and beloved taxi operator in our community. As a longtime member of Orbe’s Taxi Service, Aurelio served our residents with professionalism and care, safely transporting passengers each day to and from their destinations. On behalf of the Village of Brewster, I extend my deepest sympathies to those who knew and loved him. As a community, we are left to mourn Aurelio’s loss as we cope with this senseless violence.”
Zhunio Orbez was also remembered as a “man of faith and respected member of the Danbury immigrant community,” by family members who added, he was “joyful, compassionate and deeply empathetic to the suffering of others.”
Two online fundraisers to help pay for his funeral have raised more than $25,000.
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