CARMEL – Putnam County residents were shocked by the brutal murder of a 66-year-old Brewster taxi driver last December after a fare dispute; the victim’s body later found in the Croton Falls Reservoir in Carmel.
The man convicted of killing Aurelio Orbez, an Ecuadorian native from Danbury, CT was sentenced Wednesday in Putnam County Court to 21 years to life in prison.
Police said the death resulted when Santos Vasquez-Ramirez, 28, got into a physical altercation with Orbez inside the cab at the Brewster Metro-North Railroad station on December 1 over a previously unpaid fare and killed him.
The body was found floating in the reservoir by a fisherman one week later and within days, the Putnam Sheriff’s Department announced the arrest of the Pawling man on charges of murder and robbery.
After allegedly beating and strangling his victim, authorities said 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 Orbez’s in the past and the homicide occurred because of a dispute over the taxi fare.
At sentencing, District Attorney Robert Tendy said, “in less than one week, our law enforcement partners identified Vasquez-Ramirez as a suspect, tracked him down, and arrested him for this senseless murder. The men and women of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and, notably, members of the Westchester County Police and MTA, conducted a perfectly executed investigation that resulted in a timely prosecution, guilty plea, and lengthy state prison sentence. The way this case came together and how Vasquez Ramirez was swiftly brought to justice is truly remarkable. It was great police work.”
The family of Aurelio Orbez spoke at the sentencing before Judge Anthony Mole and delivered an emotional statement to their father’s killer.
“We do not know whether you will ever care about the pain you caused. But there is something you need to know: you did not only kill Aurelio. You took our father from us; you took away years we still had left to live with him, conversations we will never have, and moments we will never be able to recover.”
Recalling Orbez’s famous empanadas, his son William added, “That simple memory means a great deal to us because it speaks to the way he brought people together, shared with others, and gave something made with his own hands. Our father had flaws, like any human being, but his life cannot be reduced to the violent way it ended. He was a person with history, dreams, work, relationships, and a family that loved him. His absence has left a space that no one can replace.”
Tendy added that “justice will never fully be served for the loved ones of Mr. Aurelio Orbez. Their pain is palpable. This murderer took away a husband, father, uncle, and respected community member. There is a hole in the Orbez family, and in the community, that will never be filled. This is truly a tragedy.”
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