A Queens tenant and his roommate, doing their landlord’s bidding, put on face paint, broke into their neighbors’ apartment and went on a bloodthirsty rampage with hook knives – leaving two brothers disfigured and on the brink of death, a prosecutor said yesterday.
David Robles, 37, and Danny Machuca, 29, climbed the fire escape into brothers William and David Lavery’s Ithaca Street apartment, where they each grabbed a victim and tried to cut their throats, Assistant District Attorney Valerie Batista told the jury at Robles’ attempted-murder trial.
“With evil in their hearts and murder on their minds, the defendant and his accomplice viciously attacked William and David Lavery while they were asleep,” Batista said.
The men were arrested shortly after the March 4, 2003, incident. Machuca pleaded guilty to attempted murder. Batista said landlord Juan Basagoitia, whose case is still pending, hired the duo for the hit.
Batista said Robles was up to $2,100 behind on his rent when Basagoitia offered to clear the debt and give him $2,500 for getting rid of the brothers, who were paying just $400 for their two-bedroom unit.
“Money is what this case is about,” Batista said.
Defense lawyer Kathleen Gallo argued that her client, a truck driver, was suffering from sleep deprivation when he made his admission to cops and was actually home at the time of the slashings.