A crack addict choked his aunt to death in her bedroom after she awoke to find him rummaging for money to fund his drug habit, Long Island cops said yesterday.
Relatives of Sharon Kurtz, 48, became concerned Thursday after she failed to answer knocks on her locked bedroom door. Desperate, her brother forced it open and found her body on a bed.
Police initially thought that she may have died of natural causes, since there were no obvious signs of foul play at the Brentwood residence. But a medical examiner’s report issued Friday revealed that she had been strangled.
Detective Sgt. Edward Fandrey said the victim’s nephew, Kenneth Hubbard, eventually confessed to sneaking into his aunt’s room and strangling her when she awoke and confronted him.
Hubbard, 27, a reputed addict, was charged with murder and held without bail yesterday.