Homicide: New York, Dick Wolf’s latest docuseries on Netflix, shows viewers one of the most macabre crimes in the American city. But what happened to the murderers Daphne Abdela and Christopher Vasquez?
The creator of New York: Special Forces tackles a real-life crime in the Big Apple, this time tackling one of the most disturbing cases to hit New York. The Homicide series on Netflix examines cases spanning decades, observed through the eyes of those who solved them.
Episode 2, titled “Murder in Central Park,” focuses on a 1997 assassination: that of real estate agent Michael McMorrow. Found dead and mutilated in one of the park’s iconic lakes, those working on the case were far from suspecting that those responsible were two teenagers.
Warning: this article contains spoilers from episode 2 of the series Homicide on Netflix
Who are Daphne Abdela and Christopher Vasquez and what happened to them?
Daphne Abdela and Christopher Vasquez are the murderers of the man found disembowelled in Central Park: today, they are free and live their lives discreetly.
Both were released in 2004, with Daphne Abdela returning to prison to serve a full sentence after violating her parole. She is supposed to be free again.
Daphne Abdela and Christopher Vasquez were both 15 years old when police arrested them for one of the city’s most extreme murders. According to the docuseries, Daphne Abdela grew up in a privileged environment, which would explain her superiority complex.
On May 23, 1997, the young girl called the police to report the presence of a body in the lake in Central Park. The police quickly went to the scene to discover a trail of blood and a mutilated body in the waterhole.
Michael McMorrow was then found murdered and mutilated: his hands were cut, his abdomen cut open, and his body showed several other stab wounds. It was after a thorough investigation that the police discovered the involvement of Daphne Abdela and her boyfriend, Christopher Vasquez.
The two teenagers were sentenced to six years in prison and were released in 2004. Former assistant district attorney Richard Planksy said he had no idea whether Christopher Vasquez would reoffend. On the other hand, Daphne Abdela did it again, attacking a person, which made her return to prison.
According to the New York Post, the last information we had on her was in 2009, when she filed a lawsuit for injuries in a car accident.
Homicide has been available for streaming on Netflix since March 20, 2024.
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