Carmello DeJesus

Carmello DeJesus (1934 – September 8, 1973) was a Puerto Rican serial killer who committed suicide in 1973, leaving behind a suicide note in which he confessed to the murders of four women in New Jersey and Florida from 1971 to 1973. Three of his purported victims were subsequently identified and their cases closed, but the fourth remains unidentified to this day.

Prior crimes Little is known of DeJesus' background. Born in Puerto Rico sometime in 1934, he moved to the mainland United States sometime afterwards and quickly garnered a reputation as a gambler and career criminal with a short temper. According to the FBI, he had a rap sheet dating back to 1960, with convictions in both New Jersey and Florida for burglary, gambling, possession of stolen property, assault and escaping from prison on two separate occasions.

Murders DeJesus' first known murder occurred on September 17, 1971, in Bridgeton, New Jersey. On that day, he broke inside the home of a girlfriend, Octavia Lloyd, who attempted to chase him off. During the scuffle, DeJesus pulled out a gun and shot her through the chest, killing her. By the time neighbors found her body on the back porch, he had managed to get into his car and drive away before abandoning it near Woodstown, where he stole another car and fled. A few days later, DeJesus was indicted in absentia for Lloyd's murder and several offenses related to the break-in.

On January 5, 1973, DeJesus was living in a motel in Delray Beach, Florida, where he was kept company by 30-year-old Sandra Lee Postell (also known as Sandy Lee Barbery). Under unclear circumstances, the pair got into an argument which resulted in DeJesus slitting Postell's throat with a knife before fleeing the crime scene. He then moved to Camden, New Jersey, where he became acquainted with 40-year-old Milagros Inez Pena, a single mother-of-two who lived in an apartment with her 23-year-old son. On September 1, while Pena's son was visiting some friends for the weekend, the pair got into an argument that soon turned violent, with Pena seemingly attempting to escape the residence. Before she could do so, however, DeJesus shot her once through the heart, killing her instantly. Pena's body was found by her daughter two days later. An autopsy concluded that the bullet had pierced through her right upper chest and then exited through her back, but the coroner could not determine what caliber the weapon was.

Suicide The day after Pena's body was found, an arrest warrant was issued for DeJesus, as he was considered the sole suspect in her murder. On that day, a pair of teenagers found his body in a field outside the town, with his gun, a partially-consumed bottle of whiskey and a Spanish-language Bible next to the body, with a suicide note tucked between the pages of the Bible.

Upon examination, it was determined that the suicide note was addressed to DeJesus' mother and siblings back in Puerto Rico, and in it, he expressed remorse for his actions and that he would end his life to prevent himself from killing anybody else. These inquiries proved unsuccessful, and the fourth victim's identity remains unknown.