The man police say stabbed a Carbondale man to death Sunday night was released from state prison five months ago after serving his maximum sentence for helping commit a burglary.
Court records show Joseph Cedeno's past also includes heroin use, domestic violence and being stabbed himself - by his own brother.
Mr. Cedeno, dressed in an orange-and-white striped jumpsuit, flip-flops and ankle shackles, was arraigned Monday night on charges he stabbed Dennis Doherty with a knife multiple times during a fight in a vacant lot this weekend, resulting in Mr. Doherty's death.
Mr. Cedeno, 145 W. Broad St., Hazleton, then took a white garbage bag containing cans of beer and a bottle of vodka from the victim, went to his mother's home, changed clothes and washed the knife, city police say in an arrest affidavit filed Monday.
Police found Mr. Cedeno, 37, at his mother's apartment, 15 Hospital St., Carbondale. Mr. Doherty, 28, died about an hour later at Mid-Valley Hospital. An autopsy showed nine stab wounds to his chest and back, Lackawanna County Coroner Tim Rowland said. The wounds cut into his aorta, heart, right lung and liver, Mr. Rowland said. The death was ruled a homicide.
Police charged Mr. Cedeno early Monday with aggravated assault, simple assault, robbery and recklessly endangering another person, then added homicide later Monday after the autopsy. He is being held without bail at Lackawanna County Prison.
It was unclear if beer and vodka were the motive for the killing, or whether it was rooted in past tension between the men.
Before the killing, police say, Mr. Cedeno asked his brother, Jonathan Sandoval, if he should kill someone.
Mr. Sandoval replied, asking who he meant.
"Dennis," Mr. Cedeno said.
Mr. Sandoval told his brother that "will not bring our brother James back," according to the affidavit.
James Spinelli, 25, another brother of Mr. Sandoval and Mr. Cedeno, died April 12, 2009, in a one-car crash on Business Route 6 in Archbald, police said. There were no passengers in his car and no other vehicles were involved, police said at the time. The relationship between Mr. Spinelli and Mr. Doherty was publicly unknown Monday.
Assistant District Attorney Shane Scanlon said investigators are still trying to piece together any past connections between the two men and the exact motive for the killing.
Police got a lead on the accused killer at the scene where the stabbing took place from Michael Spinelli, a brother of James Spinelli, Mr. Sandoval and Mr. Cedeno. Michael Spinelli told police Mr. Cedeno killed Mr. Doherty and fled to their mother's home.
At the home, police found Mr. Cedeno, who refused to talk and asked for a lawyer. They spoke to the mother, Louise Lambides, who told police Mr. Cedeno "admitted to just killing a guy," according to the arrest affidavit.
Louise Lambides said her son arrived home wearing jeans, a white tank top, a dark short-sleeve shirt, a light gray spring jacket and black-and-white sneakers, but changed after getting home. Police also found the alleged weapon, a knife that Mr. Cedeno washed in the kitchen sink, and the white garbage bag and its contents on the kitchen table.
Jonathan Sandoval and Michael Spinelli both told police Mr. Cedeno washed blood off the knife.
Mr. Spinelli also said Mr. Cedeno told him he "caught a body" - slang for killing someone - according to police.
Mr. Cedeno, known by the nickname "J Dog" in an earlier criminal case, was never charged with anything as serious as homicide before, according to state records.
In August 2005, police charged him with simple assault for hitting his ex-girlfriend and kicking her in the ribs, leaving her with a lump and cut on her left forehead. Visibly drunk during the beating, Mr. Cedeno fled when his mother said she was calling police, according to arrest papers.
He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. His sentence could not be determined, but he was free in June 2006 when Carbondale police officers found him on his hands and knees and wearing black-and-white pants in a Carbondale convenience store. He was looking at a napkin with writing on it.
"Mr. Cedeno appeared very (distraught) and unsure of himself," the officers wrote in arrest affidavit.
In his right front pants pocket, police found a folded piece of paper with a green skull and crossbones.
"Mr. Cedeno stated that it was heroin and he doesn't do it a lot," the officers wrote.
They charged him with heroin possession and public drunkenness. He was given a 90-day suspended sentence on the condition that he be evaluated for drug and alcohol abuse and follow any recommended treatment.
Three months later, he was in trouble again, getting arrested for a September 2006 burglary. He pleaded guilty to theft and was sentenced in May 2007 to two years probation, court records show.
The next time police encountered him, July 13, 2007, Mr. Cedeno was the victim.
His brother, Eric Bartholomew, 17 at the time, stabbed him while they were fighting. Mr. Bartholomew told police he stabbed his brother because he "doesn't like it when his brother wins a fight," police said.
Mr. Bartholomew pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and was sentenced to one to three years in prison.
Mr. Cedeno underwent surgery, survived and in January 2008, according to court records, joined another man in a burglary at a Carbondale home. They got caught when his accomplice sold a DVD player and PlayStation 2 video game machine they stole to a woman friendly with the burglary victim.
After a mistrial, he was found guilty at a second trial of criminal conspiracy for aiding a burglary and criminal trespass and sentenced in April 2009 to 18 months to three years in prison. Twice he was released into a halfway house only to be returned to a state prison for violations, a state Department of Corrections spokeswoman said. The sentence ended April 13 with Mr. Cedeno having served the full term.
Mr. Cedeno is slated for a preliminary hearing Oct. 1.
Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com