29 YEAR OLD MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER IN LONG BRANCH MAN’S DEATH

Victor Garzon-Alvarez, also known as Victor Sanchez-Gonzalez, whose last known address was 326 Willow Avenue in Long Branch, was charged Wednesday night with First Degree Murder, Fourth Degree Unlawful Possession of a Weapon and Third Degree Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose.

On January 3, 2013, at approximately 4:30 p.m., Long Branch Police responded to a basement apartment at 326 Willow Avenue after receiving a call from one of the tenants about an unknown, deceased male, who was located inside the dwelling. Manuel Vilaseca-Cortez, 39, a Long Branch resident, was pronounced dead by Dr. Karluk from the medical examiner’s office. The medical examiner confirmed that Vilaseca-Cortez died as the result of several stab wounds that he had received.

A joint investigation involving the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit and the Long Branch Police Department was initiated and information developed during the investigation led police to seek the whereabouts of Victor Garzon-Alvarez, who was one of the tenants of the basement apartment where the victim was discovered. With the assistance of the United States Marshals’ Fugitive Task Force, Garzon-Alvarez was apprehended Wednesday working at a house in Brielle where he was taken into custody at approximately 1 p.m. Garzon- Alvarez was charged after the investigation revealed he knew the victim and invited him back to his basement apartment on Willow Ave. back on January 1. At some point the two had a dispute and Garzon-Alvarez stabbed the victim with a knife that he carried, and then left him in the apartment.

Victor Garzon-Alvarez’s bail was set at $1,575,000 with no ten percent option by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge James J. McGann. Garzon-Alvarez was placed in the Monmouth County Jail in lieu of bail.

The investigation of this matter is ongoing. Anyone with additional information relating to this investigation should contact Detective Jose Cruz of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office at 732-431-7160 Ext. 3520 or Detective Michael Decker of the Long Branch Police Department at 732-222-1000 Ext.5392.

Despite these charges, every defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, following a trial at which the defendant has all of the trial rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and State Law.