N.J. Man Charged in Slaying of Area Woman

One day after leading investigators to her body, a computer programmer was arraigned Wednesday in New Jersey in the stabbing death of a Monterey Park woman he met over the Internet.

Kevin Lee, 32, of Jersey City was held in lieu of $350,000 bail after a courtroom appearance in which he did not enter a plea in the slaying of Elaine Sonia Carrillo.

The naked body of the 31-year-old mother of two was recovered Tuesday in an isolated part of Jersey City’s Library State Park along the Hudson River, opposite Manhattan, authorities said.

Carrillo, who was stabbed numerous times in the chest, had flown to New Jersey for the weekend to see Lee, said authorities, who added that the couple had become romantically involved after meeting via e-mail.

Authorities allege that when Lee and Carrillo hit the New York City club scene Saturday night, the relationship turned deadly.

“Something happened at the nightclub Saturday night . . . and he then killed her. It may have been jealousy,” said Daniel J. Gibney, chief of investigators for prosecutors in Hudson County, where Jersey City is located.

Lee had reported Carrillo missing about 2 a.m. Monday, saying she disappeared after two men she met at a New York cafe came back to his apartment, Gibney said.

Lee said that one of the men tried to sexually assault Carrillo, that a fight ensued and that he was hit on the head.

He told police that he woke up 20 hours later in a ditch in Harrison, about 15 minutes away from Jersey City, Gibney said.

However, detectives were skeptical of Lee’s account and obtained a search warrant for his apartment.

Investigators found Lee’s car in Harrison and discovered at his apartment what looked like the scene of a struggle, Gibney said.

Shortly before noon Tuesday, while at his parents’ home across the state, Lee slashed his wrists and forearms and was rushed to a hospital in Trenton.

“At the hospital he made incriminating statements and told us where to find the body,” Gibney said.

Investigators said that based on initial evidence they have alleged that Carrillo was murdered by Lee in his apartment and then placed in a car and taken to the weeded underpass in Liberty State Park.

Carrillo, a computer industry worker, and Lee are believed to have met face to face for the first time a few weeks ago in Los Angeles, Gibney said.

Authorities said Lee is a freelance computer programmer who works for various firms and had no criminal record. His parents live in a middle-class suburb of Trenton.

Monterey Park police said they are assisting New Jersey authorities with their investigation but declined to provide further information.