Illegal alien Manuel Delgado was found hanged in Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx on October 9th, authorities say. While the case is being ruled a suicide, the evidence also supports another narrative.
Delgado, 43, came to the US from Peru less than a year ago. When his family found out about a sexual relationship he was allegedly involved in with a teenage family member, they notified the police.
Investigators recorded a call from the teen to Delgado, wherein she told him she was going to the police. Delgado asked her to meet him at their usual spot in Pelham Bay Park. He was later found there hanging from a tree branch.
As reported by the New York Post, the evidence found there suggests any number of altercations:
He was found around 1:30 p.m. hanging from a tree, with cuts on his left forearm, neck and stomach, and investigators also found a 9mm shell casing nearby, sources said.
The man’s roommate told cops the victim previously texted him, saying he’d stabbed himself, according to the sources.
While suicide seems the most likely, Delgado's knife wounds to the forearm, neck, and stomach are common defensive injury bodily locations from a knife fight. Then again, he could have tried slitting his wrists, carotid artery, and stomach in seppuku fashion.
The 9mm shell found nearby is the most compelling piece of evidence. Absent a corresponding firearm, the brass would strongly imply that someone had taken a shot at Delgado, perhaps an angry relative. Then again, this being the Bronx, it is conceivable that the shell casing was unrelated to the crime scene.
While the police are choosing to support the suicide narrative for now, we are curious about the outcome of the investigation.
In any case, New York has one less alien mouth to feed.