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Mar 19, 2008 11:38 am US/Eastern
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Man Accused In Attorney's Death In Broward Jail
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
The man accused of murdering his estranged wife's best friend and then dumping her body in a Plantation canal is behind bars in Broward County where he will face charges.
During a hearing Monday morning in Miami Dade, a judge ruled that 44-year old Tony Villegas, accused in the murder of attorney Melissa Britt Lewis, 39, was to be held without bond pending his extradition to Broward County to face murder charges. Villegas was arrested Saturday at his sister's house in Miami.
Villegas will have a bond hearing Wednesday or Thursday.
Earlier this week in a Miami Dade courtroom, Villegas' attorney Michael Walsh, waived the extradition hearing, saying his client could not wait to return to Broward to prove his innocence.
"We want to get him up there as quickly as possible so we can show that he was set up," said Walsh.
Monday Plantation Police reported that forensic tests indicated Lewis died of strangulation.
"We have overwhelming evidence that has led us to him," said Plantation police detective Phillip Toman. "Our lead investigator referred to this as good old fashioned police work."
According to Walsh, police reportedly have several pieces of evidence against Villegas which they plan to argue was planted to make him look guilty.
CBS4 has learned that evidence against Villegas includes one of Lewis' stolen cell phones that police tracked to an apartment where Villegas had been staying. Investigators also reportedly found a Google search for the words 'pepper spray' on Villegas' computer. Villegas' attorney said his client received a call from someone after the murder, a person he's refused to identify, who asked how to get pepper spray off the hands.
Plantation police investigators said they found pepper spray inside garage of Lewis' home; they believe Villegas killed her inside the garage and then dumped her body in a canal near Pine Island Road and State Road 84.
Police have not released a motive as to why Villegas may have killed. Lewis who worked with Debra Villegas at the law firm of Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler in Ft. Lauderdale.
Villegas' sister, Irada, said her brother was a wonderful man, a wonderful father, who has never been in trouble with the law. One of Villegas' long time friends, Luis Castineiras, said he can't believe Villegas could have committed the crime. He said 3 days before his arrest, he talked with Villegas about going to an auction to look at a motorcycle he was interested in purchasing. He said it was a normal conversation about 'guy stuff' and there were no hints that anything was wrong.
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