A judge set bail at $5 million Thursday in the case of two New Jersey men who buried a woman alive in a shallow grave.
41-year old Fatima Perez was robbed and murdered May 12 by her landscaper, Carlos Alicea-Antonetti, and his employee, Ramon Ortiz, for the $8,000 in cash she was carrying to buy a car.
Perez had asked Alicea-Antonetti, 36, to accompany her during the purchase. According to the landscaper, who was also a friend of the Perez family, he and Fatima began arguing after he picked her up in his van. He claimed that Perez fell out of the van, but voluntarily reentered the vehicle.
Alicea-Antonetti alleges that he picked Ortiz up, and together they tied Perez up, and duct taped her mouth and eyes. The two men then dug a shallow grave, and buried the mother of two alive.
In Ortiz's version of events, Alicea-Antonetti picked him up with Perez already tied up and gagged in the back of the van. Ortiz said he dug the grave, lime was poured over her body, and she was covered with leaves and branches while she was still alive. He maintained that he was just following his boss' instructions.
Perez's family filed a missing persons report on Monday, and told police that she was last with Alicea-Antonetti. The men were found near the Express Inn Hotel in Cherry Hill Township, and Ortiz led authorities to her body.
The medical examiner classified the cause of death as homicide by asphyxiation.
Perez leaves behind a 21-year old daughter and a seven-year old son. Her family is devastated by the loss.
"I just don't understand," Perez's sister, Vanessa Castro told New Jersey News.
"Why my sister? She didn't hurt anybody. She would never hurt anybody."
If the men are convicted on the first-degree murder charges, they will face a life sentence. New Jersey law forbids capital punishment.
