By Jill Harmacinski
Staff Writer
June 24, 2008 12:15 am METHUEN — A grand jury has indicted a reputed gang member on a charge that he murdered a Methuen man last February who is remembered by friends and family for his kindness and charitable work. Christian Almonte, 25, of 32 Union St., North Andover, is expected to be arraigned in Superior Court in about two weeks in connection with the fatal stabbing of William Escobar, said Steve O'Connell, spokesman for District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett. Previously convicted of stabbing a Lawrence youth, Almonte had been out of state prison for just three months when Escobar, 41, was found stabbed to death in his 175 Haverhill St. apartment on Feb. 24. Law enforcement authorities have not revealed a motive for Escobar's slaying. Almonte, also known as "King Joker," was never arrested and arraigned at the District Court level in connection with Escobar's death. Instead, the case was put before an Essex County grand jury and the indictment was issued last Friday. Without identifying Almonte, Methuen police last month said they had a "person of interest" in the case, but were awaiting DNA results from a state crime lab. However, Almonte was arrested and was being held on $100,000 cash bail in connection with a carjacking and robbery in Lawrence. Escobar, a Salem, N.H., warehouse and delivery worker and parishioner at St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Lawrence, was found dead in his apartment by his roommate, Zehair Gomez. Officers who arrived first on scene said Escobar "sustained several superficial wounds to his upper torso area," according to a police report released yesterday. He was pronounced dead by paramedics at 10:45 p.m., according to the report. The night of the killing, police also discovered Escobar's tan Toyota Camry was missing from his apartment parking lot. The following night, a Lawrence man and two teenage girls from Haverhill were arrested at a Winter Street doughnut shop in Escobar's car, but none of the three were ever implicated in Escobar's killing. All three were charged with receiving a stolen motor vehicle, and the Lawrence man was additionally charged with driving without a license. Almonte also faces a charge of larceny of a motor vehicle, but it was unclear yesterday if it was Escobar's car. Shortly before Escobar's death, police said Almonte was involved in the bloody carjacking of a 41-year-old Lawrence man. The man was seriously hurt, suffering a head injury, which required surgery, and broken teeth. Almonte and an accomplice were accused of pointing a gun to the victim's head, robbing, and threatening to kill him as he walked out of Crown Chicken on Broadway in Lawrence. Almonte, armed with a semiautomatic handgun, and the other man forced the victim into his car, yelling "Kill him," over and over, according to court papers. The victim was beaten as he tried to fight back. He escaped from his car and ran to a nearby house for help. Meanwhile, family and friends have described Escobar as a lovable man, who regularly attended noon Mass on Sundays at St. Mary of the Assumption Church. Every weekend, Escobar would shine the tabernacle — the case on the altar where the consecrated bread and the wine are kept. He also visited the Dominican Republic several times per year, often distributing rosary beads. A neighbor said Escobar regularly cooked Spanish meals, rice, beans and pork, and would share them with others in the building. Escobar was a 14-year warehouse and delivery employee of Worldcom Exchange, a Salem, N.H., computer firm. Staff reporter Jill Harmacinski can be reached at 978-946-2209 or by e-mail at JHarmacinski@eagletribune.com.
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