A Massapequa man was convicted Wednesday of killing a 30-year-old woman because she wouldn’t drop identity theft charges against his girlfriend four years ago.
A Suffolk County jury found David Newbeck guilty of second-degree murder and hindering prosecution. He was acquitted of criminal possession of a weapon.
Prosecutors said the 36-year-old man shot Mandy Jo Jenkins five times in a North Lindenhurst apartment she shared with her then-boyfriend on Aug. 23, 2010.
Newbeck wrapped Jenkins’ body in a tarp and dumped it near the Long Island Rail Road tracks in Lindenhurst, where police discovered the remains 42 days later.
Newbeck was apprehended two weeks later in Texas as he was boarding a flight to Central America. Jenkins’ boyfriend, 35-year-old Joseph DeFelice, was arrested in Palm Beach, Fla. a week prior to Newbeck’s apprehension.
DeFelice was also convicted last year of second-degree murder and hindering prosecution. He was additionally convicted of criminal facilitation. DeFelice is serving a 25-years-to-life sentence in an upstate New York prison.
Newbeck faces at least 27-and-1/3-years-to-ife in prison when he is sentenced June 23, which would have been the victim’s 34th birthday. His attorney reportedly plans to appeal the conviction.
Newbeck’s girlfriend, Jennifer Russini, has since been released from prison after serving time for identity theft.
