• 1

    The Victim Was First-Year Student Joao Souza

    The stabbing occurred on Sunday April 15 at approximately 10:30 P.M. in Windham Residence Hall on the Binghamton University Campus in Vestal. Joao was transported by Harpur’s Ferry Ambulance and was pronounced dead at Wilson Trauma Center. Souza, originally from Brazil, attended middle and high school in Rye Brook. Joao, who was an engineering major at BU, graduated from Blind Brook High School last year and was a standout soccer player who started on the varsity team for three years. Souza’s family was notified in Brazil and has asked for privacy.  

  • 2

    A Suspect Has Been Taken Into Custody

    Twenty-year-old Michael Roque from Massapequa was taken into custody on Monday evening for allegedly killing Souza and is being charged with second-degree murder. Police spent all of Sunday evening and a majority of the daytime Monday tracking down Roque who is currently being held in the Broome County Jail. Roque has pleaded not guilty and has been assigned a public defender.

  • 3

    No Motive Has Been Determined

    Authorities, who believe that the attack was not a random occurrence, have yet to determine a motive for the killing at this time.

  • 4

    It Was Student-on-Student

    Roque and Souza were both Binghamton University students and BU police have said that the two allegedly knew of each other.

  • 5

    This is the Second BU Student to be Murdered in Five Weeks

    Souza is the second Binghamton University student to be murdered within a five week period. Twenty-two-year-old BU nursing student Haley Anderson from Westbury, Long was killed 37 days prior to Souza. Anderson’s alleged killer, 22-year-old Orlando Tercero, was also a nursing major at BU and has been charged with murder. Tercero has been apprehended in Nicaragua, where he holds dual-citizenship, after fleeing the US but has yet to be extradited back to Broome County. Officials are unsure of when Tercero will return citing that the extradition process could take months or years.  

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