Detectives have arrested a Bronx man who allegedly killed and dismembered his roommate the day after the victim’s 46th birthday, leaving several burned body parts in a shopping cart beneath a Yonkers Metro-North station, police said Friday.
Muhammad Aadil, 40, is charged with murder, manslaughter, drug possession and concealment of a body for killing and dismembering Lutalo Henderson in early August at the couple’s apartment on Rogers Place near Dawson Street in the South Bronx.
Police said he and another suspect dismembered Henderson’s body at the apartment and then transported some of the body parts from the South Bronx to Yonkers, where she was found burned beneath a Metro-North railroad station.
The pair then loaded the body parts onto a Metro-North train, disembarked at Yonkers, and set the bodies on fire.
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Lutalo Henderson, 46, had been missing since the horrific discovery was made on August 5.
Police have charged Adil, who was seen in the Bronx on Friday morning, with Henderson’s death. A source familiar with the case said he had already been charged with murder and manslaughter and had a warrant out for his arrest.
When police detained Aadil, he was in possession of a huge amount of drugs, sources said.
The eerie mystery began when firefighters responded to a call of a fire under the Oak Street Bridge in Yonkers just after 2 a.m. on August 5. After putting out the blaze, they made a shocking discovery: a charred and limbless body.
Police quickly recovered video footage from the nearby Mount Vernon West Metro-North station that showed two people rolling the body.
Investigators painstakingly traced her journey from where the first body was found to an apartment on Rogers Place, about 13 miles away.
Google Maps
This eerie mystery began just after 2 a.m. on August 5, when firefighters responded to a call of a burning object under the Oak Street Bridge in Yonkers (pictured). After putting out the blaze, they made a shocking discovery: a charred, limbless corpse. (Google Maps)
When investigators raided the apartment, they found Henderson’s severed hand in a pot of bleach, as well as some of his teeth, which had been removed to mislead investigators.
The garbage bag in the freezer contained at least one human leg.
“Whoever committed the crime wanted to do everything in their power to prevent the victim from being identified,” former New York City Police Commissioner Terry Monahan told NBC New York after the incident was revealed.
“The purpose of removing an individual’s teeth, hands or feet is to prevent identification. If you remove the hands, you can’t check their fingerprints. If you remove the teeth, you can’t look at their dental records to verify who the individual is.”
Emma Seywell/New York Daily News
District Attorney’s Office officials and other law enforcement walk through an alleyway in a Rogers Place building in the Bronx where body parts were found, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. (Emma Saywell/New York Daily News)
It was not immediately clear how Henderson died before his body was dismembered, with sources listing the cause of death only as “homicidal violence.”
Police sources said they found a handgun, as well as heroin and cocaine, in a bedroom of the apartment.
Henderson had been missing since the horrifying discovery was made on August 5, the day after her 46th birthday.
“I’m not ok but I am trying for my family,” his sister posted on Facebook after authorities informed her he was the victim in August. “I love my brother so much. I feel like a part of me has been lost and I am angry. I pray they find the people who did this to him. May God have mercy on their souls.”
Pictured here is Muhammad Aadil being taken into police custody from the 41st Precinct station in the Bronx on Friday, September 20, 2024. (Barry Williams, New York Daily News)
Henderson was a history and alien enthusiast who would regale listeners with the latest trivia he gleaned from reading books and watching YouTube videos, said his ex-girlfriend, who gave only her first name, Tricia.
“Lutalo was obsessed with UFOs. He loved reading books about aliens. … He never thought we were alone,” said Tricia, 47, who dated Lutalo for two years after meeting him on Hinge.
“He loves history,” Tricia added. “He’ll talk to you about anything he reads.”
Tricia, who continued to be in contact with Henderson after their separation in July 2022, became concerned when he did not reply to her birthday message.
Pictured here is Muhammad Aadil being taken into police custody from the 41st Precinct station in the Bronx on Friday, September 20, 2024. (Barry Williams, New York Daily News)
Two days later, a friend informed him that body parts had been found in the building where he used to live.
“I knew straight away something was wrong,” Tricia said. “I contacted his sister and we’ve been living with this nightmare ever since.”
According to the building manager, Adil was registered as a tenant at the apartment but often rented out the vacant rooms to others.
According to sources, the apartment where the two lived was known as a place where people could obtain and inject drugs.
Sources said the apartment where the two lived was known as a place where people could obtain and inject drugs. (Emma Saywell/New York Daily News)
Adil went missing after the body parts were discovered and remained on the run for six weeks before being arrested.
His arraignment in Bronx Criminal Court is scheduled for Friday, and his co-defendants remain at large.
First published: September 20, 2024, 2:20 PM
