Matias Reyes: Where is the Serial Rapist Now?

In the late 1980s, New York City was gripped by fear of a serial rapist who had committed multiple crimes and came to be known as the East Side Slasher. He attacked several women and killed one, creating widespread panic. It was only in April 1989 that Matias Reyes was finally arrested after one of his victims managed to raise an alarm. He was later given a lengthy sentence, but in 2002, he confessed that he was responsible for the infamous attack on Trisha Meili. In the episode of Netflix’s ‘Homicide: New York’ titled ‘Your Eyes or Your Life,’ a detailed timeline of his crimes and eventual capture is explored.

Matias Reyes Carried Out a Series of Sexual Assaults That Created Panic in Manhattan

Matias Reyes was born in 1971 in Puerto Rico, but he moved to the US with his mother while still quite young. His early years were far from ideal, and he was allegedly abused as a teenage boy. He consistently showed violent tendencies, and by that time, he was living independently after his mother had separated. He had no friends and spent most of his time alone. In 1988, Matias held a young woman named Jackie Herbach at knifepoint, but she was able to talk him out of assaulting her, and he allowed her to walk away unharmed.

Matias eventually found work as a deli worker at a shop on Third Avenue near 102nd Street in Manhattan. On April 17, 1989, he attacked another young woman in Northern Central Park but was spotted by a passerby and fled the scene. Two days later, on April 19, 1989, Matias attacked Trisha Meili in Central Park. The case tragically led to the wrongful conviction of the Central Park Five: Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise. The woman who survived the April 17 attack later went to the police and identified her attacker as a man with fresh stitches on his chin. Investigators also received a lead on Matias from a hospital, but due to transfers and other factors, the case was not pursued at the time.

In June 1989, Matias entered the apartment of Lourdes González, a pregnant woman, and killed her while her children were still at home. Following this, he carried out a series of four other break-ins into apartments where he sexually assaulted victims. He often asked them, “Your eyes or your life?” before harming them. On August 5, 1989, he broke into another woman’s apartment, but she managed to escape and seek help. Bystanders held Matias at the scene until police arrived. Once in custody, he quickly confessed to one murder, five rapes, and two attempted rapes.

Matias Reyes is Awaiting His Release From the New York Prison Today

Matias Reyes pleaded guilty in 1991 to three rapes and one rape‑murder and was sentenced to 33⅓ years to life in prison. While serving his sentence, around 2001, he met Korey Wise, one of the Central Park Five, at the Auburn Correctional Facility. The two had gotten into some altercations before, and during this time, Matias told police that he was the one responsible for Trisha Meili’s attack. He also admitted that he acted alone and stated that he was only confessing at that moment because he felt it was the right thing to do.

A DNA test confirmed that he was responsible for the crime, which led to the vacating of the Central Park Five’s convictions in December 2002. Because of the expiration of the statute of limitations, Matias was never charged in Meili’s case. He is now 54 years old and is being held at Shawangunk Correctional Facility in Wallkill, New York. He has been eligible for parole since 2022 but has not been released, and his earliest release date has been set for August 2026.

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