Deepra Sarkar
Investigation Discovery is one of the biggest platforms hosting numerous true-crime series on its network. One of these series is ‘Ice Cold Murder’ which aired its first episode in 2020. The series delves deep into cases of ruthless murders and brings to audiences the most excruciating details from such cases. In one of its episodes, the series retells the murder of Noel Alkaramla. The baffling case of a girl murdered in cold-blood by her own step-father left many shocked. We were intrigued by the case and wanted to find the exact happenings. If you are curious about the case and want to know more, we have you covered.
How Did Noel Alkaramla Die?
On November 22, 2015, Noel Alkaramla was working as a waitress at Verdile’s Restaurant in Lansingburgh, Troy, New York. After finishing her shift, she had one of her co-workers drop her off on Third Street, near her step-father, Johnny Oquendo’s apartment. That was Noel’s last sighting. On November 23, 2015, Noel’s roommate who was also her girlfriend filed a missing report after a neighbor, a few blocks away on Washington Street, claimed to have come across papers with Noel’s personal information on them, lying on the street.
Noel was expected to return home on the night of November 22, 2015, but she never did. Witnesses in Oquendo’s apartment building were later reported saying that they had heard, what they assumed, was an argument with raised voices. They also said they had heard a scream following the argument, coming from Oquendo’s apartment on the third floor of the building. Some of them even claimed to have seen Oquendo struggling with a large suitcase.
On December 20, 2015, remnants of Noel’s body were retrieved from the Hudson River, submerged in a suitcase just south of the USS Slater in Albany. An autopsy of her body revealed that Noel had had intercourse before she was killed. The DNA found from blood and sperm through the examination of her body matched to Oquendo’s. Oquendo was accused of strangling Noel and then cramming her body in a suitcase before throwing the suitcase in the Hudson River. On December 4, 2016, Oquendo was held in custody on all these charges. He was convicted on November 17, 2017, for killing his step-daughter.
Who Killed Noel Alkaramla?
Noel Akaramla was strangulated and killed by her step-father Johnny Oquendo on November 22, 2015. The Rensselaer County Jail confirmed on December 4, 2015, that Oquendo was being held on charges of murder, first-degree strangulation, and concealment of a human corpse. The charges were announced after a court action taken on December 2, 2016. The search for Noel’s body had commenced on December 4, 2015, the same day that Oquendo was held in custody owing to a parole violation. He had informed the police about a suitcase before he asked to redeem his rights and talk to an attorney.
Besides the reports from the residents of Oquendo’s apartment building, the Police said they had also found surveillance footage showing an individual pulling a suitcase across Russell Sage College Campus in the middle of the night.
During his trial, Johnny Oquendo maintained that he was not guilty of murdering his stepdaughter and throwing her into the Hudson. He insisted that he was innocent and blamed the defense for their poor work which had led to his conviction. However, his plea did not hold up to the State Supreme Court Justice, Andre Ceresia. Oquendo was already a convicted sex offender before he murdered Noel. Oquendo’s trial saw numerous delays and obstruction which included the mismanagement of evidence. Eventually, the trial ended and Oquendo was sentenced to 27 years in prison on March 12, 2018, almost three years after the crime.
Read More: Where Is Johnny Oquendo Now?
