carry Rosario to the bathroom tub. When Loyola initially refused, Pepin threatened to shoot Loyola. After they put Rosario in the tub, Pepin told Loyola to leave; Pepin would page him when he was needed. As Loyola was leaving, he and Pepin heard moaning from the bathroom. Pepin exclaimed, the "son of a bitch" is still alive. He returned to the bathroom and cut Rosario's throat so that Rosario would bleed to death.
Pepin stated in a signed confession dated October 15, 2002 that he traveled to the Sherman Avenue apartment for the purpose of killing Rosario:
I told my wife Julia Mendez, her older brother George L. Loyola and my cousin Apolinar Tavares that Barrigata [Rosario] was planning on killing me. I told them that I had to killfrom relying on self defense because he initiated the confrontation that led to the threat.

2. Carlos Madrid
In approximately September 1995, Pepin and Mendez went to Carlos Madrid's house in Queens where Pepin asked Madrid for money. Despite Pepin's entreaties, Madrid gave him only $20. On the way home Pepin's car hit a guardrail. Pepin was upset and said that Madrid was going to have to pay.
By October 1995, Mendez had separated from Pepin and moved in with her sister. Pepin was attempting to reconcile. On October 5, 1995, he picked up Mendez at her sister's home on the pretext that he wanted to take her to dinner. Pepin drove Mendez to his house on Beach Avenue in the Bronx.
Unbeknownst to Mendez, Pepin had requested that Madrid come to