75-Year-Old Man Charged With Thursday's Fatal Stabbing In Middlesex County

A 75-year-old Perth Amboy man has been charged with murdering one man on a city street and attacking three other people, authorities said.

Anibal Rodriguez is facing charges of murder, attempted murder and weapons offenses in connection with Thursday’s stabbing death of a 65-year-old man on Smith Street in Perth Amboy.

But this is not the first time that Rodriguez has been charged in a homicide case.

In 1989, he was charged with killing a woman in Perth Amboy. He was found guilty of aggravated manslaughter, but that conviction was overturned and a new trial was ordered. The final disposition of that case was not clear Friday.

On Thursday, Rodriguez was arrested and charged with murder, three counts of attempted murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon.

He is accused of killing Phillip Willis, 65, of Perth Amboy, according to a news release from Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey and Deputy Chief Larry Cattano of the Perth Amboy Police Department.

A 36-­year-­old woman, who also was stabbed, remained Friday at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. Her condition was not available.

Two others, a 54­-year-­old woman and a 24­-year-­old man, were threatened with the knife, but were not injured, authorities said.

“Rodriguez attacked his four victims before he was subdued by Omar Smith, an on-­duty Middlesex County Sheriff’s Officer who saw the defendant, and with the help of a civilian passerby, knocked the defendant to the ground on Smith Street and handcuffed him,” the Prosecutor’s Office said.

Around 12:50 p.m. Thursday, police were alerted about a dispute that started in a Madison Avenue apartment building, authorities said.

Rodriguez got into an argument with the 36­-year-­old woman, and stabbed her multiple times, according to Carey.

The defendant then threatened the 54-­year-­old woman and the 24­-year-­old man, authorities said. That man had gone to the apartment building after hearing screams.

Rodriguez then left that building and walked toward Smith Street, where he spotted Willis, recognized him as an acquaintance of the 36-­year-­old, then stabbed him, authorities said.

Willis was taken to Raritan Bay Medical Center, Perth Amboy Division, where he was pronounced dead at 1:45 p.m.

In 2003, a state appeals court overturned Rodriguez’s conviction on charges of aggravated manslaughter and several counts of weapons offenses, including possession of a  machete for unlawful purposes.

“We conclude that the prosecutor’s comments during summation denigrating the insanity defense advanced by defendant deprived him of a fair trial,’’ according to the appeals court.

He was accused of bludgeoning Carmen Santos to death in November of 1989. The two were neighbors in a Smith Street apartment in the city, and after she was killed, he was seen “walking in the street naked and bloodstained,’’ where he yelled to strangers that he’d killed his wife, the appellate decision said.

The final disposition of that case was unclear Friday.

The investigation into Thursday’s homicide is continuing.

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Craig Marchak of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at (732) 745­-3254, or Detective Mohamed Mohamed of the Perth Amboy Police Department at (732) 442­-4400.

Rodriguez is being held in lieu of $1.7 million bail.