Plea Entered In North Salem Socialite's Death

NORTH SALEM, NY — A former employee of Lois Colley of North Salem has admitted killing her. Esdras Marroquin Gomez, 34, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, a felony, Monday before Westchester County Court Judge George Fufidio. He faces a prison term of 25 years to life.

Marroquin Gomez is scheduled for sentencing June 13.

Colley's body was discovered lying in a pool of blood in the laundry room of her home Nov. 9, 2015. She died of blunt force trauma, state police said.

A caretaker found the body and contacted the police. There were no signs of forced entry and no valuables were thought to have been taken from the home.

During the initial investigation, state police said they found what appeared to be a pin from a discharged fire extinguisher near her body. In searching the 300-acre horse farm, investigators found the extinguisher wrapped in a plastic bag in a pond on the property. Tests by forensic scientists at the Westchester County Crime Lab determined Colley’s DNA was present and confirmed it was the murder weapon.

Authorities said the investigation included hundreds of interviews, phone records and video surveillance. In early 2016, a former day laborer, Marroquin Gomez, aka “Victor,” became a person of interest. Investigators found he had fled the area and had flown to Guatemala Nov. 14, 2015, four days after the murder.

After an intensive international and multi-jurisdictional manhunt, with the cooperation of the U.S. Department of State and the FBI, Marroquin Gomez was located ultimately in Mexico and returned to Westchester County.

In the interim, Marroquin Gomez had been indicted by a Westchester County grand jury on a charge of second-degree murder. He was arraigned on the indictment in Westchester County Court in November 2017 and since then has been in custody awaiting trial.

Prosecutors say the motive for the killing stemmed from a dispute with the Colley family starting in 2012, while Marroquin Gomez was a day laborer on the farm.

Colley's husband, Eugene Colley, is the multimillionaire owner of 100 McDonald's franchises.

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