Teen Convicted of Murdering Landlord He said Raped Him

WEST NYACK, NY — Homeless teenager Dylan Lentini has been convicted by a Rockland jury of second-degree murder in the 2015 stabbing death of West Nyack resident Michael Wimbert, 66.

Lentini had originally been charged with four counts of first-degree robbery and three counts of second-degree murder, but the judge dropped all but one of the murder charges.

Wimbert, a divorced, former Pomona resident, was a tropical fish store operator in Rockland and briefly was a teaching assistant for students with developmental issues at a special school in Westchester, according to the Rockland Times.

Lentini, a 19-year-old from California who had lived at Covenant House in Manhattan, answered Wimbert’s ad for a male roommate aged 18-25. They met for the first time Nov. 27 when Wimbert picked him up at the White Plains bus depot. The stabbing happened Dec. 1.

The defense argued that Lentini stabbed Wimbert in self-defense. Lentini's attorney said that Wimbert repeatedly abused the teen sexually, sodomizing him and forcing him to have oral sex — and he finally tried to protect himself.

Wimbert was stabbed about 30 times, the prosecutor said. Neighbors said Lentini came running out of the house shouting for someone to call 911.

The prosecutor held that even if Wimbert had raped Lentini, the decision to stab him didn't meet legal self-defense criteria, according to The Journal News.

"The defendant has been convicted of a violent and heinous crime," said Rockland County District Attorney Thomas P. Zugibe in an announcement at the end of the jury trial. "This was an extremely brutal attack."

Lentini has been held in the Rockland County Jail since his arrest. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 29. He faces a maximum of 25 years to life in state prison.

Executive Assistant District Attorney Dominic Crispino and Senior Assistant District Attorney Patrick Fischer prosecuted the case.

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