Former pastor pleads guilty to running over wife, attacking her with a machete in front of grandchildren

BRONX, N.Y. (TCD) -- A Yonkers pastor pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter on Wednesday for running over his estranged wife and attacking her with a machete in 2019 while their grandchildren watched.

According to a press release from Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark, 65-year-old Victor Mateo pleaded guilty before Bronx Supreme Court Justice Margaret Clancy.

The District Attorney’s Office said that on Oct. 3, 2019, Mateo parked his car on Ellsworth Avenue in Throgs Neck near the home of 58-year-old Noelia Mateo, his estranged wife. Mateo hit Noelia with his car as he left the house, the district attorney said.

She reportedly hid under her own car, and Mateo exited his car and then got into Noelia’s car, running her over again, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Then, he reportedly stabbed her with a machete in front of her 11-year-old grandson and 9-year-old granddaughter.

Noelia was transported to Jacobi Medical Center, where she died.

The District Attorney’s Office said Mateo fled the scene in his estranged wife’s car. According to WNBC-TV, he was found and arrested on Oct. 10, 2019, in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, and extradited to New York.

District Attorney Clark said in the press release, "The defendant and the victim, his wife, had been estranged for approximately a month when he mercilessly killed her in front of her two young grandchildren and bystanders in broad daylight. The victim’s grandchildren not only had to deal with the loss of their grandmother, but also with immense trauma after witnessing such cruel events."

Mateo is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 5, 2022, to 23 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision. According to the District Attorney’s Office, final orders of protection for the grandchildren will be ordered.

Mateo was a pastor at the Christian Congregation The Redeemer Church in the Bronx.

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