By Peter Sorkin
Troy Brown, 40, of 339 Essex St., was arrested in a hallway of Queens College Friday night at 8 p.m. after police from the 114th Precinct in Astoria used DNA testing to match blood from a hand wound bandage, said Detective Madelyne Galindo, a police spokeswoman.
Brown was charged with murder, burglary, robbery and criminal possession of a weapon, said Betsy Herzog, a spokeswoman for the DA. If convicted, Brown could get the death penalty, she said.
“The defendant made statements which inculpated him,” said Mary De Bourbon, another spokeswoman for the DA's office.
Police tracked Troy Brown down after reviewing the store's telephone records. In the days leading up to the killings, he had inquired about getting his old job back at the Trade Fair Supermarket at 37-11 Ditmars Blvd., where he had worked for a few days before being fired in September, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Troy Brown had called the store from Rikers Island where he was serving 10 days for criminal trespassing and had also visited the store a day before the killing, Brown said.
“A comparison of blood found at the crime scene with that of the defendant has confirmed with virtual certainty the defendant's involvement,” DA Brown said. “This is a textbook case in which today's advanced DNA technology and profiling has been successfully employed to identify a suspect.”
Troy Brown has an extensive criminal record dating back to 1979 and has been arrested 13 times, a police spokeswoman said.
When police brought Troy Brown to the 114th Precinct in Astoria, they noticed his hand was bandaged and bleeding. Police at the station offered to call paramedics and the medics redressed Brown's wounds, but detectives kept the old bandage to compare blood found at the scene.
Pedro Narvaez, 45, of 21-37 33rd St. in Astoria and Lucio Moran, 36, of 118-07 14th Rd. in College Point, were working at Trade Fair at 37-11 Ditmars Blvd. about 4:30 a.m., when a passerby noticed that a window was broken and called police, said Sgt. Elias Nikas, a Police Department spokesman.
Both Narvaez and Moran died after sustaining multiple stab wounds to the head and torso, resulting in injuries to their lungs, liver and heart, said Ellen Boracove, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office.
Troy Brown allegedly hid in the store after closing time and took off with almost $3,000 after ambushing his victims, DA Brown said.
The district attorney, who heralded DNA testing and calls for an expanded DNA bank for criminals, hailed the investigation. He said with the improved technology, criminals will find it harder to get away with their crimes.
“It is another example of why it is that we must enhance our DNA technology and expand our DNA database,” DA Brown said. “DNA testing takes the uncertainty out of criminal investigations. Genetic identification is to today's investigations what fingerprints have been in the past – only better. DNA eliminates any doubt as to a suspects involvement.”
