Carlton Henderson a Cave Creek, Arizona man identified as Sarabeth’s Restaurant freezer knife attacker. Was awaiting double murder trial out on bail.
Authorities have identified 54 year old Arizona man, Carlton Henderson as the individual who over the weekend jumped out of a Manhattan restaurant’s freezer and attacking employees with a knife before having a cardiac arrest and later dying.
The seemingly indiscriminate attack at the UWS’s Sarabeth’s Restaurant came while Henderson had been awaiting trial for double murder.
Despite Henderson thrashing with a knife, no injuries were reported.
Masslive reported the man being charged with two counts of murder and released from jail on bail just four days prior to Sunday morning’s incident.
According to court records, Henderson had been charged in connection with the 1988 homicides of William Medina, 26, and Antonio Dos Reis, 22, in Boston.
The case went cold for years until a relative of Medina rallied for it to be re-opened, leading to Henderson’s arrest in April 2017 and extradition to Boston.
Although he was initially held without bail, he was later released on his own recognizance on August 1, four days before the freezer incident, according to NBC. The Cave Creek, Arizona man was due to return to court on August 14.
In 2014 one of Medina’s relatives approached Boston cold case Detective John Cronin to ask about the unsolved murders.
The two were shot while sitting in a parked car on May 7, 1988 and police believed their slaying was connected to a drug-trafficking ring in San Diego, court papers said.
Hendersen was indicted based on statements he made to Boston police during a 1993 interview, according to court records.
But Massachusetts Judge Janet Sanders ruled on July 31 that the statements couldn’t be used against him as they were made under an immunity deal. She later released him on August 1 on his own recognizance.
Three days later on Sunday Henderson wreaked havoc when he snuck into Upper West Side eatery Sarabeth’s Restaurant where he jumped out of the walk-in freezer, grabbed a knife, then tried to attack employees screaming ‘Away, Satan! Away’.
Staff were able to pin Henderson to the floor and remove the knife.
But soon after he lost consciousness then suffered a heart attack in the scuffle, according to the nytimes. Despite being rushed to St Luke’s Hospital the seemingly deranged man died.
The man ‘made statements consistent with him being mentally unstable’, cops said to West Wide Rag.
It’s still unclear how the man ended up in the freezer or why for that matter he had chosen Sarabeth’s, a popular UWS eaterie to launch his attack. Also not clear is whether the man had entered the restaurant overnight or earlier that day and how he avoided being noticed by kitchen or wait staff.
According to the nypost, Henderson was staying at a hotel just three blocks away from the restaurant. It wasn’t immediately clear what the Arizona domicile man was doing in NYC.
‘He is from Arizona. Police don’t know when he went into the freezer, why he is in NYC, if he’s a tourist or not.’ told a source via the Westsiderag.
Following the attack, the restaurant closed, but they were still accepting delivery orders.
Of particular disconcert is why, despite the suspicion of Henderson being involved with double murder he was able to attain bail, this despite being on the run for 30 years….
Sarabeth’s brunch frenzy: Man screaming ‘Satan’ jumps out of freezer, attempts to stab workers.
Crime scene unfolding at Sarabeth’s on the UWS. Witnesses being interviewed now. pic.twitter.com/Aay68hT4dg
— Elizabeth Bert (@elizabeth_bert) August 5, 2018
