Oscar Urias LaPlace murders: Illegal immigrant wearing devil mask murders Louisiana girlfriend, Elizabeth Tornabene & her sister, Hattie. No known motive.
A Louisiana man wearing a red devil mask allegedly hacked his girlfriend and her teen sister to death with a machete before wrapping the innards of one of his victims around his neck, before further proceeding to attack and injure two other relatives.
Oscar Urias, 23, is accused of carrying out the attacks Sunday afternoon at a home that he was renting with his girlfriend, Elizabeth Tornabene, 31, in LaPlace and one other LaPlace residence, the St John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office said in a Monday press release.
Urias, Tornabene, and their respective teen siblings were talking in the home’s living room when Tornabene followed Urias into the bedroom. Urias’ siblings were visiting from Baton Rouge for the weekend. Urias then left the bedroom with Tornabene — and he was allegedly wearing a red-colored devil mask and carrying two knives.
‘Suddenly, he attacked Elizabeth and killed her,’ the press release stated. ‘Urias then began stabbing his sister. As Elizabeth’s sister and Urias’ brother fled the house, Urias chased them and managed to capture Elizabeth’s sister, stabbing her in an open garage at a residence in the 2400 block of North Sugar Ridge.’
Tornabene’s sister has been identified as Hattie, 15.
‘You’re gonna kill me’
By the time first respondents caught up to the suspect at the garage and ordered him to surrender and drop the knives, the sisters had already been fatally attacked. Urias also allegedly attacked his own 17-year-old sister and 15-year-old brother during the incident. His teen brother had attempted to save Hattie, the press release stated.
The homeowner of the garage told Nola.com Urias was wearing Hattie’s insides around his neck.
‘I looked him in his eyes. He looked like the devil,’ the 63 year old homeowner, who didn’t want to be identified, said.
Adding, ‘The last thing I heard her say was, ‘You’re gonna kill me.’’
No known motive
Tornabene’s father, Rocky Tornabene, told Nola.com in a separate report that Tornabene had begun caring for Hattie full time last year. She had enrolled her teen sister, who she shares a mother with, in school and tried to provide a safe home for her. While he hadn’t yet met his daughter’s boyfriend, Rocky said she claimed he treated her better than any other partner.
‘For the first time in my life, I wasn’t concerned about my daughter,’ the father said. ‘My child was happy, and as a parent, that’s the dream. You want your kid to grow up and be happy.’
Of note, Tornabene was described as working as a tattoo artist at several local tattoo shops in the New Orleans area. Hattie was an aspiring tattoo artist who had planned to apprentice with her older sister.
Urias’ sister was listed in critical condition Monday at a hospital in New Orleans. His brother was treated and released on Sunday.
Urias an El Salvador native who was in the US illegally has since been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder. No bond has been set yet. It’s not clear if the illegal immigrant has a lawyer.
No motive has been determined at this time.