East 54th Street Resident Accused Of Stabbing Friend To Death Over Cigarette Smoking

East 54th Street (Source: Google Maps)
1561 East 54th Street (Source: Google Maps)

Police discovered the dead body of Raphael Sanchez wrapped in cellophane and stuffed into a large, black plastic storage container in a Flatlands home on East 54th Street on Saturday.

Joshua Simser, 24, has been charged with the murder of  Sanchez. The accused lives at 1561 East 54th Street, where the body was found.

According to the Daily News, the murder was the result of Sanchez smoking a cigarette in Simser’s residence despite the host’s wishes.

Cops arrested Joshua Simser, 24, who allegedly had a spat with Raphael Sanchez, over smoking Saturday inside his home on E. 54th St. in Flatlands.
Simser is charged with murder. He stabbed Sanchez several times before tying him up and dumping him in the bin, cops said.

CBS local reported that the authorities first received a tip from a Brooklyn nightclub owner who said that a “bouncer at the club admitted to the owner that he’d killed a man.”

Police then arrived at the two-family brick home where they found the body. Emergency workers pronounced Sanchez dead at the scene.

Simser was arrested on Sunday and was charged with second-degree murder.