On June 25, 1985, the body of Ricardo Brown (DOB: 09/20/1955 of New York, NY) was discovered on the side of the road near Madison Circle Drive, East Rutherford, NJ, wrapped in sheets of plastic inside a wicker steamer trunk. On 06/28/1985, a postmortem examination determined that Ricardo Brown was shot once in the head and strangled, and his death was ruled a homicide. The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office was assisted by NYPD, as Ricardo Brown had been reported missing to NYPD since 06/18/1985 by his common-law wife.
During the initial investigation, DAVID GARRIDO was developed as a person of interest. On July 8, 1985, a search warrant was executed on DAVID GARRIDO’S residence, which resulted in the recovery of items of evidence. However, despite the investigation, no arrests were made.
During the past year, detectives from the North Jersey Regional Cold Case Task Force, with assistance from the NYPD, Cold Case Unit, renewed the investigation into the murder of Ricardo Brown. The investigation revealed that Ricardo Brown was involved in the illegal distribution of narcotics and GARRIDO was a customer. Just prior to his disappearance, Brown and GARRIDO were together when DAVID GARRIDO shot Brown and disposed of the body.
DAVID GARRIDO was arrested at the Midtown North Precinct on February 19, 2020, by Task Force detectives and was charged with one count of Murder, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3, a 1st degree crime. DAVID GARRIDO is currently lodged in a New York City jail pending extradition to Bergen County.
When is trial? Its been over 3 years since arrest.