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Juan Rolon arraigned in Douglaston killing

By Kathianne Boniello

Juan Rolon, 49, of Mastic, L.I., is also accused of strangling his wife to death in the early morning hours of Jan. 21, 2000 before traveling to his job at the Beech Hills apartment complex in Douglaston.

Once there Rolon allegedly fatally shot his boss, Victor Sanchez, 62, of Bellerose, before turning his gun on himself.

Rolon, who was arraigned Dec. 11 in Queens on second-degree murder charges nearly a year after his indictment on Jan. 31 2000. The suspect could face a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in jail, DA spokeswoman Betsy Herzog said.

Russell Morea, Rolon's lawyer, declined last week to comment on the case until it was over.

Rolon was committed to the state Department of Mental Hygiene after undergoing a psychiatric evaluation, Herzog said. He was found competent to stand trial in December and was awaiting his next court date in February, Herzog said.

At the time of the murders a manager at the apartment complex said Rolon, an 18-year employee who had been serving as an assistant grounds foreman, seemed to have a good relationship with Sanchez.

Last year authorities said Rolon and his wife Elsa Marie, 42, followed a daily routine of leaving their Mastic home at about 5:30 a.m. each morning and driving to another family member's house in Deer Park, L.I. From there his wife would drive to her job and Rolon would travel to work in Douglaston with his nephew.

After getting to work on Jan. 21, 2000, Rolon allegedly approached a 55-year-old retired transit officer who had been working as groundskeeper at Beech Hills for about nine years, and held a semiautomatic weapon to the man's head.

Rolon is then accused of taking the former officer's .38-caliber revolver before locking the man in a garage at the apartment complex. The suspect then walked to another office within the development and allegedly shot Sanchez once in the head, killing him in front of at least one witness while several other employees were in the office.

He then shot himself in the head and was taken to North Shore Hospital in Manhasset, where he underwent surgery and spent at least a week in intensive care.

Elsa Marie Rolon's body was found later in the day on Jan. 21 2000 inside the couple's 1988 Mustang in Deer Park, apparently the victim of a strangulation, police said.

The couple had two daughters.

Last year it was revealed that Rolon's half-brother, Wilfredo Rolon Collazo, killed himself after murdering two women in 1985.

In August 1985, Collazo had a few drinks at Bradley's Publick Tavern on 46th Avenue in Woodside before he placed a letter on the bar and killed himself with a shot to the head.

In the letter, Collazo admitted to killing his girlfriend and her roommate in a Woodside apartment, where police later found their bodies.