GUILTY NY - Miriam Velez-Samayoa, 28, strangled, burned in her Queens apt, 17 Oct 2015

Prosecutors said Pineda strangled Velez-Samayoa around 3 a.m., left the 90th Ave. apartment and was seen returning 20 minutes later with a red gasoline container...

Pineda, also known as Carlos Leon, was arraigned Tuesday on an eight-count indictment charging him with second-degree murder, second-degree arson, first-degree reckless endangerment and tampering with physical evidence...

Pineda is being held without bail and will return to court on March 10.

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A Queens man who strangled his girlfriend and burned her body in a bathtub was sentenced Wednesday to 23 years in prison.

Carlos Pineda, 28, pleaded guilty last month to first-degree manslaughter, months after he was arrested in Florida, where he hid out following Miriam Velez-Samayoa’s death.

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“This was a truly heinous crime in which the defendant’s girlfriend was strangled and then had her body burned from head to toe in her own bathtub,” said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. “Given the extreme nature of the crime, the sentence imposed today is more than warranted.”

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