UNION CITY AND BEYOND — Murder charges have officially been filed against Union City resident Ruben Acosta for the deaths of Union City residents Maria Torres and Lazaro Calero. The pair are believed to have been killed in their Union City home this past spring and were dumped elsewhere.
Acosta was arrested in June on a charge of allegedly transporting the victims’ dismembered bodies in garbage bags which were found on the side of a road in Linden on April 5. According to Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio, the murder charges were officially filed on July 21.
Investigators believe that Torres and Calero were killed around April 1 inside their home in Union City and that bleach and a mop were used to clean the bloody scene.
DeFazio said that the murder charges were made possible by further investigation conducted by Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Squad which yielded “scientific evidence” that was obtained from the apartment.
But DeFazio would not go into detail regarding what exactly that forensic evidence might have been.
As for a motive, DeFazio said that still has not been definitively established yet.
“It could have been a situation where [Acosta] was in some way acquainted with the victims and familiar with the apartment,” said DeFazio. “We’re not entirely sure of the motive.”
Acosta also was recently charged by Union County officials with a kidnapping and robbery that occurred in Linden during a home invasion in which he allegedly posed as a cop to gain entry to the home.
DeFazio said that investigators do not believe the murders of Torres and Calero were the result of a home invasion in the same respect, but added there could have been a similar motivation as far as robbery goes.
The investigation is still ongoing.