Dominican Republic national accused of stabbing his ex to death dragged out of New York court as it was revealed he was deported in 2002

Metro

By Desheania Andrews And David Proper

A Republican from Dominic accused of fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend was dragged out of a Manhattan court Tuesday as prosecutors revealed gory new details of the case – and said the suspect had already was expelled in 2002.

Candido Rodriguez, 51, had to be arrested after claiming he was innocent of murdering victim Melanie Woods, his 33-year-old lover, whom prosecutors said he violently stabbed to death before dumping her body in the bathtub in her East Harlem home last month.

“I promise I didn’t do anything to her,” he tearfully shouted to nine members of Woods’ family who sat in the courtroom.

“I loved him, I didn’t do anything to him.”

Upon reading the allegations against Rodriguez, he also shouted in Spanish: “It's a lie, it's a lie.”

Rodriguez, who has a criminal history, allegedly stabbed the 33-year-old Columbia University graduate in the torso and neck 19 times — so ferociously that her stomach suffered 6-inch-deep wounds, the prosecutor said. Assistant District Attorney Marcella Lupski.

Rodriguez and Woods, who worked for the city's health and hospitals, had been together since around early 2023 before the breakup, she said.

She dumped him two weeks before he killed her, prosecutors said.

On the morning of the murder, Rodriguez went to Woods' apartment while she was walking her dog shortly after 7 a.m.

When he returned, neighbors in the building heard “noises and screaming” for at least 30 minutes, Lupski said.

Then neighbors heard someone coming down the stairs and leaving the building, she said.

Woods was found dead 10 hours after a concerned friend asked cops to check on her, authorities say.

But an agitated Rodriguez claimed in court during his arraignment that he was innocent, pleading not guilty to a second-degree murder charge.

Rodriguez, who was red-faced, became so disruptive that he had to be forcibly arrested by several court officers and taken away mid-arraignment as he dropped his body to the ground.

“Mr. Rodriguez became very, very agitated, violent, disruptive and would not allow the prosecutor to continue speaking. He was yelling over and over in Spanish and I was told, 'I didn't do it or I'm not guilty,'” Judge Ann Scherzer said.

The alleged killer previously faced a federal conspiracy to distribute narcotics between 1999 and 2002 and was deported from the United States in 2002, Lupski said.

She said Rodriguez had used multiple aliases during different encounters with authorities in the past.

His attorney, Jessica Horani, said she plans to request a mental competency exam for her client.

“I saw him get very excited and emotional. I don’t believe he has full control of his faculties at this time,” Horani said.

“And that's something I've noticed since the first meeting with him at his arraignment in criminal court and what appears to be a significant decompensation.”

His next court date is July 16.