Police investigate two murders in Poughkeepsie

POUGHKEEPSIE -- City of Poughkeepsie police detectives are following several leads in the murder of a woman who was stabbed repeatedly in a Main Street building, then thrown three stories to her death Saturday morning.

Patrol officers found the woman’s body next to a dumpster at 691 Main Street around 5:19 Saturday morning and immediately noticed numerous stab wounds on the body, according to Chief Ron Knapp. The victim has not been identified yet.

Detectives spent the weekend following leads, possible motives or suspects, said the chief.

“We have talked to a number of people in the apartment; we know who the renters are and have interviewed most of them,” he said. The chief said they are pursuing “a number of strong leads.”

Police caught a break in the case of Friday’s shooting murder of 22-year-old Naquan James. A vehicle matching the description given by a witness on Cannon Street shortly after the murder was spotted by a patrol officer at the corner of Main and Academy streets. Luis Reyes, 26, was arrested following a brief vehicular pursuit, which resulted in a head-on collision with another car, and then another pursuit on foot.

Knapp said the man was not a suspect, but considered a person of interest, and that his detention has helped the case.

Knapp said he couldn’t go into details on the man’s involvement in the case, but did say he is a parolee absconder, and is facing multiple parole and traffic-related charges.

Knapp said the two murder cases occurred within a day of each other “by complete coincidence,” and that no connections have been made between the two.

The chief said they have their speculations as to what motives in both cases could be, but denied comment when asked to explain them further due to the ongoing investigation.