Where are Daphne Abdela and Christopher Vasquez now? Subjects of Netflix's Homicide series
The Central Park Slaying is the second episode of Homicide: New York.
Dick Wolf's latest Netflix docuseries Homicide: New York throws viewers into some of the city's most shocking crimes, exploring cases spanning decades.
But it's one incident in particular that has stunned viewers: the killing of 44-year-old real estate agent Michael McMorrow, which is explored in the second episode, titled Central Park Slaying.
McMorrow's body was found in the lake in Central Park in May 1997. He had been stabbed, with his abdomen eviscerated and his hands partially severed – in what was dubbed in the media as 'The Central Park Slaying'.
Disturbingly, it soon emerged that the brutal act had been carried out by two people who were just 15 years old: Daphne Abdela and Christopher Vasquez.
So, what happened to Abdela and Vasquez and where they are now? Read on for everything you need to now about the Homicide: New York subjects.
What happened to Daphne Abdela and Christopher Vasquez? Crimes explained
In 1997, Michael McMorrow was found dead in Central Park. He had been stabbed, with his abdomen cut open and hands partially severed.
That night, Daphne Abdela called the police anonymously to report a body in a Central Park lake and the NYPD soon found the mutilated body.
In the episode, retired detective Rob Mooney said the teenagers had been drinking with McMorrow and a group of people in the park, and McMorrow was "in the wrong place at the wrong time".
At first, both Abdela and Vasquez claimed they had gone swimming and McMorrow had put his arm around Abdela, which Vasquez saw as him making an advance.
Abdela claimed Vasquez attacked McMorrow, before later acknowledging that she had kicked him.
As per The New York Times, Abdela and Vasquez were found guilty of first-degree manslaughter.
Abdela pleaded guilty to manslaughter in a plea deal, while Vasquez was later separately found not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter. Both teens were sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.
How were Daphne Abdela and Christopher Vasquez caught?
In Barbara Butcher’s book What the Dead Know: Learning About Life as a New York City Death Investigator, she wrote that the pair were found by the police washing away evidence.
“Police found the two sitting naked in the bathtub, washing away blood – the result, they claimed, of a rollerblading accident in Central Park,” Butcher wrote.
Although Abdela called the police anonymously to report a body in the lake on the night of McMorrow's death, presenting herself as a witness, it didn’t take long for the real story to come out.
Authorities identified McMorrow’s identity thanks to a business card he had on him.
They later found McMorrow’s wallet in Abdela’s room, while a knife with the victim’s DNA was discovered in Vasquez’s possession.
Where are Daphne Abdela and Christopher Vasquez now?
Abdela and Vasquez were both released from prison in 2004 after serving just over six years of their sentence.
However, little is known about their whereabouts today.
Homicide: New York is available to watch on Netflix now.
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Authors
Katelyn Mensah is the Entertainment and Factual Writer for Radio Times, covering all major entertainment programmes, reality TV shows and the latest hard-hitting documentaries. She previously worked at The Tab, with a focus on reality TV and showbiz news and has obtained a BA (Hons) in Journalism.