A Saugerties man has pleaded guilty to the May 2016 murder of his estranged wife’s lover. Earl Edwards Jr. entered the plea to a charge of second-degree murder on Tuesday, as jury selection for his trial was under way.
Edwards killed Rameen Perry on May 26, 2016 in an early morning attack at the home of his estranged wife in the Village of Saugerties. District Attorney Holley Carnright said that video evidence showed Edwards walking up Main Street wearing a headlamp around 3:20 a.m. Carnright said that he and his wife, who was not identified, had been estranged for a few weeks, but remained in regular contact.
Police say Edwards broke a window and unlocked a door before proceeding to a bedroom in the residence where he confronted his wife and Perry. Carnright said Edwards stabbed Perry once in the chest puncturing his heart, then proceeded to beat the dying man with pieces of furniture. When his wife tried to intervene, Carnright said, Edwards ripped a chunk of hair from her head and warned, “You’re next.”
Edwards fled the scene after his wife retreated to another room and called police, Carnright said. Edwards fled to New York City where he purchased a ticket on an Amtrak train to South Carolina. He was intercepted and arrested by Amtrak police in Washington, D.C. and extradited back to Ulster County.
In exchange for his guilty plea, Carnright said Chief Assistant District Attorney Michael Kavanagh had agreed to recommend a sentence of 20 years to life in state prison instead of the maximum 25 years to life. Actual sentencing is in the hands of County Court Judge Donald Williams.
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