Suffolk DA: Islip Terrace Man Charged With First And Second Degree Murder
Centereach, NY - September 8, 2017 - A Suffolk grand jury has indicted an Islip Terrace man for murder in the first and second degrees for the strangulation death of his estranged wife, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said. The body of Rachelle Weeks-Strub, 40, was discovered in her Centereach basement apartment June 1.
In the first degree murder count the indictment alleges Steven Strub, 39, “caused the death of RACHELLE WEEKS-STRUB while in the course of committing or attempting to commit the crime of RAPE IN THE FIRST DEGREE, by strangling her.”
First degree murder is punishable in New York State by imprisonment in an upstate correctional facility for life without parole.
The second degree murder charge alleges the defendant caused his estranged wife’s death by strangulation.
Strub pleaded not guilty to the charges.
State Supreme Court Justice Mark Cohen set cash bail at $750,000, and bond at $1.5 million dollars.
A criminal charge is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.