Paintball shot leads to murder suspect

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Follow-ups on a relative minor incident netted a fugitive murder suspect on Sunday, city police said.

When all was done, a man suspected of ambushing and killing his ex-wife as she left work last year was under arrest.

Events unfolded about 5:30 p.m. Sunday when city police officers were called for neighbor troubles near 763 State St. Four officers were sent to the scene to keep order, Police Department spokesman Sgt. Eric Clifford said.

While investigating that incident, one officer spotted someone shoot a paintball gun from the apartment at 763 State into the street, apparently not aiming at anything.

Shooting a paintball gun in the city is a violation of city code and officers followed up, finding the man who took the shot.

Under questioning, the man gave a name and a birth date. He eventually also gave a Social Security number, as police were still trying to confirm his identity.

The information wasn’t correct, but it still was enough to lead city police to Puerto Rico and authorities there.

The source they called knew exactly who the man might be, Deputy U.S. Marshal Rafael Escobar told The Daily Gazette. Escobar is stationed in Puerto Rico.

“They got lucky,” Escobar said. “The operator at the time knew this guy and was from the same area.”

The operator also knew of a distinguishing mark on the man’s face, which police said matched the mark on the Schenectady suspect’s face. A photo was sent and an identification made.

Pedro E. Kulian-Rodriguez, 39, is accused of lying in wait for his ex-wife, Simira J. Rijos-Ruiz, on June 8, 2008. As she left work, he allegedly shot her twice, once in the hand and once in the chest, Escobar said. The shooting took place in Bayamon, about 15 miles from San Juan.

Publicity in Puerto Rico is believed to have led to Kulian-Rodriguez’ fleeing. Calls were traced later from the New York City area, Escobar said. It was unclear when or why Kulian-Rodriguez made it to Schenectady.

He is expected to face extradition back to Puerto Rico. Extradition with Puerto Rico is handled just like extradition between states, officials said.

City police Officers Joseph Zelezniak, Jason Slingerland, Jose Lopez and Philip Feldhaus were on the call Sunday. Lopez was credited with spotting the paintball shooter.

Clifford credited the officers with doing the proper follow-ups on a busy Sunday night.

It would have been easy to warn him not to do it again and move on to the next call, Clifford said. After all, it was a simple city code violation.

“But rather than do that, they did their job, ran his name and investigated further,” Clifford said. “Essentially, it’s really good work by the officers.”