New Britain Man Is Accused of Strangling Wife

Police said Luis Velez strangled his wife, Johana Gallego.

A New Britain man who is accused of strangling his wife is being held on $1 million bond.

Officers responded to an apartment building at 40 Newfield Street around 2 a.m. on Saturday after receiving a call that Luis Velez, 41, of New Britain, a resident, was despondent and might be a danger to himself and others, police said.

Police went to the house and found Velez, who denied wanting to hurt himself and said no one else was home, police said, but then they found the body of Velez's 33-year-old wife, Johana Gallego.

According to the arrest warrant application, Velez waived his Miranda rights and said he "strangled his wife for infidelity" and then "tied a belt from her (bath)robe around her neck to make sure she was dead before leaving the residence."

Velez went on to tell police that he knew she was dead when he returned to the home "because she was still there."

Gallego was the mother of a 16-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl, according to police, and had initiated divorce proceedings.

Velez has been charged with one count of murder and told officers he served 16 years for murder in Puerto Rico and five years for trying to run someone down with a car, police said.

Velez has no substantial criminal record in the state of Connecticut and it is unclear how long he has lived here.   

Gallego's father said he wants justice, but he forgives him.


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