More than four years after 49-year-old Jeffrey Vanech was fatally shot in Stamford’s South End, a New York man has pleaded guilty to the crime. Ernest Rosario, 23, from New York, entered a guilty plea for murder before Judge John F. Blawie at state Superior Court in Stamford on Friday. The court session saw Vanech’s family and members of the Stamford Police Department in attendance.
Rosario is scheduled for sentencing on June 10, where he will face a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years and could be sentenced to as many as 60 years in prison, according to Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth K. Moran.
Police believe that the motive for Vanech’s murder on December 7, 2020, stemmed from an unpaid $600 debt. According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Rosario—who also went by the aliases “Bronx” and “Wheez”—was a drug and gun dealer and had a close relationship with Vanech. Vanech would lend Rosario his mother’s vehicle and transport him in exchange for money or drugs to feed his addiction, the warrant stated.
Hours before his death, Vanech confided in a family member, expressing fear and stating he felt like he was being hunted by Rosario, according to the affidavit. Cellphone data later confirmed Rosario was near the scene of the killing at the time of Vanech’s murder, leading police to investigate him further.
Investigators built a case against Rosario using cellphone data, social media activity, homeland security information, forensic analysis, and surveillance footage. Rosario was eventually arrested at the Stamford Train Station in September 2021 following a brief struggle with officers.
