NEW YORK (WCBS 880) -- Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Friday that a man has been convicted of murder for the 2012 brutal beating death of a man whose remains were discovered at a beach after Hurricane Sandy.
Thyron Aycock, 48, of Far Rockaway, was found guilty of murder in the second degree and faces up to 25 years-to-life in prison.
“In the days following the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, park workers saw an elbow sticking out of the sand. The victim, in this case, had been stuffed in a garbage bag by his killer," Katz said. "Despite the 10 years that have passed since this brutal killing, our Office pursued this case – investigating and prosecuting – and today the jury found the defendant guilty of murder.”
According to trial records, Aycock lived in Far Rockaway with his girlfriend and her ex-boyfriend – 32-year-old Shawn Rucker.
Sometime between November 5th and November 7th of 2012, Aycock demanded Rucker leave the home and the two men became involved in an argument that turned physical.
Aycock struck Rucker at least eight times in the head with a hammer, authorities said.
Rucker died as a result blunt force trauma and chest compressions.
According to trial testimony, Aycock then made attempts to dismember Rucker's body.
His body was bound with a very distinctive patterned cloth and he was stuffed in a garbage bag and buried on the beach with lacerations to his wrist and his left thigh had a gaping cut to the bone, the DA said.
City Department of Parks workers were clearing garbage from the vicinity of Beach 13th St. on November 15, 2012, when they saw an elbow sticking out of the sand and discovered Rucker's remains, according to trial testimony.
During the investigation, police executed a search of the Aycock's home where they recovered a knife with the victim’s blood on it.
A saw was also found and was forensically-matched to the deep thigh wound of the victim. A bedsheet with the same distinctive pattern as the cloth used to bind the victim was also in the home, officials said.
Aycock was not arrested until about seven years later when a friend then contacted the police after he admitted that he had killed someone and gave very detailed information, the DA added.
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