NEW YORK - A 17-year-old boy was charged yesterday with tying up, strangling and robbing a male hustler who specialized in erotic massage, then setting his apartment on fire to cover up the grisly deed, cops said.Eleventh-grader José Tavares of Washington Heights apparently knew his victim, Schlomy Rejwan, 45, who paid the bills by giving randy rubdowns to men out of his third-floor Chelsea apartment on West 18th Street, according to detectives.
Investigators believe Tavares went to Rejwan's apartment to rob him but ended up killing him and then sprinkled gasoline around his head in a bizarre bid to hide his victim's identity.
Firefighters found Rejwan bound hand and foot, with his pants around his ankles, after breaking the door down on Dec. 27 to put out the fire, which had started to engulf his body.
Tavares became a suspect after his number popped up on the victim's phone records, cops said.
Police sources and Tavares' parents told The Post the teen insists he's being framed by a 47-year-old Colombian named "Victor," who he claims is the real killer.
"He's a good boy. He didn't do it," said his stepfather, David Franco, 32, adding that the teen wants to join the NYPD after he graduates high school.
from The New York Post
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