Bronx Pediatrician Killed Over Real Estate Deal
Tearful testimony from the victim’s teenage daughter opened the murder trial of a man accused of killing a popular pediatrician in a rage over real estate.
Katleen Lozada, 17, told jurors Friday about saying goodbye to her father for what she did not realize would be the last time on Jan. 3, 2007, as he dropped her off at a suburban train station for her commute to her New York City high school.
Dr. Leandro Lozada was found shot to death in his Yonkers home that afternoon. An immigrant from the Dominican Republic, he ran a storefront clinic in the Bronx.
Samuel Saunders, who had sold the house to the 46-year-old physician as foreclosure loomed, is on trial in the killing. A second suspect, Juan Bernardez, has also been charged.
Police said they found Lozada’s blood on a towel _ embroidered with his last name _ and sneakers in the trash at Saunders’ Bronx apartment complex. Saunders’ wife has testified that the sneakers were her husband’s.
Prosecutors say Lozada was bound and forced to make out a $57,000 check before his slaying.








