Suspected killer who went on stabbing spree in New York admits he chose victims because they were ‘lonely’ and ‘distracted’: sources

Madman accused of death randomly stabbing three people in Manhattan Rampage chillingly told cops that he targeted his victims because they were “alone” and “distracted,” law enforcement sources said Tuesday.

Details of 51-year-old Ramon Rivera’s alleged cold-blooded confession emerged shortly before he was to be arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on three counts of first-degree murder.

The bearded, scruffy homeless man sat expressionless as Deputy District Attorney Megan Joy described him attacking three times “without any provocation” during an hours-long spree that stretched from the West Side to the East River Monday morning.

“(Rivera) embarked on a bloody and violent rampage that claimed the lives of three innocent New Yorkers who were doing nothing but going about their days,” Joy told the court.

The accused killer did not object to Judge Janet McDonnell ordering him to be sent to prison without bail.

His apparent indifference also appeared consistent with his actions in the immediate aftermath of the killing spree, sources said.

Rivera slept for hours in police custody after his capture in bloody broad daylight Sources familiar with his arrest said that there was a massacre in which two men and a woman died.

When he woke up, he waived his Miranda rights and allegedly calmly made a full confession, sources said.

Police said the spree began when Angel Gustavo Lata-Landi, a 36-year-old construction worker from upstate Peekskill, was stabbed while he was waiting to be picked up from work in Chelsea around 8:20 a.m.

Lata-Landi’s family sat in the courtroom with tears streaming down their faces during the hearing Tuesday.

“He died while working, and we just want justice,” his sister Vertha Land told Gothamist. “The municipality should take responsibility for the disaster that befell us,” he said.

The deranged stabber then walked toward the East River waterline, where he fatally stabbed Chang Wang, 67, who was fishing just before 10:30 a.m., police said.

“It’s scary,” Murray Hill resident Brian Keith told The Post on Tuesday. “I was here yesterday, so the person who stabbed me must have passed me by.”

A third victim – 36-year-old Wilma Augustin – was stabbed to death about a half hour later near the United Nations building, police said. The woman was taken to a nearby hospital and died a few hours later from her injuries, according to police.

Another resident said Augustin was an immigrant from Haiti who was living at the Americana Inn shelter with a single mother and her son.

“She was a very good woman,” the woman said.

Rivera, who had documented mental health issues, was arrested shortly after Augustin’s stabbing and was found with two knives, court documents said.

During the trial his extensive previous criminal history was revealed.

Rivera was released on probation last month in a petty theft case because that charge was a non-bail-eligible offense, McDonnell said.

Sources said Rivera was shot on that charge on Oct. 17, the same day he was released from prison for a prison sentence in a burglary case.

Unlike the previous arrest, his record gave authorities a clear path to keep him behind bars, with Joy telling the court that Rivera was a convicted felon stemming from a 2023 burglary and was wanted on a fugitive warrant from New Jersey.

The judge ordered Rivera to be jailed for both the murder charge and the fugitive warrant.

The suspect’s mental health came to the fore during Mayor Adams’ weekly general press conference.

Adams called on state lawmakers to stand behind his years-long effort to allow mentally ill vagrants to be involuntarily taken off the streets.

“Everyone said I was inhumane, that we just wanted to institutionalize people,” he said, referring to his past comments on the subject.

“Yes, that’s the result. This is the result of not taking action and ignoring people who need help,” he said, referring to Rivera.

— Additional reporting by Amanda Woods