Suspect in Yonkers doctor’s slaying had financial setbacks
The suspect in last week’s killing of Dr. Leandro Lozada had suffered a number of recent financial setbacks, and foreclosure proceedings were filed against him on the same day that he sold the house on Brendon Hill Road where the slaying occurred.
Samuel L. Saunders, 59, borrowed and repaid more than $1 million in mortgage loans against a series of properties in Yonkers and Mount Vernon in at least 20 transactions over the past five years, according to papers on file with the Westchester County Clerk’s Office. Saunders remains in the Westchester County jail without bail, accused of shooting Lozada in the head at least two times on Wednesday.
In the spring, Saunders defaulted on a $650,000 loan he had taken out in June 2004 to buy the house at 43 Brendon Hill Road, for which he paid $825,000. But because of the timing, Saunders managed to pull off the sale before any liens were attached to the property. When he sold it to Lozada on May 10, he got only $800,000 for the house and was responsible for $32,000 in fees to Prudential Rand Realty.