Officials said Vitels’ wrists were bound with tape, her neck and ribs had cords wrapped around them and the Medical Examiner would ultimately find signs of blunt force trauma, rib fractures, bruising and a hinge fracture to the skull, Clerkin said.

Inside the apartment, officers found signs of a struggle, including a dented and broken sheetrock wall the victim’s head may have struck, police sources said.

After the Pennsylvania crash, authorities let them go because they did not know about the body in the apartment yet.

The couple took advantage of the break and celebrated their nine-day Pennsylvania jaunt with a spending spree, courtesy of their victim, Clerkin said.

“Ms. Alston explained how good their life had been in Pennsylvania,” she said.

Clerkin said security footage captured Alston and her accomplice as they walked around the secure lobby to gain access to the building, pausing before entering the apartment “as if waiting to see if anyone was inside.”

The last time Vitels was seen on surveillance footage was March 12 at 11:30 a.m. She was walking with her dog.

The victim was “never seen alive again,” Clerkin said.

Alston and Tejada were each charged with second-degree murder, burglary, robbery, criminal possession of stolen property, grand larceny and concealment of a human corpse.

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