A Lansdale man has been sentenced to one to four years in state prison in connection with the death of beloved Bridgeport barber, Danny Torres.
Shamsuzzaman “Beau” Mollah, 38, was unemotional and showed no remorse during his sentencing hearing, months after pleading guilty to placing Torres’ body inside of the trunk of Torres’ own Nissan Altima and leaving him to decompose outside of the Twin Pines Apartments on North Valley Forge Road, according to a report by Carl Hessler Jr. at the Pottstown Mercury.
Mollah refused to address Torres’ grief-stricken mother, Debbie Enriquez, and the rest of the Torres’ family at his sentencing, and instead submitted a written statement to Judge Steven T. O’Neill, per the report.
“The offender shows no remorse,” said O’Neill, who found no evidence of remorse in Mollah’s letter, which stated that his incarceration would negatively affect his wife and child, per the report. “That’s outrage (from the family). You kept it going. And you kept it from them for nine days and even after that you can’t give them peace.”
Prior to the sentencing, Enriquez asked Mollah what happened to her son.
“And still till this day, we have no answers,” wept Enriquez, according to the report. “The defendant could see the worry, fear, helplessness, and the desperation, yet he showed no compassion nor any care towards the pain I was feeling in those moments. The defendant has been given many opportunities to come clean about the circumstances surrounding my son’s death and disappearance, and still till this day refuses to admit the truth and has left me with many unanswered questions regarding my son’s final moments … But not being able to say a proper goodbye or have an open casket service was gut-wrenching. The defendant took that away from me too.”
It took investigators almost a year-and-a-half to make the arrest of Mollah. Mollah faced 4½ to 9 years in prison, but state sentencing guidelines reduced the sentence.
In December, Mollah was convicted in a non-jury trial on charges of abuse of a corpse, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and theft by unlawful taking, according to court documents.
Torres, who owned and operated “Danny’s Barbershop” in Bridgeport, was reported missing on May 3, 2018, by his mother. Police say that that he was last seen alive walking with a friend along the unit-block of Elm Drive during the early-morning hours of April 29, 2018.
According to police, a male person of interest was captured walking in the direction of the unit block of Elm Drive at 6:33 p.m. on April 29, 2018. Three minutes later, Torres’ white Nissan Altima was captured on surveillance crossing the intersection of East Seventh and North Broad streets, which are adjacent to the unit-block of Elm Drive. Then, at 6:49 p.m., Torres car was parked along the 700 block of North Valley Forge Road, and the same male person of interest was captured on surveillance walking away from the vehicle. Click here to see the surveillance video
On May 9, 2018, the manager of the apartment complex along the 700 block of North Valley Forge Road called police to report the abandoned Altima. When police arrived, they discovered the vehicle was registered to Torres, and then found his body in the trunk.
According to a press release from the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, an autopsy was conducted on the body of Torres on May 10, 2018. Dr. Marianne Hammel, a forensic pathologist with the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office, found no signs of trauma and noted the presence of opioids and ethanol in Torres’ toxicology, leading Dr. Hammel to opine that Torres may have died as a result of opioid and ethanol intoxication. The cause and manner of death were found to be undetermined.
Per the release, a joint investigation by the Montgomery County Detective Bureau and Lansdale Police found that Torres, Mollah, and another friend went to Creekside Cabaret in Colmar on the evening of April 28, 2018. Mollah and Torres allegedly returned to Mollah’s residence on Elm Drive in Lansdale during the early morning hours of April 29, 2018, where Torres died, according to the DA’s office.
Detectives learned that at the time of Torres’ death, Mollah was under the supervision of the Montgomery County Adult Probation. Fearing that Torres’ death in his residence would cause a violation of his probation, Mollah allegedly hid the body inside the trunk of Torres’ Nissan Altima and drove the car to the Twin Pines Apartment parking lot.
See also:
School Bus Driver from North Wales Sentenced to Probation for Possession of Child Pornography
Lansdale Man Caught by Vigilante Sex Predator Group Pleads Guilty to Attempting to Meet Teen Boy
Harleysville Man Pleads Guilty to Drug Charge Stemming from Fatal Overdose of Merck Employee
Man Sentenced to Prison for Sexually Assaulting Young Girl in Hatfield
