Ex-Morristown Man Wanted for Chicago Murder Fights Extradition

A Morris County Superior Court judge said Friday that if Chicago wants to take custody of a former Morristown resident wanted for a bloody murder in the Windy City, it won't be easy, NJ.com reported.

Defendant Milton J. Miranda was arrested in Denville last the weekend on charges of aggravated assault and impersonating another man when authorities realized he was wanted in Chicago for murder.

Miranda, who also uses the aliases Wilton Silvera and Milton Miranda-Portillo and has records denoting him as both 22 and 28 years old. Through a public defender, he refused to waive his right to an extradition hearing. Miranda has claimed he is not the person Chicago law enforcement is seeking. 

Miranda was served formally at the Morristown courthouse with Chicago's murder warrant, which called him a “fugitive from justice from the state of Illinois, Cook County, wanted for first-degree murder."

Superior Court Judge Stuart Minkowitz scheduled Miranda's extradition hearing for Nov. 13. The defendant's public defender, who took over the case Friday, said she needed time to talk about the case with her client, NJ.com reported.

Miranda is alleged to have decapitated construction worker Jose Reyes in Chicago on May 21. A Chicago Sun-Times story said police believe Miranda killed Reyes because of his supposed romantic interest in his girlfriend, 19-year-old Daisy Gutierrez. 

Gutierrez and her father, Salvador Gutierrez, 56, are in police custody in Illinois on charges of assisting in the crime and coverup, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Miranda is being held without bail at the Morris County Jail. Assistant Morris County Prosecutor Julie Serfess told NJ.com it will likely take about two weeks for Illinois' governor to issue a warrant that would require by law Miranda's extradition.