Detectives Charge Elizabeth Husband For The Stabbing Death Of Wife

Tuesday, January 14, 2025, 3:50 P.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

ELIZABETH, NJ.- Following an investigation, on Sunday, January 12, 2025, a 42-year-old Elizabeth, New Jersey, man was taken into custody and jailed after being charged in connection with the brutal slaying of his 39-year-old wife and mother of four, whose body was found on Saturday inside a dumpster behind a bank in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.

     According to Union County Prosecutor William A. Daniel, Rolando Corte, 42, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, was formally charged with one count of first-degree Murder in connection with his wife, Lucrecia E. Jandan Sumba, 39, of Elizabeth, New Jersey.

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     The charges stem from an investigation that unfolded on Thursday, January 9, 2025, when family and friends reported Ms. Sumba missing to the Elizabeth Police Department after last seen her the day before. Following a multi-state investigation, Ms. Sumba’s remains were found in a trash receptacle behind the Santander Bank, located on the 200 Block of S. 3rd Street in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania, just shortly before 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 11, 2025.

     The Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Coroner Office ruled the Cause of Death to be multiple Sharp Force injuries and the Manner of Death to be Homicide.

Investigation Leads To Corte Being Charged

     A joint investigation conducted by Detectives from the Union County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Task Force, the Elizabeth Police Department, the Coopersburg Police Department, and the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office led to Corte’s identification and arrest on Sunday, January 12, 2025. Corte is currently being detained in the Union County Jail pending his first appearance in Union County Superior Court, which has been scheduled for Thursday, January 16, 2025.