Hicksville Man Sentenced to 22 Years to Life After Pleading Guilty to First-Degree Murder

Turcios Banegas stabbed gas station attendant to death before robbing him; entire attack caught on surveillance camera

MINEOLA, NY - Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced today that a Hicksville man has been sentenced 22 years to life in prison by a Nassau County judge after pleading guilty to stabbing a local gas station attendant to death and stealing cash and phone cards.

Jose Luis Turcios Banegas, 25, pleaded guilty to Murder in the First Degree, two counts of Murder in the Second Degree, Robbery in the First Degree, and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree on September 18.

Rice said that on February 17, 2009 at approximately 5:30 a.m., Turcios Banegas entered the BP Gas Station on Broadway in Hicksville and stabbed attendant Dharam Paul multiple times in the back before stealing cash and phone cards.

The entire attack was caught on the store’s surveillance camera. Turcios Banegas was arrested February 27. Paul, a Valley Stream resident, was working at the store to support his family in his native India.

“This was a brutal and cold-blooded killing of an unarmed man, and I will do everything in my power to ensure that this defendant serves every last minute of his sentence,” Rice said. “I hope that today’s sentence brings some sense of closure to Mr. Paul’s family.”

Assistant District Attorney Zeena Abdi of the County Court Trial Bureau is handling the case for the District Attorney's Office. The defendant is represented by Anthony Grandinette, Esq.