A 36-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly beating a beloved homeless artist to death in Central Park - breaking a five-year stretch where no murders took place in the New York City landmark.
uncertain
murders → arrest → landmark
Jonathan Robles is accused of killing Lee Rogers, 63, a familiar figure among the park's birdwatchers who spent years painting intricate watercolors of its wildlife while sleeping rough in and around the park.
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who → accuse → park
Rogers was found dead near a small gazebo off East Drive and East 74th Street on Sunday morning, barefoot and covered in dirt with fatal injuries to her head.
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Rogers → find → head
Investigators believe she was bludgeoned with a stick following some kind of argument with Robles, law-enforcement sources told the New York Post.
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sources → believe → Post
Robles turned himself in later on Sunday and was charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
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Robles → turn → weapon
Robles is a resident of the Barbour Hotel, a Midtown homeless shelter, according to ABC7, and was being evaluated at a hospital ahead of an expected arraignment.
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Robles → accord → arraignment
The killing has stunned the tight-knit collection of birders, artists and homeless New Yorkers who knew Rogers from her years living around Central Park.
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who → stun → Park
'She was like the Grandma Moses of Central Park,' nature walk guide Robert DeCandido told the Post, comparing her to the celebrated American folk artist.
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DeCandido → tell → artist
Beloved homeless artist Lee Rogers, 63, spent years living in and around Central Park, where she became a familiar face among birdwatchers who bought her intricate wildlife paintings
Rogers was found beaten to death near this secluded Central Park gazebo on Sunday morning, barefoot and covered in dirt.
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Rogers → spend → dirt
Investigators say she had been struck in the head with a stick
'
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she → say → stick
When she did the bird feeders, the birders loved her.
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birders → do → her
They would buy her artwork in the park.'
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They → buy → park
Rogers, who also went by Francis Lee Rogers and was known as Elise Bainbridge Hill, had lived a remarkable and turbulent life long before she became a familiar face in Central Park.
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she → go → Park
Her life was chronicled in the acclaimed 2007 documentary Begging Naked, filmed by her friend Karen Gehres over almost a decade.
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life → chronicle → decade
The film documented how she ran away from home as a teenager and arrived in New York, where she became involved in prostitution and drug addiction before working as a stripper and developing her talents as an artist.
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she → document → artist
Her colorful surroundings became inspiration for her paintings.
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surroundings → become → paintings
But Rogers eventually became homeless and began sleeping in and around Central Park, where her artwork increasingly focused on the natural world surrounding her.
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artwork → become → her
'For many years I was homeless,' Rogers wrote on her website.
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Rogers → write → website
'I worked on my paintings at the Central Park boathouse.'
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I → work → boathouse
Her wildlife paintings earned her a following among park regulars.
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paintings → earn → regulars
NYPD officers descended on Central Park after a 911 caller reported an unconscious woman near East Drive and East 74th Street at 9:43am on Sunday
rime scene investigators searched the rain-soaked park after Rogers was discovered with severe head injuries during a powerful nor'easter.
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Rogers → descend → nor'easter
She was pronounced dead at the scene
Joe Lopez first met Rogers in 2016 when he bought one of her paintings of Pale Male, a red-tailed hawk that became one of Central Park's most famous residents.
Lopez returned to the gazebo Monday clutching that painting as he mourned the woman he remembered as 'kind and sweet and soft.
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he → pronounce → woman
'
'She was fun to talk to, she knew wildlife, she knew animal behavior,' he told the Post.
'It's not like she just sat there and painted, she really knew more than an artist would about these animals.
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artist → talk → animals
And I found that intriguing.'
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that → find → ?
Rogers' health appeared to deteriorate in recent years, according to DeCandido, who said the woman he encountered more recently was markedly different from the artist he had known a decade earlier.
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he → appear → artist
'She was more standoffish, more reclusive,' he said.
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he → say → ?
'She had a tent set up across from one of the benches.
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tent → have → benches
It was kind of just a shroud she would hide under.
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she → hide → ?
She would just look off in a daze.
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She → look → daze
'It was not the Lee I remember from 10 years ago.'
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I → remember → ?
Her life was cut short on Sunday as a powerful nor'easter lashed New York with torrential rain and strong winds.
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nor'easter → cut → rain
Police received a 911 call reporting an unconscious person at about 9:43am.
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Police → receive → 9:43am
Officers found Rogers unresponsive with severe head trauma.
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Rogers → find → trauma
EMS pronounced her dead at the scene.
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EMS → pronounce → scene
Investigators believe she was beaten with a stick.
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she → believe → stick
Rogers, whose life was documented in the 2007 film Begging Naked, was remembered by friends as a kind and talented artist with an extensive knowledge of Central Park's wildlife
One of Rogers' intricate wildlife paintings, above, which earned her a devoted following among Central Park birdwatchers who regularly purchased her artwork
Rogers' striking painting of an owl perched in a snowy tree showcases the artistic talent that led one friend to describe her as the 'Grandma Moses of Central Park'
A tent and scattered clothing were found near the secluded crime scene as officers searched the rain-soaked area with flashlights.
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officers → document → flashlights
Investigators are still working to establish exactly what happened between Rogers and Robles and what allegedly sparked the deadly confrontation.
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what → work → confrontation
Moje Ramirez, 51, who is homeless and told the Post he knew both Rogers and the suspect, claimed the pair were familiar with one another.
'They both knew each other well,' Ramirez said.
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Ramirez → tell → other
He lived here and she lived here.
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she → live → ?
They didn't get along but they were regulars.
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they → get → ?
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
