Man held without bail in connection to 2014 murder, fire

A South End man was ordered held without bail Wednesday during his arraignment on a murder charge in connection to a 2014 stabbing death and fire in Roxbury.

The Suffolk District Attorney’s office said Victor Montes-Severino, 21, was identified as a suspect in the murder of Santo Bernabel, whose body was found inside a burning building, after DNA at the scene matched his genetic profile and his alibi was refuted by a GPS monitor.

Montes-Severino was previously sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for a 2012 robbery, according to the DA’s office.

Bernabel, 69, of Hazelton, Pennsylvania, was found dead with multiple stab wounds after a five-alarm fire in October 2014.

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Montes-Severino went to Boston Medical Center the night of the fire and claimed the cut on his hand was the result of being mugged in Chinatown, but a review of the GPS monitor he was wearing at the time showed he was near Bernabel’s home, authorities said.

A lawyer for Montes-Severino declined to comment on the case.

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