The two suspects wanted for the murder of a Chelsea businessman were nabbed earlier today on the lam in Florida, The Post has learned.
Ex-con Edwin Faulkner, 30, and suspected cohort Juan Carlos Martinez-Herrera, 26, were caught without incident by the NYPD’s Manhattan Violent Felony Squad at a home in Orlando at about 11:30 a.m. and are awaiting an extradition hearing, sources said.
“There was a little hesitation. They didn’t open the door right away, but there was no struggle,” said one law enforcement source. “I don’t blame them. If I knew I was getting arrested, I’d hesitate too.”
Detectives with the Manhattan South Homicide Squad, and local law enforcement agencies down there, also aided in the capture, sources added.
Sources said that detectives honed in on the suspects by analyzing phone records.
Investigators believe Faulkner and Martinez-Herrera bound John Laubach’s hands with duct tape, covered his mouth with tape and tied him to a bedpost in his West 22nd Street apartment during a gay tryst turned deadly on March 2.
The cause of death remains unclear, but Laubach was found with a towel over his face.
Laubach was routinely seen bringing young men back to his pad, and there were no indications of forced entry into his home, which had been tossed, sources said.
Faulkner and Martinez-Herrera made off with the victim’s laptop and credit cards, sources said.
This past weekend, detectives had received information that one of the suspects was holed up in a building on University Avenue in The Bronx, sources said.
Detectives interviewed several residents who identified Faulkner as the wanted man after seeing his mug shot.
Investigators also found video of Faulkner walking past a nearby building carrying a small briefcase that they believe contained Laubach’s laptop, sources said.
They ran Faulkner’s criminal record, which revealed seven prior arrests, including busts for drug possession and burglary, sources said.
He also served almost three years in state prison for attempted grand larceny, records show.
Martinez-Herrera had several past run-ins with the law in Florida, including a marijuana arrest and a traffic violation, sources said.
In 2010, he was arrested there for a gunpoint robbery, but the charges were later dropped, sources added.