Suspect arrested in bizarre Bronx case where burning body parts found in shopping cart

Detectives have arrested the Bronx man they claim killed and chopped up his roommate a day after his victim’s 46th birthday — leaving several of the body parts burning in a shopping cart under a Yonkers Metro-North train station, police said Friday.

Muhammad Aadil, 40, is facing murder, manslaughter, drug possession, and concealment of a human corpse for killing and dismembering Lutalo Henderson in an apartment they shared on Rogers Place near Dawson St., in the South Bronx in early August.

He and another suspect allegedly cut up Henderson’s remains in the apartment, then carted several of the body parts from the South Bronx to Yonkers, where they were found set on fire under a MetroNorth train station, cops said.

The duo took the body parts on a MetroNorth train before getting off in Yonkers and setting the remains ablaze.

Cops charged Aadil in Henderson’s death Friday morning after he was spotted in the Bronx. He had already been indicted for murder and manslaughter and an arrest warrant had been issued, sources with knowledge of the case said.

When cops took him into custody, Aadil had a large amount of drugs on him, sources said.

The macabre mystery began shortly after 2 a.m. on Aug. 5 under the Oak St. bridge in Yonkers when firefighters responded to a call about an object on fire. After they extinguished the flames they made a shocking discovery — a singed corpse with no hands or feet.

Cops quickly recovered video footage that showed two people rolling the body from the nearby Mount Vernon West Metro-North station.

Investigators painstakingly traced the trip to an apartment building on Rogers Place, about 13 miles from where the first set of remains were found.

Investigators entered the apartment, finding Henderson’s severed hands in a crock pot with bleach. Cops also found Henderson’s teeth, which had been removed in order to throw off investigators.

A trash bag in the freezer contained at least one human leg.

“Whoever did this wanted to try their best to make sure the victim was never identified,” retired NYPD Chief Terry Monahan told NBC New York after the discovery was made.

“The reason anyone would take out teeth, hands and feet from an individual is to prevent identification. Once you remove the hands, you no longer can check fingerprints. You take off the teeth, you can’t check dental records to see who the individual is.”

It was not immediately clear how Henderson died before his body was dismembered. The cause of death has only been listed as “homicidal violence,” a source said.

A handgun, as well as heroin and cocaine were also found in an apartment bedroom, police sources said.

Henderson had been missing since the grisly discovery was made on Aug. 5 — the day after his 46th birthday.

“I’m not OK but I’m staying strong for my family,” his sister posted on Facebook after authorities told her he was the victim in August. “I love my brother dearly. Part of me feels missing and I’m angry. I pray they find the person who did this to him. May God have mercy on their soul.”

Henderson was a history and aliens aficionado who would regale anyone who would listen with the latest piece of trivia he’d gleaned from reading or watching YouTube videos, according to his ex-girlfriend, who asked to be identified only by her first name, Tricia.

“Lutalo was very into UFO stuff. He loved to read about aliens. … He didn’t think we were alone,” said Tricia, 47, who dated Lutalo for two years after meeting on Hinge.

“He loves history,” Tricia added. “He would talk you death about anything he read about.”

Tricia, who kept in contact with Henderson after the pair split up in July 2022, became concerned after he didn’t respond to her messages wishing him a happy birthday.

A friend two days later let her know that body parts had been discovered at his building where they previously lived together.

“I immediately knew something was wrong,” Tricia said. “I reached out to his sister, and from then we’ve been dealing with this nightmare.”

Aadil was the listed tenant of the apartment, but he would often rent out the spare room to someone else, the building superintendent said.

The apartment where the two men lived was a known drug spot where people could score and shoot narcotics, sources said.

Aadil vanished after the body parts were discovered and remained on the run for six weeks before his arrest.

His arraignment in Bronx Criminal Court was pending Friday. His accomplice remained at large.