A mild-mannered Brooklyn bookkeeper was ordered held without bail Sunday in the grisly stabbing death of his naked roommate — as the suspect’s lawyer called his client’s alleged bloody act “an aberration.”
Vito Bauza, 56, is charged with murder for allegedly slashing Ernest Diaz, 40, in a frenzy at the suspect’s Bay Ridge apartment building Friday afternoon.
Diaz stumbled out of the building’s elevator naked and covered in blood before collapsing in the lobby.
Bauza turned himself in to cops the next day.
Outside the Brooklyn courthouse Sunday, defense lawyer Arthur Aidala said his client had known Diaz “for a very, very long time,” and called his alleged deadly outburst “an aberration” and “so out of character for him.
“He’s a very decent human being who was apparently involved in an incident that took seconds,” Aidala said. “It’s not like he’s a violent person or an aggressive person in any way, shape, or form.
“I think it’s going to turn out to be some domestic-violence situation,” he added. “There are many defenses, obviously including self-defense.”
According to police sources, Diaz, whose last known address was in Queens, had been living with Bauza at the time.
A building custodian previously told The Post that Diaz took the elevator down from the fifth-floor apartment shortly before 3 p.m. Friday before stumbling bloodied into the lobby.
“He had stab wounds all over,” the custodian said.
Diaz was taken to Lutheran Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
In court, Bauza, whose family was there for his arraignment, wore a Tyvek-style jumpsuit and did not speak during the brief proceeding.
Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Edgar Walker ordered him held without bail pending a return court appearance in the case Dec. 3.
“I wasn’t going to ask for bail today,” Aidala told The Post. “We have to regroup and see if there is a real possibility for bail.”
Bauza’s family snapped at reporters but did not comment on the case.
“He’s my nephew,” his aunt said. “He’s a good person.”