Suspect jailed without bail on murder count

A former Watertown man was ordered held without bail Thursday in Jefferson County Court after being arraigned on charges that he strangled his girlfriend and disposed of her body in a ditch.

Ramon Robles-Ruiz, 30, faces charges of second-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence and unlawfully disposing of a body in connection with the Dec. 8. death of Annette Y. Vazquez. The charges, to which he pleaded not guilty, were contained in a grand jury indictment unsealed in court.

It is alleged in the indictment that Robles-Ruiz caused the death of Ms. Vazquez, 33, by tying a ligature around her neck and asphyxiating her. It is further alleged that he tampered with evidence by disposing of her body in a location other than where her death occurred.

Ms. Vazquez's remains were found March 23 in a ditch off Vrooman Hill Road in the town of Antwerp. She had lived with Robles-Ruiz at 657 Olive St. until her disappearance Dec. 8. On that day, she failed to pick up her two young daughters at school and her car was found abandoned in an Arsenal Street parking lot.

Robles-Ruiz, was taken into custody in February in Puerto Rico on unrelated charges. He was released from jail in Puerto Rico on Oct. 27 and turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service. He was returned to Watertown on Wednesday.