The 44-year-old Irvington man pleaded not guilty today during his arraignment for the death of a Newark woman mother.
On March 10, Patricia Hiciano, 37, was reported missing by family members after she didn't come home from her job at the El Merengue restaurant. The victim's partially decomposed body was found four days later in a building on South 20th Street. The autopsy results revealed Hiciano was murdered.
Sandro Vargas, who remains at the Essex County Correctional Facility, entered the plea before Superior Court Judge Ronald Wigler.
The matter was referred to the grand jury and kept Vargas' bail at $500,000.