(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Ade N’Gaii, 39, of Harlem, has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison after a Suffolk County jury found him guilty last month for his part in the killing of Kristopher Appel, 30, of Patchogue, during a planned home invasion.
“This defendant could have walked away from the plan to invade the victim’s home when it failed the first time. But, instead, he doubled down. His desire to enrich himself was so great, that it led to murder,” said District Attorney Tierney. “Now, he’ll get to spend a significant time in prison for that choice.”
The evidence at trial established that in October 2018, N’Gaii and his accomplices targeted Appel and conspired to commit a violent home invasion at his residence to steal money and marijuana. On October 27, 2018, N’Gaii and his accomplices, armed with a handgun, drove from the Bronx to Patchogue to carry out their plan. N’Gaii and his accomplices were not successful in breaking into the victim’s home on their first attempt due to being physically unable to break into Appel’s home. Their botched attempted home invasion resulted in the second planned home invasion that turned out to be fatal.
On November 2, 2018, N’Gaii and three accomplices again drove from the Bronx into Suffolk County armed with a handgun. The trio disguised themselves as construction workers, wearing hard hats and reflective vests. N’Gaii and one accomplice forcibly entered Appel’s home, and engaged in a confrontation with Appel in which they brutally beat and fatally stabbed him. Suffolk County Police Department officers discovered Appel deceased in the front vestibule of his home later that day.
During their investigation, police recovered a reflective vest that contained N’Gaii’s DNA from Appel’s home. Witness testimony as well as N’Gaii text messages to an accomplice place him in the vicinity of the crime at the time it occurred. N’Gaii was later arrested on June 24, 2021.
On February 24, 2023, N’Gaii was convicted after a jury trial heard before County Court Judge, the Honorable Anthony S. Senft, Jr., for the crime of Murder in the Second Degree, a Class A violent felony. On March 27, 2023, he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. N’Gaii was represented by Alix Duroseau, Esq.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Elena Tomaro of the Homicide Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Keri Wasson of the Major Crime Bureau.
