Court docs: Suspect attacked ex at home, Worcester restaurant after breakup

WARNING: The details in this story may be difficult for some readers. 

The man accused of stabbing and killing a woman inside a popular Worcester restaurant has been ordered held without bail and will undergo a mental health evaluation.

Boston 25 News has obtained court documents detailing the deadly stabbing and a violent home invasion that occurred months before.

On Wednesday evening, Worcester Police were called to O'Connor's Restaurant for a stabbing. Court documents say in a surveillance video, 28-year-old Carlos Asencio of New Hampshire is seen walking into the restaurant looking around for the victim, identified as Amanda Dabrowski, who was in the bathroom at the time. When she came out of the bathroom, she and Asencio ran into each other on the ramp leaving the restaurant. That's when Asencio allegedly began to stab her several times with a knife.

Diners who heard and saw the commotion, jumped in to help Dabrowski and stop Asencio. One good Samaritan who spoke with Boston 25 News was stabbed in the back by Asencio while trying to restrain him. The diners were able to hold Asencio until police arrived and took him into custody.

In and out of consciousness, Dabrowski was rushed to the hospital where she died.

Police say Dabrowski and Asencio had previously dated for a few months.

While speaking with witnesses, court documents say two women told police they met Dabrowski at the restaurant as a part of a new book club. The women said this was their first time meeting Dabrowski and that they didn't know her well.

Asencio is being charged with armed assault with intent to murder, assault and battery, dangerous weapon, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, and resisting arrest.

Asencio was ordered held without bail on Friday. He will be held at Bridgewater State Hospital and will undergo a mental health evaluation. He is due back in court on July 25.

According to court documents, Acensio is accused of attacking Dabrowski before.

On Sunday, April 21, police in Ayer were called to a home on East Main Street for reports of an injured, bleeding woman after a man broke into her home.

Court documents say Dabrowski, who had moved into the Ayer home on December of 2018, was awoken early that morning to strange noises in the house. After getting up to investigate, she found a window with a small crack in it, a dark bag with rope straps on the floor, and a set of handcuffs. A masked man then appeared next to her and used a stun gun on her multiple times, Dabrowski told police. She then stabbed him with a vape pen, grabbed a bottle of alcohol and broke it over his head. Docs go on to say the struggle between the two continued as the suspect allegedly began strangling her. She was able to bite his fingers and run to the kitchen where she grabbed a knife and stabbed him in the shoulder. He then took out a handgun, pointed it at Dabrowski and gestured her to get on her knees, which she did while still holding the knife. She continued yelling at the suspect, asking what he wanted, but he never answered her. Eventually, she got back up and the fight continued. Finally, the suspect grabbed his bag and the knives and Dabrowski shoved him out of the window he came in.

Dabrowski shut the window, turned on all the lights in the house and went to call 911, but realized her phone was missing and that the man took it. She grabbed a knife, her dog, and drove to the police station.

Court docs say responding officers didn't find the suspect but did find the aforementioned window covered in blood. Police also found multiple knives, a bullet, a loaded semi-automatic gun, and a stun gun.

Police pinged Dabrowski's phone which was tracked on Route 2, and then on Route 495 toward Lowell, in Nashua, New Hampshire, and up Route 3 through Merrimack, Bedford, Hooksett, Bow, and finally in Pembroke before the phone turned off.

Dabrowski told police the suspect reminded her of her ex-boyfriend Carlos Acensio, whom she had recently broken up with.

The week before the home invasion, she said he tried to get back together, but she declined, according to documents. She also told police the two had worked together and sat at nearby desks. She said Asencio had asked to have a meeting alone with her at work and she told him no. According to documents, Asencio called her a slut and said she was on the dating app Tinder all of the time. He then allegedly told her she "was better than this" and asked why she was acting like this. He then pulled an envelope out containing cash, threw it on the table, implying she slept with people for money. Dabrowksi then got up, grabbed her laptop and said, "Are you [expletive] kidding me."

The next day, Asencio apologized to her at work and tried to make excuses to come to her house to pick up his toothbrush and toothpaste. She told police that "Carlos did not take the breakup well and that he had accused her of being a prostitute. He has also told her that his 'biggest failure in life was not being able to maintain the relationship with her.' She thought it was strange as she had only dated him for three months."

According to court documents, police tried to ping Asencio's phone, but found it had been shut off on April 20 and not turned back on. Police went to his parent's house in Derry, New Hampshire and learned that he had borrowed his father's car after going out to dinner with his parents. They said they last saw him around 10 p.m. April 20 and had expected him the next day for Easter dinner, but he never showed up. When police questioned his parents on his whereabouts, Asencio's father said that he "hopes it has nothing to do with a girl" and that he knew his son used to date a girl and that they had broken up.

Documents say Asencio didn't show up to work on April 22 and has been a no-show since.

Police contacted Border Patrol and learned Asencio crossed at the Stanstead Quebec Border Crossing coming from Derby, Vermont around 9 a.m. on April 21. He was placed into secondary questioning before being granted entry and reported lied to agents saying he was visiting a friend for two-three days. He was found in possession of a bulletproof vest with stab plates.

After getting into Canada, he boarded an Air Canada flight to Cancun. His father's car was found at the Montreal Airport parking lot. In it, they found a bag with Dabrowski's cellphone, knives, duct tape, handcuffs, and a bullet that matched what was found at the home.

Police applied for an arrest warrant, charging Asencio with armed assault in a dwelling, breaking and entering at nighttime, domestic assault and battery, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

Officials are looking into how or when Asencio came back to the United States.

It's unclear why he wasn't charged for the April incident earlier.

>> Man accused of killing woman at restaurant allegedly attacked her at home in April

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