Yaphank man arrested for killing his girlfriend

Suffolk County Police arrested a Yaphank man on Oct. 15 for allegedly murdering his girlfriend earlier this year.

Fifth Precinct officers responded to the Shore Motor Inn, located at 576 Eastbound Sunrise Service Road in Patchogue, at approximately 2:25 a.m. on May 29 after a 911 caller reported a woman was not breathing. The woman, Candice Woodruff, 37, of Katy, Texas, was transported to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Following an autopsy by the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner, it was determined Woodruff’s cause of death was asphyxia. Following an investigation by Homicide Squad detectives, an arrest warrant was issued for Woodruff’s boyfriend, Willie Hart.

Hart, 59, of Yaphank, surrendered on October 15 and was charged with Murder 2nd Degree. Hart will be held overnight at the Suffolk County Correctional Facility in Yaphank and arraigned at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead on October 16.