Murder of Elena Cardenas

Murder of Elena Cardenas
Previous	Assassination of Christian Blake
Next	Duel at Pier 81
Date	Late 2014
Location	New York City, New York
Result	Elena Cardenas is killed by Junkie Jake.
Planned by	Wilson Fisk
Executed by	Junkie Jake
Target	Elena Cardenas
Casualties	Elena Cardenas

"You think it was a coincidence? Elena decides to stay and fight, to rally what's left of her neighbors, and this happens."

―Matt Murdock to Karen Page^[src]

The Murder of Elena Cardenas was planned by Wilson Fisk and carried out by Junkie Jake in order to acquire Elena Cardenas' Apartment in order to construct Midland Circle, as well as to manipulate Masked Man.

Background

"I was promised a city block in return for my aid in your ventures."
"There is a tenement in, um, this particular area... it has proven troublesome to vacate."

―Nobu Yoshioka and Wilson Fisk^[src]

Elena Cardenas asks Nelson and Murdock for help

As a part of his plan to tear down and redevelop Hell's Kitchen, Wilson Fisk became associates with Nobu Yoshioka and the Hand, who required a specific city block. In order to get his hand on the land, Fisk had Armand Tully to strongarm the tenants into leaving their apartments by tearing them down at the pretense of repairs. Elena Cardenas approached Nelson and Murdock to put up a legal fight against Tully, so she and her neighbors could keep their homes. Nelson and Murdock entered a legal fight with Landman and Zack that represented Tully, while looking into Westmeyer-Holt Contracting and how it was linked with Fisk's criminal enterprise.

Having no progress in acquiring the land he needed, Yoshioka was growing more and more frustrated with Fisk, especially after losing the Black Sky to Stick. He confronted Fisk, reminding him of what the Hand was promised in exchange for help, ignoring Fisk's attempts to de-escalate the situation or offer a different patch of land instead. Fisk then pointed out that a certain tenement became too troublesome to vacate, even though he was a legal landowner. Fisk assured Yoshioka that the matter should be resolved, while also claiming that Masked Man was becoming an issue on his own. He suggested Yoshioka to have the Hand send a specialist to deal with the vigilante, so Yoshioka decided to take matters into his own hands.

Murder

"How did she die?"
"Multiple stab wounds."

―Karen Page and Brett Mahoney^[src]

Wilson Fisk needed to lure Masked Man out and having recalled the instances of him going out of his way to save women and children from danger, Fisk found his weakness. He sent some of his men after Junkie Jake, bringing him to Pier 81 Warehouse and instructing him to kill Elena Cardenas. Jake claimed that he did not want to kill anyone, but as he was suffering from withdrawal, Fisk's men paid him off with the Steel Serpent heroin, which made him accept. Jake ended up stalking Cardenas to her apartment and stabbed her multiple times, stealing her purse to make it look like a mugging. By the time the ambulance arrived to the building, Cardenas already succumbed to her wounds and died.

Aftermath

"You've demonstrated an emotional weakness for children and women. I assumed that would extend to the elderly. So I baited the hook. Here you are."
"You took her life... just to get my attention?"
"Nobu forced my hand in the matter. My options, they were limited by necessity. I took no pleasure in her passing."

―Wilson Fisk and Masked Man^[src]

Brett Mahoney personally informed Matt Murdock, Foggy Nelson and Karen Page of the news of Elena Cardenas' death, which was a serious shock to them. Wilson Fisk gave a pubic statement, mourning Cardenas' death and commenting that she and other tenants were offered compensation for moving out willingly. Murdock, Nelson and Page were disgusted with Fisk using Cardenas' death to push his own agenda, while being certain that he was involved in her murder.

Masked Man assaults Junkie Jake

Infuriated by Fisk's callousness, Masked Man decided to go after him and tracked down Junkie Jake, beating him up and demanding him to tell where he could find the one who hired him. Just as Fisk planned, Jake told him about the Pier 81 Warehouse where he was taken by Fisk's men and paid to do the deed. Masked Man demanded Jake to go to the New York City Police Department and turn himself in, however, Fisk had him killed shortly after, making it look like suicide.

Masked Man walks into Nobu Yoshioka's trap

Arriving at the warehouse, Masked Man did not find Fisk but instead was confronted by Nobu Yoshioka in a Hand ninja garb, ready to kill him once and for all. The two clashed in a brutal and bloody duel, during which Masked Man sustained serious wounds from Yoshioka's attacks. But before Yoshioka could kill him, Masked Man managed to briefly gain an upper hand, which resulted in Yoshioka being consumed by fire and dying. Fisk then showed himself to Masked Man and admitted that he had Cardenas killed to lure him into a trap, although he was banking on Masked Man and Yoshioka killing each other. Masked Man attempted to kill Fisk in retaliation, but could not put up a fight after a duel with Yoshioka, being beaten down and almost killed by Fisk.

Due to Cardenas' death, the tenement case was closed in Armand Tully's favor and Fisk was free to do anything he wanted with the land he owned. Fisk provided the Hand with the city block they requested, so they could proceed with the construction of the Midland Circle and the excavation of dragon bones. Cardenas' death was also brought up by Nelson when he tried to get Blake Tower to put an end to Fisk's deal with the FBI, but it did not help.