KCCL
LIF Adolescent
Member since 6/11 641 total posts
Name:
|
Re: THEY CAUGHT THE MAN THAT SHOT AND KILLED THOSE INNOCENT PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Newsday
An Army veteran from Medford who was recently fired from his job was arrested Wednesday in the quadruple murder at a Medford pharmacy, law enforcement sources said, and his wife now also faces charges.
The arrest of David Laffer, 33, culminated an intense three-day manhunt for the gunman.
Laffer's wife, Melinda Brady, 29, was also under arrest, charged with third-degree robbery and obstruction of governmental administration related to the execution of the search warrant, police said. Police declined to elaborate on the reason for the robbery charge.
MULTIMEDIA: Latest photos from pharmacy shooting | Video
MORE: Complete coverage | Notable LI crimes through the years
UPDATES: @andrewstrickler on Twitter | Newsday on Facebook
Laffer offered some resistance when he was arrested about 10 a.m. at 30 Pitchpine Place, a police source said.
He was taken to Suffolk County police headquarters in Yaphank, then to a hospital to be treated for minor injuries. He was to be jailed overnight at the Fifth Precinct in Patchogue and be arraigned in Central Islip court Thursday, a source said.
Brady was being questioned about what she may have known about her husband's alleged activities Sunday and beyond, a source said.
After the shooting Sunday at Haven Drugs, a law enforcement source said, Laffer returned home as if nothing happened and picked up his daily routine, even doing yardwork later in the day. After allegedly using a .45-caliber pistol to gun down two workers and two customers, Laffer, a drug user, is suspected of stealing about 10,000 hydrocodone pills contained in wholesale canisters, sources said.
Laffer, a 1995 graduate of Patchogue-Medford High School, was fired two weeks ago from Cosa Instruments in Yaphank, which distributes commercial-grade measuring instruments, after he was accused of trying to steal property from another employee, one source said. He had worked there for about seven years, according to a law enforcement source.
Cosa chief financial officer Robert Striedl closed his eyes and shook his head when told of the arrest. He declined to comment. An attorney for the company, Paul Rubell of Mineola, confirmed Laffer was a former employee.
Less than two days before the shooting, Laffer had applied for government assistance for the first time, according to a source with knowledge of the case file who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Laffer applied for food stamps online at 8:08 p.m. on Friday, the source said. Laffer typed up the application on mybenefits.ny.gov, said the source. Suffolk County Department of Social Services caseworkers had not acted on the application.
Laffer would have needed a household income of less than $18,948 to qualify for food stamps, according to the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance.
The suspect served in the U.S. Army from 1994 until his discharge in 2002, according to Mark Edwards with the Army's Human Resources Command. He worked as an intelligence analyst and attained the rank of private first class before leaving, Edwards said.
Officials said surveillance cameras at Haven Drugs captured the events: A thin young man wearing a white baseball cap and sunglasses walking into the store and shooting the pharmacist, Raymond Ferguson, 45; and an employee, Jennifer Mejia, 17, of Medford, a high school senior. The gunman then shot two customers: Bryon Sheffield, 71, of Medford, who was picking up drugs for his wife's heart ailments; and Jaime Taccetta, 33, of Farmingville, a single mother of two.
A beard the shooter had during the shooting was part of an apparent disguise, the source said.
Investigators believe the suspect was motivated by addiction to painkillers. He took no cash from the register, according to a law enforcement source.
In a statement, County Executive Steve Levy praised the police department on making the arrests.
"It is my hope that the families of those felled this past Sunday may draw a modicum of comfort in knowing that the authorities acted with laser focus to remove from the streets a suspect related to these horrible, despicable crimes," Levy said.
Viedya Sabrina Quail-Ferguson, Ferguson's wife, got the news of the arrest before her husband's wake in Farmingdale.
"I feel like I can come here stronger, not with this cloud over my head," she said.
Quail added: "You hear people say I hope they hang him, but I don't feel that because a life is a life, but I hope he never gets out."
Neighbors who said they know Laffer were shocked by the arrest.
Trish Bohlert, a next-door neighbor, said Laffer lived in the house with his wife and mother. She attended his wedding a few years ago, she said.
Bohlert said she would never have thought that Laffer, whom she had not seen in about a week, could commit such a crime.
"He was very nice," said Bohlert, 51. "He was always outside playing with his nieces and nephews. He used to always say 'hello' to us and stop and talk."
Neighbor Michael Pagliuca said he was shocked that Laffer could be involved in such a heinous crime.
"David is a very bright, intelligent person," Pagliuca said. "I can't believe this."
Zaida Ayala, who lives near Laffer and considers him a friend, described Laffer as a quiet man who had an interest in the FBI and military. She said she would let her grandchildren play in Laffer's yard, and it was never an issue.
"Quiet, keeps to himself, cleans the yard, mows the lawn," she said. "Never a word, never a curse, totally shocking."
Interviewed at his West Sayville home, Laffer's father-in-law, Charlie Brady, paused and took a deep breath when told of the arrest.
"OK. In that case I better call my wife," Brady said, adding, "After this, no comment."
Alan Laffer, 53, an uncle from upstate Congers, said the suspect's father died in 1996 of a heart attack, and he has only seen his nephew a couple of times since.
"I hope there's nothing to this, that's all I can say," Alan Laffer said.
Following the arrest, Daniel Taccetta, Jaime Taccetta's brother, showed up at Yaphank police headquarters to see the suspect face-to-face.
"I just hope it's him," Daniel Taccetta said, adding that he will follow the case "every step of the way."
On Monday, noting that all the victims were defenseless and shot at close range, Suffolk Police Commissioner Richard Dormer called the slayings "one of the most heinous, brutal crimes we've ever experienced."
With all four victims collapsed in the storefront shop, the gunman loaded his backpack with opiate painkillers, police said.
And he walked out.
It was the worst mass shooting in Long Island since Dec. 7, 1993, when Colin Ferguson opened fire on a Long Island Rail Road train, killing six people and wounding 19.
The manhunt for the Medford suspect and pleas by police for any viable information from the public generated hundreds of leads, police said.
Meanwhile, grief and anger rippled through the central Suffolk communities where the victims had lived, as a memorial of flowers and candles sprung up outside the one-story medical office building off Route 112 that houses Haven Drugs.
Just after noon Wednesday, a police officer took down the electronic sign on Route 112 soliciting tips in the slayings.
|
