Man Found Dead Next To IEDs Had Unpaid Taxes, Condo Auction Planned
FITCHBURG (CBS) - The condo belonging to the man who was found dead next to two improvised explosive devices in a complex that burned down had a real estate auction scheduled for Wednesday, according to a state posting.
The auction was scheduled after 59-year-old Raymond Jerome failed to turn over the more than $6,000 a judge ordered him to pay the Bartley Nolan Condominium Trust for unpaid fees on his 7 Beekman Street condo. The Trust filed suit against Jerome in Worcester Superior Court in 2015.
The city of Fitchburg also took out a lien of $3,061.21 against Raymond Jerome's Beekman Street condo for unpaid property taxes, records show.
On Wednesday, local and state agencies gathered at the Knights of Columbus in Fitchburg to help displaced residents of the condo complex.
None of the roughly 60 people displaced have been able to re-enter their homes as crews work to make sure that the building is structurally safe. Some residents were told they could gather their belongings next week.
"We want this to be happening within weeks. Not months and years," Fitchburg Mayor Stephen DiNatale said.
Resident Eli Yannacopoulos told reporters he already knows that he lost everything.
"I lost everything. I lost my cat, my car, my clothes, my money, everything I own," Yannacopoulos said.
The Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts has awarded $30,000 to the Salvation Army of Fitchburg in an effort to get $500 to every displaced resident.