Pawn Shop Owners Cover Purchase Of Jewelry From Murder
MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Owners of a West Palm Beach pawn shop bought jewelry stolen from the elderly victims of gruesome double homicide in Deerfield Beach and then falsified records to cover it up, according to Palm Beach County Deputies.
According to our news partners the Sun-Sentinel, investigators said one of the owners of the Palm Beach Gold Exchange, Christopher Powell,43, was a former cop and the other,Kenneth Klitsch,47, was a former firefighter.
The two allegedly often knowingly bought stolen items, according to an arrest report.
Powell who had been fired as a Greenacres cop in 2005 for violating "moral character standards." In a recording he acknowledged that he knew he was "hindering" the homicide investigation by covering up the purchase, according to report.
County records show both men were arrested Friday and released hours later on $12, 000 bail.
On November 4, the bodies of 88-year-old Phil Russo and his 78-year-old wife Barbara were found by their daughter in their Deerfield Beach Condo in the Deer Creek Country Club.
One of the two suspected killers who was arrested within days of the murders allegedly told deputies he had sold a gold bracelet which he had stolen from the elderly couples home.
