Puzzling Case On Murdered Woman And Her Missing Husband is Still Not Solved...
JesusBled4U
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - In the year since the body of Janette Piro was
found in a freezer in her garage, police have been unable to find her
husband and have been unable to find any leads in the case.
Investigators said they plan to release more details this week about Piro's
killing and the disappearance of her husband, Chris Benedetto.
Benedetto, 42, a retired New York City policeman, has been missing since her
death and is considered a possible suspect or second victim.
Benedetto's wallet, cell phone and medication were found at the home and no
money had been withdrawn from the couple's financial accounts. But more than
$100,000 in diamond jewelry also was stolen from the couple's home.
A member of Benedetto's family and representatives of the State Attorney's
Office and Riviera Beach Police Department, plan to appear together and make
a public appeal for help, officials said.
Friends and neighbors searched for 12 days last November for Piro, whose
body was eventually found entombed in a freezer pushed into the corner of
her garage in her Singer Island neighborhood. A coroner needed to thaw the
corpse for a week before beginning an autopsy.
Possible leads have not developed, investigators say, despite the
collaborative efforts of the FBI, Florida Department of Law Enforcement,
Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and police in three states.
The killing was profiled twice on ``America's Most Wanted'' - generating 35
telephone calls but no compelling information. Forensic evidence obtained
from Piro's body could not be linked to a suspect.
A brutal beating in New Jersey of Mike Koblan, Piro's brother-in-law who
often visited the couple, has yielded little after eight months of probing.
Two Riviera Beach detectives flew to West Orange in March and visited Koblan
in the hospital after Koblan was found beaten unconscious in an office
parking lot. He suffered a fractured skull and his pants and underwear were
ripped off, but his wallet and valuables were untouched.
Koblan, 50, was asked to submit DNA samples to compare with tissue evidence
taken from Piro, 45.
Police have not named Koblan a suspect, but said they are interested in
business dealings he may have had with the couple.
Benedetto, 42, received a $2 million workers compensation settlement three
years ago from a construction fall that left him with a surgically repaired
spine. Family members say Benedetto invested much of the settlement in a
venture with Koblan, who runs a small trucking business in Hackensack, N.J.
``My gut tells me that the money is behind this,'' said Arthur Esposito,
Benedetto's cousin and a Titusville police officer. ``Chris got into
something and wanted to get out of it.''
Tampa Bay Online | Tampa Tribune | Weather Center | Florida Travel