GUILTY NY - Four people shot to death in Medford pharmacy robbery, 19 June 2011

[Reader]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_...tion_with_murder_of_four_at_haven.html?page=0

A pill-popping, gun-loving Army vet and his junkie wife were charged Wednesday night in the cold-blooded massacre of four innocent people at a Long Island pharmacy.

David Laffer and Melinda Brady were hauled out of his mother's Medford, L.I., house in handcuffs after heavily armed Suffolk County cops stormed the home.

Laffer, 33, was later charged with first-degree murder. Brady, 29, was charged only with third-degree robbery, suggesting she may be cooperating with cops.

"He was doing it because he lost his job and I was sick," Brady told reporters as she was walked out of the Suffolk County Police Department headquarters building on Wednesday night.

"I'm sorry that he did all this."

Brady, described by cops and acquaintances as a pill addict who had been jonesing for a refill, reportedly drove her husband to and from Haven Drugs in Medford, where the massacre took place.

 

[Reader]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_...nd_pharmacy_massacre_shows_no_remorse_sa.html

"He did not announce a robbery," John Collins, a Suffolk County prosecutor, said at Laffer's arraignment. "He simply shot first."

Seven shots later, four innocent people lay dead at Haven Drugs in Medford, L.I.

"This defendant is charged with what I would call the most cold blooded robbery homicide in Suffolk county history," Collins said.

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Police later found one of Laffer's fingerprints on a piece of paper on a desk at the pharmacy, the prosecutor said.

Court papers revealed that Laffer tried to grab one of the arresting officers' gun after Suffolk County cops stormed into his mother's Medford, L.I., house on Wednesday.

"The defendant, while being taken to the ground, grabbed and held on to the undersigned officers weapon," Officer Francis Rendon wrote. "The defendant was struck until he released the weapon and proceeded to roll onto his stomach with his arms tucked under his body."

It was only then that Rendon and another cop were "able to pry the subject's hands from under his body and put them behind his back and apply handcuffs."

Laffer and his wife, Melinda Brady, were both "strung out" when they were arrested, Suffolk County Police Commmissioner Richard Dormer said before the arraignment.

 

[mysterygirl]

Like he had to kill them........he got his drugs..........loser idiot.

 

[MrsG728]

I bet the veteran cops had a great time "training" the rookie with this guy. :lol: look at the guy's face!

 

[JoeFromLB]

http://www.stltoday.com/news/national/article_85d7233b-2785-52dc-8ab6-71b4da5345fd.html

There had been some conversation first, Suffolk County prosecutors said, apparently the only words that the suspect, David Laffer, uttered inside Haven Drugs on Sunday.

Then, without warning, Laffer pulled out a handgun and shot the pharmacist, Raymond Ferguson, the prosecutor said. It was unclear if Ferguson had recognized Laffer, who had been a customer before. But even if he had known him, Laffer was wearing a disguise: sunglasses, a cap and a fake beard.

Laffer then turned his gun on Jennifer Mejia, 17, a high school student who worked at the drugstore in Medford, on Long Island, the prosecutor, John Collins, said at Laffer's arraignment, in Central Islip.

After killing the two employees, Laffer walked through the store, before returning to where Ferguson lay, and shooting him twice more.

When two customers — Jaime Taccetta, 33, and Bryon Sheffield, 71 — entered the store, Laffer ambushed them, 'shooting them in the back of the head," Collins said.

Law enforcement officials on Thursday offered the first public accounts of the quadruple homicide, using terms like cold-blooded and execution-style. Laffer, 33, was charged with first-degree murder and resisting arrest; his wife, Melinda Brady, 29, was charged with third-degree robbery and obstructing governmental administration.

 

[Reader]

I bet the veteran cops had a great time "training" the rookie with this guy. :lol: look at the guy's face!

Right! Such a totally senseless, brutal crime...killing 4 innocent people for their addiction to pills!

Desperation? It's not like they were going to be on the street since he was fired...they lived with his mother and he had already applied for food stamps.

Mrs.G728, do you (or anyone else) know if the wife is out on bond? I didn't notice if that was in the reports...TIA

I'm wondering if the mother-in-law will let her come back to her home?

 

[joe jones]

http://sns.mx/vueVy0

wife pleads NG, not out on bail, she may face further charges

 

[tapu]

In that last run-down from NYDailyNews, how do they know all that? I mean, how does anyone know? Everyone was killed, but they say "without warning" and Ferguson "said something." Also, how would they know he shot the pharmacist once, and then came back to shoot him more????

The surveillance video doesn't have sound, does it?

I always post this kind of stuff, and then one of you says, "Tapu, it was like this...." and I think, oh. I'm not as bright as I think I am." So, go ahead. I'll appreciate it anyway!

 

[tapu]

I can hardly breathe reading about this. I worked as a pharmacy tech when I was in college, and could you find any nicer people in general than pharmacists and pharmacy workers?? Pharmacists (again, in general of course) have to be the most helpful, patient, and accommodating service people you ever deal with.

I feel so very sorry for all the families, and my heart was especially touched by this pharmacist's wife. Her world must feel like she's fallen into the abyss.

 

[Reader]

In that last run-down from NYDailyNews, how do they know all that? I mean, how does anyone know? Everyone was killed, but they say "without warning" and Ferguson "said something." Also, how would they know he shot the pharmacist once, and then came back to shoot him more????

The surveillance video doesn't have sound, does it?

I always post this kind of stuff, and then one of you says, "Tapu, it was like this...." and I think, oh. I'm not as bright as I think I am." So, go ahead. I'll appreciate it anyway!

Tapu, no prob with your questions...Being a pharmacy, and in this area previous articles stated robberies had greatly increased, they probably had several cameras inside and out, especially right at the pharmacy counter. Even if there is no sound, they could show some talking going on and the rest of what happened.

The without warning? One article said he suddenly shot Ferguson through the bag he had the gun hidden in..and showed him walking up and killing the others from behind...

Also from JoeFromLB's St. Louis article.

Dormer said it was "very difficult to comprehend."

"We talked about this with our staff, with our homicide detectives, and this is very unusual," Dormer said. "We found out that there was no criminal background with this individual and to suddenly engage in this type of violent behavior is beyond understanding. It doesn't make sense. I don't have the answer. Nobody has the answer."

Thanks, joe jones, for the bail information.

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

Thanks for asking the questions I had as well, Tapu. And thanks Reader, for the explanation.

I am confused about one other thing. This idiot, Laffer, shoots the pharmacist Mr. Ferguson through some type of a bag, unprovoked. Wouldn't the noise have alerted Ms. Mejia? Not that she really stood any chance of escaping, but I am surprised that he was still able to shoot her from behind.

(I can't help but appreciate Laffer's ragged, beat-up face and black eyes....it's too bad they couldn't inflict a few more injuries on him during the struggle. What a jacka**.) And I'm quite sure that wifey is undergoing some serious withdrawal symptoms and that's why she's been taken for medical care. These two deserve each other.

 

[Nefriahaia]

New York has a DP, I really hope they use it for this one.

 

[belimom]

I can hardly breathe reading about this. I worked as a pharmacy tech when I was in college, and could you find any nicer people in general than pharmacists and pharmacy workers?? Pharmacists (again, in general of course) have to be the most helpful, patient, and accommodating service people you ever deal with.

I feel so very sorry for all the families, and my heart was especially touched by this pharmacist's wife. Her world must feel like she's fallen into the abyss.

I worked in pharmacy in high school - a small family-owned pharmacy like this one... It has totally broken my heart, as the pharmacist and others really were just the nicest folks, just as you said.

 

[Reader]

Thanks for asking the questions I had as well, Tapu. And thanks Reader, for the explanation.

I am confused about one other thing. This idiot, Laffer, shoots the pharmacist Mr. Ferguson through some type of a bag, unprovoked. Wouldn't the noise have alerted Ms. Mejia? Not that she really stood any chance of escaping, but I am surprised that he was still able to shoot her from behind.

(I can't help but appreciate Laffer's ragged, beat-up face and black eyes....it's too bad they couldn't inflict a few more injuries on him during the struggle. What a jacka**.) And I'm quite sure that wifey is undergoing some serious withdrawal symptoms and that's why she's been taken for medical care. These two deserve each other.

Thanks for your comment, Blondie. I was wondering about your question too. The link below states:

Laffer first killed pharmacist Raymond Ferguson, 45, Collins said. Then he gunned down 17-year-old clerk Jennifer Mejia with two more shots.

Finally, Laffer ambushed two customers Taccetta, 35, and Bryon Sheffield, 71, when they walked into his death trap.

"He came back behind them and simply executed them by shooting them in the back of the head," Collins said.

So I'm not sure either how or where he shot Ms. Mejia but one article said she was in an aisle of the store, so maybe she was hiding? She might have been in such shock or so frightened that she couldn't move, or he could have chased her.

Also:

Brady "discussed robbing the pharmacy with her accomplice on the prior night."

"The defendant stated that her accomplice would only threaten the pharmacist to steal drugs," the papers state.

In a sign of how out of it Brady was when she and Laffer allegedly planned the heist, the pill-popping ex-secretary "gave her accomplice a prescription written to her to use in the robbery," the papers state.

Right now, Brady is charged only with robbery driving Laffer from the scene of the crime in a 1998 Nissan Pathfinder - and with grabbing an officer's leg while being arrested.

A grand jury will consider more serious charges against Brady on Monday, Assistant District Attorney James Chalifoux said.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_...acy_killer_david_laffer_pl.html#ixzz1QGvzdnNa

 

[Reader]

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/long_island&id=8210961

MEDFORD (WABC) -- The last two funerals were held Saturday morning for the victims of the Long Island drug store massacre.

In Ronkonkoma, friends and family of Jamie Taccetta, 33, gathered for her final farewell just a few months before they would have celebrated her wedding.

The mother of two was buried in her wedding dress.

The funeral for pharmacist Raymond Ferguson, 45, was held in Forest Hills, Queens on Saturday.

Among the mourners; his wife with whom he would have soon celebrated his 10th wedding anniversary.

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On Friday, family and friends gathered to say goodbye to Jennifer Mejia, the 17-year-old store clerk who would have graduated from Bellport High School on Thursday. Her classmates wore their caps and gowns to the funeral.

They also painted messages on their caps, pinned ribbons to their robes and wore bracelets they'd made in colors that meant something to Jennifer, blue for her prom dress and purple because it was her favorite color.

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"I think Jen would think it was very nice," friend Taylor Reilly said. "She was a very humble person. She would be so happy. She'd be like, 'You guys are so nice for doing this for me. I have the best friends ever, and the best family.' She really has so many people who love her."

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Also laid to rest Friday was 71-year-old Byron Sheffield, who was a customer in Haven Drugs when the shooting happened. Sheffield was picking up a prescription for his ailing wife when he was ambushed.

 

[Reader]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43536286/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/?ocid=MSNToolbar111

Desperate addicts, ruthless dealers turn to violence to feed growing hunger for painkillers

From Redmond, Wash., to St. Augustine, Fla., criminals are holding pharmacists at gunpoint and escaping with thousands of powerfully addictive pills that can sell for as much as $80 apiece on the street.

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Armed robberies at pharmacies rose 81 percent between 2006 and 2010, from 380 to 686, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says. The number of pills stolen went from 706,000 to 1.3 million. Thieves are overwhelmingly taking oxycodone painkillers like OxyContin or Roxicodone, or hydrocodone-based painkillers like Vicodin and Norco. Both narcotics are highly addictive.

In New York state, the number of armed robberies rose from 2 in 2006 to 28 in 2010. In Florida, they increased nearly six-fold, from 11 to 65. California saw 61 robberies in 2010, Indiana had 45 and Tennessee had 38.

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Prescription painkillers are now the second most-abused drugs after marijuana, with 7 million Americans using them illegally in the past month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says. The number of patients treated in emergency rooms for prescription drug overdoses more than doubled between 2004 and 2008, from 144,644 to 305,885.

Drug dealers may be turning to violence as authorities crack down on other ways of getting painkillers, Carreno said. Many states have launched introduced computer systems designed to prevent "doctor-shopping" by addicts, and federal investigations have shut down several shady Internet pharmacies.

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'Panic buttons'
"I get nervous at night," Hodges said. "I stay late a lot, and you worry about what could happen."

Hodges said he's installed security cameras and alarms that are activated by the sound of someone breaking in. His employees wear wireless "panic buttons" that they can push to alert police.


Much more at link...

 

[joe jones]

http://www.centredaily.com/2011/06/27/2801102/grand-jury-mulls-charges-in-ny.html

more charges may be added as case moves to Grand Jury

 

[joe jones]

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/li_grand_jury_mulls_more_charges_ycltPOuE5q0PeT7i3FxTLK

one of the suspects indicted by grand jury

 

[joe jones]

http://www.newsday.com/news/breaking/david-laffer-indicted-in-medford-massacre-1.2990747

more from grand jury

 

[Reader]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2011/06/29/2011-06-29_no_remorse_for_li_massacre.html


"The shooter in the pharmacy massacre is in total denial about the horrid crimes, while his wife constantly complains about a stomachache, a prison source said."


More at link...