FORT LAUDERDALE – An arrest has been made in connection with the murder of an elderly Fort Lauderdale couple in late March.
Fort Lauderdale police announced Wednesday that 30-year-old Maurice Anthony Newson was arrested for stealing Major and Claudette Melvin’s red 2014 Ford Fusion and then attempting to sell it. Police did not say whether Newson was also to blame for the couple’s deaths.
At approximately 8:47 p. m. On March 22, Fort Lauderdale police launched an investigation into the deaths of a husband and wife discovered shot to death in their Melrose Park home.
When detectives entered the home, they discovered Claudette, 87, lying in the dining room and Major, 89, in the living room, bleeding from gunshot wounds. However, no weapons were found in the house.
According to relatives present at the scene, the Melvins’ car had disappeared from the house, along with their car keys, which were hanging on the kitchen keychain. They told police that the car could be known simply by the injuries on the driver. Door and bumper look, as well as rear bumper stickers.
Once the search warrant was signed, police returned to the home to retrieve several pieces of evidence, as well as documents, a cable router, and two 9mm bullet casings.
Meanwhile, police spoke with a member of the circle of mentally disabled relatives who said he spent the past two days at the couple’s home, sleeping in one of the bedrooms and watching M*A*S*H*, according to court documents.
The relative said he found Claudette dead in the dining room when he went to get something to eat and without delay called his sister telling her to come home because it was “an emergency, an emergency. “When the sister asked him why he didn’t call 911 first, he replied because “no one taught me how to call 911. “
Detectives then asked if the relative had noticed Major as well, but he replied that he only discovered Claudette that night. When detectives explained to him that the Melvins were dead, he broke down in tears and hugged the detectives. He also told police that he did. He didn’t hear any gunshots or loud noises before locating the Melvins’ bodies, according to court documents.
Detectives then spoke with the Melvins’ granddaughter, who said she had left her home the night before to stay with her boyfriend, with whom she has a son. He told them he received a call from his circle of relatives the next day and returned. home, only to hear the news of the death of his grandparents.
The next morning, police saw security video showing an unidentified vehicle arriving at his home just before 1 a. m. of the day of the murder. The footage showed an unidentified driver exiting the vehicle and opening the passenger’s rear door to look for something in the back. I nod before the last door and head to the Melvins’ house.
A few minutes later, the man returned to his car and drove north on Southwest 30th Terrace, according to court documents.
About two hours later, the lights on the Melvins’ car came on while they were in the driveway before their vehicle headed in the same direction as the suspect’s. Thirty minutes later, a SunPass reader captured the Ford Fusion’s toll tag heading north on the Florida Turnpike as it approached Atlantic Boulevard.
Based on the timing of the carjacking and double murder, police believed the suspects in the carjacking were connected to the homicide.
On April 4, a Fort Lauderdale police officer arrested a guy who claimed to have seen the Melvins Fusion in the 600 W neighborhood. Oakland Park Boulevard in Wilton Manors. The Fort Lauderdale Police Department, with assistance from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office. , located the couple’s car in a tow truck company after confirming the damage and other identifying data.
Police then issued a search warrant to the tow truck company to find out how the Melvins’ car was delivered there. Police spoke with a tow truck driver, who said he received a text message from his boss around 6:30 p. m. m. of the day of the accident. murder, saying that there was a 2012 Ford Fusion for sale that needed to be picked up.
The tow truck driver then ran into a guy, who later turned out to be Newson, dressed in a “Miami-Dade” uniform shirt, who told him that he had recently purchased the Fusion and was promoting it because he “was tired of making a cash investment in the vehicle,” court documents say. When the tow truck driver asked if there was anything with the car, the man replied “nothing. “The tow truck driver then purchased the car on behalf of his boss for $200; however, it was later revealed that it was a 2014 model.
About a week later, the tow truck driver saw the car he had bought on the news and sent the story to his boss, believing the cars were the same.
The next day, police went to the location where the acquisition was made to locate the surveillance video and met with security guards at the scene, who said the car was found subsidized in a parking area at the Tri-Rail station without its tags.
On April 9, police spoke with another relative to review documents discovered at the Melvins’ home that contained figures on pests and renovations. When asked if she owned a property, the relative said no and showed that the documents were for her. grandparents, and added that she would be the one who would inherit his house in case of his death. He then allowed the police to download his devices as evidence.
On April 16, detectives disposed of the Fusion’s black box for investigation. The next day, it was revealed that the car had started at around 3:25 a. m. of the day of the Melvins’ murder, corroborated through surveillance video of the scene that night. .
The investigation also found that the car was eventually discovered later that night, abandoned at the Tri-Rail station before being sold to the towing company the next day.
On April 25, police were supposed to track down Newson and verify his identity as the guy who sold the Melvins’ Ford Fusion.
Later, the circle of relatives informed police that Newson had arrived at the scene after the Melvins’ deaths, “acting strangely” and asking questions about what detectives were saying about the investigation, according to court documents. She later revealed that Newson, the informal boyfriend of one of the members of the circle of relatives.
On May 16, a family member underwent a lie detector test by an FBI agent, who revealed to police that she had been considered a “liar” for her involvement in the deaths of her grandparents.
After the test, police spoke with the relative, who revealed that he would “never again” get the Melvins’ home, according to court documents.
Although he couldn’t the last time he drove his grandparents’ car, he told police he would drive the vehicle for maintenance from time to time.
The relative was then shown a photo of Newson and she stated that she had been romantically involved with him in the afterlife and that he had come to space after the murder. However, he did not provide any other information about Newson in the interview.