FORT PIERCE, Fla. (Court TV) — Investigators have formally charged a former New York City police officer with killing his parents and are releasing new details about a potential motive.
Philip Repaci (Indian River County Sheriff’s Office)
Philip Repaci Jr. is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his parents, Joann Repaci and Philip Repaci Sr., who were found shot to death in their Fort Pierce home on Feb. 24. Repaci Jr. was arrested in neighboring Indian River County that day after leading police on a brief pursuit.
When officers first responded to a request for a welfare check on the victims, Repaci Jr. was at the scene. Body camera video recorded by officers shows Repaci Jr. approaching his parents’ apartment unit, but then turning around after seeing police officers have arrived. Repaci Jr. walks away from the apartment, gets into his car and drives away in the video.
A maintenance worker, who told officers he was also asked to do a welfare check at the property, said when he knocked on the door of the victims’ unit, he received no answer. When he then went to open the door using his keys, he said a man, claiming to be the owner, told him to leave. The worker described the man as “very confrontational.”
Inside the apartment, both victims were found shot to death, lying on the floor in pools of blood. Repaci Sr. had gunshot wounds to his head and chest, police said.
Investigators made contact with the Repacis’ daughter, who was the one who had initially requested the welfare check. She told police that her brother has “violent tendencies” and would often argue with their parents, who were in the process of buying another property because they could no longer tolerate living with their son. The woman told officers that her parents intended to let Repaci Jr. have the property and they would move to a new home. She further said that she suspected he had been abusing their parents for some time, and her mother had once confided that Repaci Jr. had “placed his hands around her neck and shoved her face into a mirror.”
The Repacis’ daughter described her brother as having no current job and collecting a pension from the NYPD, where he used to work as an officer. She also noted he had recently borrowed $200,000 from their parents and said that “Philip is very motived by money and always plays victim/mental health issues.” She further hypothesized to investigators that “this homicide was fueled by money.”
Officers said they found evidence of multiple gunshots at the scene, but only one 9 mm casing was in the residence. Police said that when a search warrant was served on Repaci Jr.’s car, they found a blue tote with a box of latex gloves and a plastic bag with six spent casings. Those casings, detective noted, had what looked like brain matter on them.
Repaci Jr. pleaded not guilty to fleeing and eluding charges in Indian River County; he has not yet entered a plea to the murder charges out of Port St. Lucie County.
