Israeli Police Arrest Fugitive Eric Bellucci, After Brutal Slaying of His Parents in NY
NEW YORK (CBS/WCBS) An international manhunt for New York murder suspect Eric Bellucci has come to an end Friday morning.
Eric Bellucci was captured at the Tel Aviv airport at 2:30 a.m. EDT on Friday, according to New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne.
Bellucci was allegedly trying to purchase a ticket at the airport with the intent to leave Israel, but was discovered by one of the flight attendants, who then called police, Browne said.
The bodies of Bellucci's parents, Arthur and Marian Bellucci, were found inside their Annandale neighborhood Wednesday night. Both had been brutally stabbed to death.
The NYPD says they believe Bellucci boarded a flight from Newark to Israel Wednesday afternoon, according to NY CBS station WCBS.
The suspect is not an Israeli citizen, and it was unclear why he fled to Israel.
Israeli Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said that the suspect is being held and questioned, and will remain in custody while police coordinate his extradition to the U.S.
The victims were found by their daughter, a relative told the New York Post.
"She opened the door and saw blood on the floor in the foyer," said Joe Ciervo, the suspect's uncle. "She knew something was bad in there. She didn't want to go in. She left right away and called 911."
Eric Bellucci was once a star athlete at Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, and Arthur Bellucci was a senior associate at a large real estate company, according to published reports.
Police said previously that he lived with his parents and suffered from schizophrenia.