New details released in double murder of janitors at Florida arts school
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The man accused of killing two co-workers four years ago at a prestigious Florida arts school went to a gun range the day before murders, according to the just-released police report.
CBS affiliate WPEC reports that Javier Burgos appeared in court Friday morning to face two counts of first degree murder in the killings of 56-year-old Ted Orama and 48-year-old Christopher Marshall.
The judge denied him bond.
The bodies of the two janitors were found at the Dreyfoos School of the Arts in June 2013.
According to the station, Burgos has been a suspect in the killings for years, and police believed he first fled to Mexico. But police say Burgos went to INTERPOL in Pasto, Colombia, to say he was wanted for a double murder in the United States. There was reportedly no provisional arrest warrant, so he was turned away. In August of 2016, police requested a warrant for his arrest.
He was brought to the U.S. and detained by Marshals in Miami.
The just-released report from the West Palm Beach Police Department reveals new information.
According to the report, school board police officer J. O'Sullivan told detectives in 2013 that Burgos should be a person of interest in the case. O'Sullivan said Burgos had several disciplinary issues at work and had a history of confrontation and intimidation among his co-workers and made several threats of violence.
Orama, according to O'Sullivan, reported to school administrators he was in fear of his life due to violent and aggressive behavior from Burgos. School records, according to police, showed several attendance and disciplinary issues with Burgos. Others in Orama's staff had also showed fear of Burgos, and some custodians were reluctant to work with him because of his confrontational and violent behavior.
WPEC reports that police also learned Burgos went to Gator Guns and practiced for more than two hours at the indoor shooting range the day before the murders.
According to the report, investigators recovered several firearms in a search of his apartment and forensic evidence linked a red tip from one of the bullets to one of his guns.
Authorities also say they found evidence on Burgos's computers that showed he used Google to search for "countries with no extradition."
Investigators say that bank records revealed Burgos withdrew $3,000 four days before the murders and never again used his bank cards.
Burgos is believed to have gone to Colombia through Panama. Police in El Paso recovered his Toyota Camry in 2014. It had apparently been parked there for 106 days.
