Queens Man Charged With Killing Parents In Separate Attacks
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Queens man will plead not guilty Wednesday to a crime that is hard to imagine – police said he killed his mother in 2011, and his father 15 months later.
As CBS 2's Tony Aiello reported, Gregory Cucchiara, 36, lived alone for more than a year in a dream house that was built by his hardworking immigrant parents, Carmelo and Giusepina.
Now, Cucchiara has been charged with killing them in separate attacks. In May of last year, his mother was found drowned in a bathtub in the family home in Bayside.
Neighbors said Cucchiara's father immediately moved to a modest home in Astoria, where he was found suffocated in August of this year.
Police were suspicious of the son all along, and finally arrested him after the crime lab determined DNA found under the victims' fingernails was a match to the suspect. A law enforcement source told the Daily News it was a sign that the victims had fought back.
In Bayside, many neighbors were reluctant to speak about the case. One woman offered a few words from behind her front door.
"I really don't, don't even believe it still," she said.
Most neighbors said they knew Cucchiara as a troubled young man with a drug problem.
One neighbor took out a restraining order, after their security camera capture Cucchiara sneaking across the street and slashing the tires on their sport-utility vehicle.
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said: "This is a horrifying case of a young man throwing his life away and betraying the trust of his family….. His actions, if true, are incomprehensible in a civilized society."
The family reportedly tried to get Cucchiara into rehab on numerous occasions, but he rejected their efforts.
Please leave your comments below...
