A down-on-his luck ex-con stabbed a Lengthy Island CVS employee to demise throughout a botched Christmas Day theft as a result of he was $25,000 in debt and determined for money, prosecutors stated Wednesday.
John Pilaccio, 43, allegedly confessed to cops that he attacked 23-year-old Edeedson Cine as a result of he refused to show over the cash — so he stabbed him within the chest, jumped the counter, and slashed him within the head, prosecutors stated because the accused killer was arraigned on a first-degree homicide cost.
“The lifetime of Edeedson Cine was brutally taken,” Suffolk County Assistant District Lawyer Eric Aboulafia stated in courtroom. “The motivation was merely for cash — he’s $25,000 in debt.
“The proof is past overwhelming.”
Pilaccio had six prior arrests — 5 of them on felony expenses — and did 9 years in state jail for beating a retailer clerk with a tire iron throughout an armed theft 20 years in the past — for simply $50.
Surveillance video exhibits Pilaccio strolling into the shop shortly earlier than 7 p.m. sporting a tan coat and a darkish scarf, grabbing a bottle of Gatorade from the fridge earlier than strolling as much as the counter with a knife.
After a fast trade, the suspect lunges at Cine and stabs him within the chest, then jumps over-the-counter and plunges the knife into the helpless sufferer’s head twice earlier than working from the scene.
Aboulafia stated Cine “by no means confirmed indicators of life” after the assault, however was rushed to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Middle in West Islip, the place he was pronounced lifeless.
Family members stated the younger clerk was solely on the job as a result of he took the shift of a coworker in order that they may very well be residence with their households on Christmas.
Police tracked Pilaccio to is residence in Lindenhurst the next day, and he agreed to be questioned — and allegedly admitted he was within the retailer after being proven the video footage, prosecutors stated. Officers didn’t say to whom he owed $25,000 or how he received in debt.
Suffolk County DA Ray Tierney stated his workplace charged Pilaccio with first-degree homicide — a rarity in related circumstances — slightly than simply the second-degree homicide raps due to distinctive circumstances.
Underneath state regulation, a first-degree homicide cost is usually reserved for accused cop killers, homicide for rent circumstances, or for defendants accused of torturing victims whereas committing homicide.
“It’s simply the weather of the crime,” Tierney informed reporters Wednesday. “There are particular circumstances wherein, beneath the regulation, we’re capable of search a homicide within the first diploma cost. The circumstances on this case that will apply could be the theft motivation, which resulted within the demise of the sufferer.”
Pilaccio was launched in 2015 on parole — with Tierney calling his launch “a joke.”
“Numerous the legal guidelines which were handed have actually made our entire system a joke,” he stated.
In the meantime, a lawyer for the Cine household slammed CVS for allegedly delaying launch of the safety video.
“Why did it take so lengthy for essential proof to be turned over to regulation enforcement who’re right here to help the group?” lawyer Heather Palmore stated. “The second element of this query goes to, might CVS have achieved extra to guard his worker?
“The fact is, we are able to stroll right into a CVS proper now, and I can’t purchase a bar of cleaning soap with out asking somebody on the entrance to unlock the product,” Palmore stated. ” However the place’s the protection and the safety for individuals who work there?”
A rep for CVS informed The Submit Wednesday that the corporate was devastated over the incident and referred to as Cine “a hard-working and devoted worker,” whereas defending their dealing with of the safety footage.
“We supplied the preliminary surveillance video they requested on the evening of the incident – officers additionally watched it in retailer – and the remaining video the police requested was despatched to Suffolk County PD [the morning after the crime] through electronic mail” the rep stated.
