Two men were busted for murder and other charges after allegedly scamming an elderly Florida man out of scores of money before killing him, butchering his body and burying his dismembered remains in one of their backyards, according to cops.
Joseph Schriliro, 45, and Silviano Christman, 31, are accused of swindling the 71-year-old victim of “large sums of money” in a heartless financial scheme before police made the stomach-churring discovery on Feb. 13, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff said the murderous duo were together on Jan. 3 — the last day the victim, Joseph Romano, was seen alive. He was reported missing soon after, with local deputies launching an investigation into his disappearance on Jan. 16.
“The actions of these two men are despicable and deeply disturbing,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement. “Through deceit and violence, they exploited and took the life of another individual.”
Deputies looking for clues into Romano’s vanishing soon uncovered an ongoing financial fraud scheme when they caught Schriliro attempting to snag the victim’s mail from his Riverview home, cops said.
The victim’s funds were being transferred into fraudulent accounts linked to the alleged scammer, according to the sheriff’s office, though the amount of money allegedly stolen was not specified
Authorities secured a search warrant for Schiliro’s Valrico home upon learning the deranged pair were together when Christman flew to Tampa from New York in January, police said.
The New York Police Department Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested Christman on Feb. 20, a day before the US Marshals nabbed Schiliro in Pinellas County.
Both men were charged with pre-meditated first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit pre-meditated first-degree murder, burglary with battery and fraudulent use of personally identifiable information of a deceased person.
Christman was also slapped with abuse of a dead body, police said.
The California native is being held at Bellevue Hospital Prison Ward, according to NYC jail records, and will appear in Queens Criminal Court on March 20.
Schiliro, who is behind bars at Pinellas County Jail, faces additional money laundering, fraud and exploitation charges.
The investigation is ongoing, police said.
