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Man arrested in brother's death

St. Petersburg detectives on Tuesday found the body of Thomas Slevin, 56, inside the home he shared with his brother.

By ALEX LEARY
Published October 4, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - It seemed odd that she had not seen her neighbor, so Felicia Ryan walked across the street to the man tinkering with a Cutlass Ciera.

"Bobby, how are you? Where's your brother?" Ryan recalled asking.

Robert Slevin, 48, looked up at her and said: "There's nothing wrong with my brother. He has a lot of appointments with the doctor and he takes the back door."

That was more than a month ago. Thomas Slevin, 56, never turned up - until Monday afternoon when St. Petersburg homicide detectives found his body inside the home on 15th Avenue N he shared with his brother.

On Tuesday, police arrested Robert Slevin on a charge of 2nd degree murder, accusing him of stabbing his brother in the chest at least three times. Slevin is being held without bail in the county jail.

Investigators are not sure when the death occurred as the body was decomposed when discovered Monday afternoon. "We know based on discussion with some acquaintances that the victim was last seen alive in mid- to late August," homicide Sgt. Mike Puetz said.

A neighbor called police after entering an open door to the house and noticing a foul odor. The body was in plain view inside, though Puetz declined to elaborate citing the investigation.

Slevin was arrested after questioning by police but did not admit to the stabbing, Puetz said. "He provided some statements that were clearly inconsistent with the circumstances."

A dispute over money could be a motive, Puetz said. "I think it was just expenditures, that sort of thing," he said. "We're still getting our facts straight."

The brothers are listed as owners of the light green one-story house, which is in view of Crescent Lake. It was given to them, and a third brother, by their mother under a provision of her will in 2003.

Ryan, the neighbor, said Robert Slevin moved in a few years ago after getting a divorce. She said he has three daughters.

She said Robert Slevin was pleasant to her and helped when she had problems with her car. But Ryan described Slevin and his brother as heavy drinkers. Neither man seemed to have a steady job, she added.

The brothers each had arrest records, Thomas for marijuana possession, shoplifting and indecent exposure, and Robert for marijuana possession and domestic battery. That last charge came in 1992 and was dismissed, according to state records.

At the time of his arrest, Slevin was staying at a motel on 34th Street N. But he had been seen at the house "well after his brother had been killed," Puetz said.

The death is the city's 24th homicide this year, as defined by FBI criteria. If police are correct, it would also the second instance of "siblicide" in the St. Petersburg area in 2005.

In May, Pinellas sheriff's deputies arrested 53-year-old Barbara Burns in the death of her sister, Debbie, whose body was found by workers removing furniture from their foreclosed house at 5074 Yellow Pine St.

Sibling homicide accounts for only two percent of all murders nationwide, said Erika Gebo, a sociology professor at Suffolk University in Boston and an expert on the subject. "It's incredibly rare," she said.

Ever rarer, Gebo said, are homicides including siblings in their 40s or older. "Typically it's people in their 20s." But the conditions were right in the Slevin household since they lived together and any disputes could fester, she added.

-- Times researcher Carolyn Edds contributed to this report. Alex Leary can be reached at 893-8472 or leary@sptimes.com

[Last modified October 4, 2005, 19:21:35]