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Suspect in slaying kills himself after car chase

A Connecticut man whose neighbor was found slain shoots himself near pursuing Clearwater officers.

By JACOB H. FRIES
Published January 27, 2006

CLEARWATER - A man suspected of killing his neighbor in Connecticut led police on a high-speed chase into St. Petersburg on Wednesday night before fatally shooting himself in the head, authorities said.

Michael W. Monroe, 38, shot himself with a .22-caliber handgun, the same size weapon that killed Monroe's neighbor in East Haven, Conn., authorities said. Ballistic tests will be performed to match the bullets.

"Mr. Monroe looks like our prime suspect, but until we put these bullets to the test, we will not close the case," East Haven's police Chief Leonard Gallo said.

Connecticut authorities asked Clearwater police to check for Monroe at the Coach Mobile Home Park on Nursery Road where his father lives.

At 10:46 p.m., an officer arrived at the park and saw Monroe in a Buick station wagon leaving the park, eastbound on Nursery, Clearwater police spokesman Wayne Shelor said.

The officer, joined by three other cruisers, pursued Monroe south onto U.S. 19, Shelor said, adding that there was light traffic on the roads at that time of night.

Officers moved in when Monroe stopped on the exit ramp to East Bay Drive, but he drove through a red light and headed east on East Bay.

The chase continued south on Roosevelt Boulevard, past the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport, Shelor said.

At the intersection of Dr. Martin Luther King Street, Monroe clipped a car and collided with one of the cruisers, Shelor said. His station wagon spun out of control and came to rest on the median.

Officers moved in again, but the station wagon lurched across several lanes of traffic, through a fence and into a pine tree, Shelor said. Police pulled him from the car and into an ambulance.

Only after he was pronounced dead did police find the gun and the spent casing inside Monroe's station wagon, Shelor said.

Police could not say what speeds the pursuit reached, only that it was over the speed limit. An internal review found that it was within department pursuit policies, Shelor said.

Monroe's father, reached by phone, declined to comment.

Records show Monroe was convicted of rape and assault in Connecticut in 2002 and received two years in prison and five years of probation.

Gallo, East Haven's police chief, would not detail what led detectives to suspect Monroe was involved in the slaying of his neighbor, Kenneth Iannucci, 64.

"We have not established a motive," Gallo said. "Mr. Monroe was a bit of a loner. Mr. Iannucci was a total loner."

On Sunday, East Haven police found Iannucci's body in his basement after his family asked authorities to check on him. He had a single gunshot wound to the head.

His body was covered with debris, which police say was meant to hide the corpse.

It was the first homicide in five years in East Haven, a city of 30,000 near Yale University.

"Homicides are very rare," Gallo said. "We live in a community where people pay their taxes and go to church."

Times staff researcher Carolyn Edds contributed to this report.

[Last modified January 27, 2006, 01:21:16]