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Killings similar, but likely unrelated
Two sets of robbers had the same idea: barge in and demand cash. Both crimes ended in death. But the cases were not linked, police say.
By GRAHAM BRINK
Published May 23, 2006
ST. PETERSBURG - Both killings began with a knock on the door. Masked men barged in. Where's the money? they demanded. A shot was fired. A victim lay dead. The killings of Ronald Williams nine days ago and Robert Lee Davis on Saturday have many similarities. But the differences have investigators thinking they aren't linked. "We are not in a position to say 100 percent that they aren't related,'' said St. Petersburg police Sgt. Mike Puetz. "But it looks like two separate, unrelated incidents." Davis, 70, was killed late Saturday when a bullet tore through the ceiling and hit him while he was sleeping in his apartment in the 4600 block of 19th Ave. S. Two men had pushed their way into the upstairs apartment at about 11 p.m. One of the masked men yelled "Where's the money at?" and struggled with Anthony Kelly, who lived in the apartment with his pregnant wife and three children. The two men stumbled onto the couch, Kelly said, and the gun went off. The two robbers ran away empty-handed. Six days earlier, three masked men forced their way into Williams' home in the 6300 block of 17th Street S. One of the robbers shouted at Williams' wife, "Where's the money?'' When Williams, 46, ran out of his bedroom to see what was happening, he was shot in the upper body. The three robbers ran away empty-handed. The intruders in both cases remain at large. Puetz said the criminals who pull off these types of home invasion robberies generally like to stay in their comfort zone, sticking to the same victim profile and general location. Puetz pointed out disparities between the cases. The number of perpetrators differed: two in the Davis case, three in the Williams shooting. And the witnesses' descriptions of the two sets of robbers did not match. The targeted victims also were from different economic circumstances. And the killings were more than 5 miles apart. "There are some similarities,'' Puetz said. "But there are a lot of dissimilarities, too." Anyone with information about either case is asked to call CrimeStoppers at (800) 873-8477 or St. Petersburg police at (727) 893-7512.
[Last modified May 23, 2006, 08:36:21]
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