The callous murder of a 71-year-old Tampa man, whose body was found dismembered and buried, has led the Hillsborough State Attorney's Office to seek the death penalty against the prime suspect in the case. Joseph Schiliro, 45, is facing charges of first-degree murder alongside 31-year-old Silviano Christman, as reported by WFLA. Christman, however, will only be formally charged once extradited from New York to Hillsborough County.
Details from Tampa Free Press reveal that the victim, who was suffering from an advanced terminal illness, had initially hired Schiliro to help him with daily tasks. The State Attorney's Office alleges that Schiliro abused this trust, robbing tens of thousands of dollars from the victim and using the stolen money to fly Christman down from New York to assist in the brutal murder—a plan to forever silence a man already facing the inevitability of his mortality.
Prosecutors have built their case on surveillance footage that places both suspects with the victim at a local pizza restaurant mere hours before investigators suspect the murder took place. Further video evidence shows the accused at various hardware stores purchasing tools, including a saw used to grotesquely dismantle the body of the slain elder, as noted by WTSP.
The reaction from the community and officials has been one of collective horror and a determined cry for justice. "I cannot fathom how anyone could commit this heinous act against a defenseless, elderly victim," State Attorney Suzy Lopez told WFLA, affirming the decision to pursue the harshest of penalities. Lopez's position reflects a sober understanding of the gravity of these events, seeking to firmly prosecute those accused to the fullest extent allowable under the law for such unfathomable acts of cruelty.
