A routine shoplifting stop at a Midtown TJ Maxx on Sunday ended with a 60-year-old man in handcuffs for a crime that had nothing to do with $25 worth of art supplies. Police say 60-year-old Larry Powlis was taken into custody near West 57th Street and quickly found to be wanted in connection with the choking death of a SoHo art dealer more than two years earlier.
A Flag in the System Breaks the Case Open
According to New York Daily News, Powlis was caught shoplifting at the Midtown store Sunday, and he was then charged with murder. The attempted theft happened around 1:10 p.m. near West 57th Street, and authorities say Powlis gave officers a false name, Larry Davis, when he was stopped. Police ultimately identified him through fingerprint checks, and NYPD officers noticed his suspect designation in the department's computer system when they apprehended him, according to the New York Post. Investigators had formally named Powlis a suspect back on September 3, per the Post's reporting, though he identified him as a suspect earlier in the investigation, sources told the outlet.
The man accused in the killing, 67-year-old Egizio Panetti, was described by police sources as an art dealer and decorator who had cancer and was legally blind. His friends remembered him fondly as “the real Auntie Mame,” comparing him to Rosalind Russell's flamboyant title character in the 1958 film, and as a fabulous, cape-loving “Venetian count” who was, in their words, “simply one of a kind,” per the same outlet's reporting.
A Night Out in Greenwich Village Turns Deadly
Authorities say Powlis met Panetti in September 2024 while Panetti was out to dinner with a friend in Greenwich Village. The two reportedly went to a nearby ATM before heading to Panetti's home on Spring Street near West Broadway. The Daily News reports that the pair were seen on video entering the apartment together, where Powlis spent the night.
Sources told police that Powlis fatally choked Panetti inside the apartment. Surveillance footage allegedly later showed Powlis leaving wearing different clothes than when he had arrived, with his camouflage pants left behind in the victim's apartment, according to the Daily News.
Conflicting Accounts on When Panetti Was Found
The two outlets differ on exactly when Panetti was discovered. The Daily News reports he was found dead around 1 a.m. on September 22, 2024, by a neighbor who routinely checked on him. The Post, citing police sources, reports the date as September 24, 2024, with Panetti's neighbor finding him during a routine wellness check after he failed to return an earlier phone call.
The two accounts also diverge on the status of the cause-of-death ruling. The Daily News reports that the city Medical Examiner did not classify Panetti's death as a homicide until December 2025, when the office ruled he had been asphyxiated. The Post's reporting instead states that investigators were awaiting an official cause-of-death ruling from the city Medical Examiner's office along with DNA evidence.
Suspect's Background and Next Court Date
Powlis is described by police and law-enforcement sources as a convicted sex offender, with sources telling the Daily News he has a sex-offense conviction in Texas. He was awaiting arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court on Monday, the outlet reports.
