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Gold9472
05-23-2007, 04:37 PM
Death Of FDNY 9/11 Vet Probed As Murder

http://www.wnbc.com/news/13371881/detail.html

POSTED: 8:55 am EDT May 23, 2007

NEW YORK -- A retired New York City firefighter who survived the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks is now being treated as the victim in an Arizona murder investigation.

Salvatore Princiotta, 43, whose family hails from Deer Park, N.Y., was found dead in his condominium. At first, it was believed he died of post-Sept. 11 lung complications.

However, a coroner now says Princiotta was murdered. The coroner declined to release any other details.

Officers first went to Princiotta's Scottsdale, Ariz., apartment on May 14 after a family member hadn't heard from the former firefighter, police said. Based on the appearance of the body, Princiotta had been dead for many days.

Scottsdale police said they could "confirm that this is a homicide investigation. However, certain details of the case need to be held in confidence to preserve our ability to successfully prosecute the case."

According to a report from NBC 12 news in Phoenix, a death notice published in Newsday on May 18 said the former member of Ladder 9 in Manhattan died "as a result of post 9/11 lung complications."

Princiotta's brother, Joseph, told NBC 12 the news of the homicide probe came as a shock, and that the family expected a medical examination to show that the lung condition had taken Princiotta.

Joseph Princiotta told NBC 12 that his brother had moved to Arizona last January because he found it easier to breathe.

Before his death, Princiotta had cycled 3,000 miles to honor his colleagues who died on Sept. 11.

Body ID'd as 9/11 firefighter; foul play suspected

http://www.azcentral.com/community/scottsdale/articles/0522firemandead0523.html

Lindsey Collom and 12 News
The Arizona Republic
May. 22, 2007 11:57 PM

A 43-year-old man found dead in a Scottsdale apartment last week was a New York City firefighter who survived 9/11.

Salvatore J. Princiotta, 43, was found dead May 14 in his condominium near Raintree Drive and Thompson Peak Parkway.

A death notice published in Newsday on May 18 said Princiotta died "as a result of post 9/11 lung complications." But Scottsdale police on Tuesday said they are investigating the death as a homicide.

Clark told 12 News that investigators were aware of Princiotta's health condition.

Police went to Princiotta's home after a relative told authorities they had not heard from him. It appeared Princiotta had died "many days prior" to the discovery of his body, according to police.

A few days later, his body was placed on a historic firetruck and taken to Sky Harbor Airport under police escort for the trip to New York and a funeral on Long Island. Princiotta was a member of Ladder 9, based at a firehouse less than a mile from Ground Zero.

The homicide case was a shock to Princiotta's brother, Joseph Princiotta. He told 12 News that the family expected pathology to show the lung condition had killed his brother. Joseph Princiotta said his brother moved to Arizona last January because he found it easier to breathe. Two months after the attack, Princiotta was one of six New York firefighters who rode bicycles from New York to California on a tour to thank America.

Gold9472
05-26-2007, 07:35 PM
Murder Suspect of a 9/11 Hero Kills Self
Victim Responded toTwin Tower Attack

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=local&id=5341810

KABC LOCAL NEWS

SAN BERNARDINO, May 26, 2007 - Authorities say the suspect in that Arizona murder of a 9/11 hero has committed suicide, after being cornered by investigators outside a San Bernardino hotel

The victim was a retired New York City firefighter Salvatore Princiotta.

The NYC firefighter was a member of a team of six firefighters that took a "Thank You America" cross-country bicycle tour after 9/11. They started from Ground Zero in New York City to honor 10 of members of their firefighter company that died in the collapse of the World Trade Center towers.

Princiotta's body was found inside his Scottsdale home over a week ago. He moved to Arizona because of lung problems allegedly caused when his company responded to the 9/11 attack.

The suspect in his murder was discovered at a motel in San Bernardino and fled on foot when approached Friday night by Scottsdale police detectives and San Bernardino Sheriff's deputies.

It wasn't very long chase. The suspect pulled out a gun and committed suicide, according to a Scottsdale police spokesperson.

The investigation into Princiotta death, a 15-year veteran of the NYC Fire Department, began after his decomposed body was found in his condominium on May 14. Apparently, a worried family member called to report they hadn't heard from him in a while.

His death was ruled a homicide after authorities determined Princiotta had died of gunshot wounds. The motive for the slaying remained unclear.

Police have not released information about the suspect.

Reportedly, Princiotta's body was given a police escort on a fire engine to Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport, from where it was flown back to New York for funeral services.

Gold9472
05-28-2007, 12:16 AM
Coin collection could be link in slaying of 9/11 hero

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-liprin0528,0,5943.story?coll=ny-top-headlines

BY JOHN HILDEBRAND
john.hildebrand@newsday.com

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Police are searching for a missing collection of valuable gold and silver coins that could be linked to the killing of a former New York City firefighter from Long Island who was found shot to death two weeks ago in this upscale Phoenix suburb.

Family members say they think stolen items also include high-priced Elvis memorabilia, picked up on a visit to Graceland, including at least one item signed by the King himself.

Scottsdale police say the suspected killer, identified yesterday as Jeffery Lynn Bigham, 56, shot himself in the head and died on Friday as detectives cornered him near a motel where he was staying in San Bernardino, Calif. While police have not announced why they suspect Bigham or whether there is a definite connection between the suspect and the missing coins, they have been told that the victim received repeated calls from an acquaintance in California who had helped install the home safe where the coins were kept.

The victim, Salvatore Princiotta, 43, formerly of Deer Park, had moved to a gated, usually quiet condominium community in north Scottsdale last winter in hopes that dry desert air would ease breathing problems developed while working with rescue crews after the 9/11 attacks.

A close friend, Gus Thomas, 42, of Manhattan, who recently visited Scottsdale, said Princiotta received multiple phone calls from a man named Jeff in California, who hung up when told Princiotta was still asleep. Princiotta told Thomas that the Californian was a nice guy whom he had met at a convention in Las Vegas.

Still, Thomas, recalls a premonition of danger.

"I told him, 'You don't buy a safe from a stranger,'" said Thomas, who owns a diner in the Chelsea district.

Like Thomas, other friends and family members reacted yesterday to the latest twist in the case with expressions of relief mixed with outrage.

"You know, I would really rather that whoever did this was captured alive to pay for what they did," said a next-door Scottsdale neighbor and friend, Matt Greenhaw, 31. "At the same time, I guess justice will be served, one way or the other."

Princiotta's body was found May 14 in his fashionable, two-story condo. Police said he had been dead about two weeks. The body was discovered by a 21-year-old nephew, also named Salvatore, who attends Arizona State University in nearby Tempe, after family members on Long Island became worried that they hadn't heard from the ex-firefighter for awhile.

The nephew quickly noticed that the open safe was empty and that a solitary coin from the collection lay on the floor. Family members told Scottsdale police of the missing collection but did not discuss it publicly until yesterday.

"My son on the very first day noticed that the coins were missing," said the nephew's father, Chuck Princiotta, 53, a builder who lives in Smithtown.

Immediately following the discovery of Princiotta's body, some family members assumed he had died of complications stemming from his lung disorder. And some family members were critical of Scottsdale police for not announcing sooner that the case was a homicide.

Police say, however, that they classified the death as suspicious from the beginning and that decomposition of the body made it more difficult to determine the cause of death.

Said Sgt. Mark Clark, a spokesman for Scottsdale police, "It's very time consuming. We want to do it right for the family."

thumper
05-28-2007, 03:08 AM
was this the guy on AJ's show?