Illegal immigrant, now dead, identified as killer of Telford pizza shop owner

[Jeanfromfillmore]

Illegal immigrant, now dead, identified as killer of Telford pizza shop owner Antonino Lombardo
A Guatemalan, who was in the United States illegally and fled back to his home country where he has since died, killed Antonino “Joe” Lombardo, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said at a press conference Wednesday morning announcing the close of the more than two year old murder case.

Lombardo, owner of Lisa’s Pizza at School Lane and Reliance Road, Telford, was killed after Jose Antonio Pais beat Lombardo’s head into a heavy duty espresso machine at Lisa’s the morning of February 16, 2009, investigators now say.

“It was a very quick act. Did not take a long time,” Ferman said.

Pais had worked in the community and for Lombardo and said he killed Lombardo because of a perceived slight, but investigators don’t know an exact reason, Ferman said.

Lombardo was remembered as a hardworking man devoted to his family and a supporter of community activities.

“There was no one we could identify who had a motive to kill this man,” Ferman said.

“He was a nice businessman,” recalled Douglas Bickel, who was Telford’s police chief at the time of the murder. “My sons and his sons used to go to the pizzeria after school.”

Eight days after the murder, Pais returned to his home country, Ferman said.

“He died after falling from a building on a job site” in November of 2010, she said. Pais death is being labeled as an accident, she said.

“We would’ve liked to have seen the guy brought to justice, but I guess in a sense, there is justice,” said Randal Floyd, Telford’s current police chief and the department’s detective when the murder happened.

The case is an example of why more has to be done to prevent people from illegally entering and leaving the country, Ferman said.

“They [illegal residents] really do not have the ties and connections that lend themselves to accountability,” she said.

In this case, another person apparently was with Pais when the murder happened, but also fled the country, she said. Pais is believed to have acted alone in committing the murder, she said. Lombardo family members were present at the press conference in Telford Borough Hall, but left without commenting. As they left, they gave hugs of greeting to John Moyer, president of Moyer Indoor Outdoor, who was at the press conference along with other company leaders. A $5,000 reward was offered after the murder by Moyer for information about the case.

“Having that reward was very helpful to us,” Ferman said.

Reward money is being paid out, she said, but is not all going to one person.

Lombardo was only the second person known to have been murdered in Telford and the first in the Montgomery County section of the town, Ferman said.

The other murder, in the Bucks County section, happened in 1962 and didn’t require a lengthy investigation, Bickel said.

“A son-in-law shot his father-in-law, then waited for the police to arrive,” Bickel said.

The investigation into the Lombardo murder was assisted by several law enforcement agencies, including police in Souderton, Franconia, Lower Salford, Montgomery Township, East Norriton, Bristol Township, Bucks County detectives and District Attorney’s office, Pennsylvania State Police, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Marshal’s office and U.S. Department of Justice, Ferman said. Souderton Community Ambulance Association also assisted in the investigation.

Ferman also praised the Telford department for its work in the case.

“You are a small police department here in a small community,” Ferman said. “I have to say they are second to none.”

Lombardo was 60 at the time of his death. He and his wife, Serafina (Failla) Lombardo had been married 35 years.

In addition to his wife, he was survived by a daughter, Rosalinda Davi; twin sons Giuseppe and Vincenzo Lombardo; a brother and sister in Italy; grandchildren, nieces and nephews. http://www.montgomerynews.com/articl...txt?viewmode=2