Mug shot of Melinda Brady (
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The man busted for allegedly killing four people at a Long Island pharmacy and stealing prescription painkillers for himself and his wife has not been cooperative with cops and has “shown no remorse” for committing the slayings, authorities said today.
Suspected pill addict David Laffer, 33, has been charged with slaughtering four people at a Medford pharmacy to score a bag full of painkillers for his nagging, drug-addled wife, who was his getaway driver after the Father’s Day massacre, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer said.
Dormer said Laffer had not been cooperating with detectives since his arrest on Wednesday morning. He also said the alleged shooter had gone to the drug store in the past to fill prescriptions.
“He has shown no remorse,” Dormer said of Laffer.
During a news conference at Suffolk County Police headquarters in Yaphank, Dormer said Laffer was high and ‘extremely violent” when he was arrested and that his wife tried to interfere when cops raided the home.
In court papers, prosecutors said Laffer tried to grab one of the arresting officers’ guns.
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Cops also recovered a stash of weapons and ammunition at Laffer’s home, Dormer said.
Hours after the arrest, Laffer was picked out of a lineup by victim Jamie Taccetta’s fiancé, James Manzella — who had been waiting for her outside the drug store and saw the assassin — and was then hauled off to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital’s emergency room for treatment of minor injuries.
“It was definitely him,” Manzella said, according to a police source.
Laffer, who had a gun license and no criminal record, was held overnight at a station house in Patchogue. At his arraignment in Central Islip court, Laffer appeared frail, wearing a white shirt and black shorts.
Suffolk County ADA John Collins called the slayings “the most cold-blooded robbery-homicide in Suffolk County history.”
Collins said Laffer never announced a robbery and that he left a fingerprint at the store on a piece of paper. Ballistics also matched his gun.
“He came up behind them and executed them by shooting them in the back of the head,” Collins said of how Laffer allegedly shot two customers.
Laffer has not admitted anything to police, although his wife has implicated him in the shooting.
Laffer, a former Army specialist, was recently fired after eight years as a factory clerk because he was caught on video surveillance stealing from a co-worker. As a result, he lost his health insurance, and that cut off his wife’s supply of painkillers — and her cravings made her desperate, cops told victims’ relatives.
Authorities said ballistics tests revealed that two of the slugs found at the store matched a bullet that had been previously fired — for record-keeping purposes — from Laffer’s licensed .45-caliber pistol.
Witness also saw Laffer fleeing the drugstore Sunday and hop into a getaway car driven by his wife Melinda Brady, 29.
Investigators initially suspected Laffer after a woman who has known his family for more than 20 years recognized his picture on Monday and called cops.
That tipster will receive a $5,000 reward, but she plans to donate it to the victims’ families.
Laffer managed to bag about 8,000 hydrocodone pills in the robbery, a police source said, adding that he has filled prescriptions at the pharmacy before.
“They were both under the influence of narcotics,” Dormer said of the couple when asked about their mental state at the time of arrest.
Laffer was charged today with first-degree murder while Brady was charged with robbery and obstructing governmental administration for their alleged roles in the massacre. He pleaded not guilty during his arraignment. He was denied bail.
As the arraignment ended, Taccetta’s uncle James Fegel stood up and shouted, “You”re a coward for what you did to these families!”
After some commotion, the family was escorted outside the courthouse.
On Monday, cops released stunning footage showing the baseball-capped fiend first strolling into the tiny mom-and-pop Haven Drugs Pharmacy at about 10:20 a.m. Sunday, only minutes after druggist Raymond Ferguson, 45, had opened up the Southaven Avenue store along with a cashier, 17-year-old Bellport HS senior Jennifer Mejia.
Byron Sheffield, a 71-year-old grandfather, had come in to get his usual prescription. Taccetta, a 33-year-old physical therapist and mother of two, was making a quick pit stop at the shop to pick up thyroid medication.
Cops said both were also allegedly shot and killed by Laffer before he exited the store.
Collins said Laffer shot Ferguson once in the stomach and blasted Mejia with two gunshots while she walked down a store aisle.
That’s when Laffer loaded his bag with pills. At that moment, Collins said Sheffield and Taccetta walked in. Laffer allegedly shot them from close-range before taking more pills and fleeing the store.
Laffer shot seven bullets total, prosecutors said.
“He did not announce a robbery,” Collins said, adding that Laffer engaged the pharmacist in conversation before shooting him.
Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy said the busts, coming after just 72 hours, said swift police action is a sign that copycat crimes of this nature will result in a quick arrest.
“You’re going to get caught,” he warned. “You will not be able to hide.”
Levy said making the arrests as quickly as possible was a high priority because cops feared that the gunman would strike again if he needed more drugs.
Dormer said Suffolk cops had beefed up patrols at area drug stores with both plainclothes and uniformed officers over the past week in the event the gunman struck again.
Additional reporting by Reuven Fenton and Larry Celona