A New York man has been arrested for murder after driving to a sheriff’s office parking lot to allegedly dispose of his dead father’s body.
Richard Fluegel Sr, 60, was reported missing by his family on December 8 in Irondequoit, about 300 miles northwest of New York City. He had not returned home as expected and did not show up for a flight the next morning.
When his car was later found in a parking lot about an hour away officials launched a search to find him.
On December 9 around 11:30 pm, the man’s son, Richard Fluegel Jr, 30, allegedly called 911 from the parking lot of the sheriff’s office and told the operator he “wanted to turn in a deceased body.” Deputies and investigators immediately responded to the scene. It was not clear from the call that the case involved a murder.
Police say they thought the caller may have been reporting a medical emergency or a natural event. Investigators worked the scene for hours, obtaining a search warrant for his car and ultimately found Fluegel Sr’s body inside with gunshot wounds.
It’s not clear exactly when the son allegedly killed his father. The two were in a different town when the shooting happened, police said.
The following day, Fluegel Jr, of Rochester, was arrested and charged with felony murder in the second degree, felony criminal use of a firearm in the first degree and felony tampering with physical evidence.
He is currently being held in the Livingston County Jail without bail. He has two prior felony convictions.
A county public defender represented the man during his arraignment. The Independent has emailed the office for comment. His next court appearance is set for December 16.
During a news conference on Tuesday, Livingston County Sheriff Thomas J Dougherty called the situation “very abnormal,” adding he’d never heard of something like that happening in his law enforcement career. He said he expects more charges to be brought forward.
“How did we end up in this place with a really unfortunate, tragic story?” Dougherty said. “You know, it’s one of those things that I can imagine doesn’t make a lot of sense to the family, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to us, and so that’s our job to determine what happened.”
He did not reveal additional details and said there was never a wider danger to the community. “This was an isolated incident,” he said.
