A man is in custody tonight accused of brutally stabbing and killing the owners of a beloved Italian deli on Long Island, and witnesses said the alleged killer is the couple’s own son.
Crime scene detectives could be seen removing evidence from A&A Deli in Bethpage for hours on Thursday, as grieving family members and long time customers were trying to make sense of a tragedy at the community staple.
“They were just hardworking people, you know? A staple in this neighborhood for so long, it’s crazy to believe they are here no longer here,” said Diane Elder.
Police said a man and woman were stabbed to death just after 9 a.m. Thursday in the deli they had owned for decades. A man was taken into custody shortly after, and while police did not confirm the individual’s identity or his relationship to the victims, friends of the shop owners said the man was one of the couple’s three sons.
“His hands was bloody. His clothes were bloody and he was just leaning on his car. I didn’t know anything that happened at the time, but he just sat on his car,” said witness Brandon James.
Near the crime scene, the owners’ daughter was inconsolable as friends comforted her. Inside the deli, another man said he saw the man walk out from the back of the shop.
“I just seen the son walking out and he says that, ‘I stabbed my parents,’ and that was it,” said Joe Boros. “He was very cool, like nothing happened.”
Witnesses said the man remained emotionless and didn’t have much of a reaction when police went to apprehend him. No charges had officially been filed as of Thursday night.
