Family and friends are consoling the widow and young child of murdered Nova Southeastern professor Dr. Joseph Morrissey as more details about his accused killers are coming out.
Family members planning the last details of Dr. Morrissey's funeral, which will be held Wednesday at St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church in Plantation, spoke out yesterday after 21-year-old Randy Tundidor Jr. was formally charged with the professor's murder, a day after his father, Randy Sr., was also charged.
"This horrific crime has forever changed the lives of Joe's family and friends," John Morrissey, Dr. Joseph Morrissey's brother, told the Palm Beach Post. "The fact that two people have been arrested and charged in this senseless act offers little consolation."
Tundidor Sr., 43, and Tundidor Jr. have both been charged with first degree murder, robbery, kidnapping and arson in the April 6 home invasion-turned-murder.
Morrissey, 46, a science professor at NSU who worked on cancer research, was stabbed to death in the robbery in his Plantation home. Police said he and his wife were driven to an ATM by a robber, forced to withdraw cash, then tied up as their 5-year-old son slept in a nearby room. Police said the robber or robbers set the home on fire after stabbing Morrissey, but wife Linda and their child were able to escape.
Morrissey's mother, Rosalie Morrissey, said Monday that she hopes her son's legacy will live on.
"I only hope that some other scientist will continue on with Joe's work," she said.
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Tundidor Sr. was a tenant of Dr. Morrissey's who had been involved in a dispute involving a personal injury lawsuit. Just four days before the murder, Dr. Morrissey had sent Tundidor a letter stating that he was in default of security deposits.
It wasn't the first time Tundidor Sr. had been involved in a landlord/tenant dispute. He has a history of at least six evictions going back to 1995, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
Tundidor Sr. had been ordered by a judge to pay nearly $10,000 in back rent for the home he'd been renting in 2009, just prior to renting the Plantation townhome from Morrissey, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
Linda Morrissey told police that Tundidor Sr. may have known eviction proceedings were going to take place. She also identified Randy Tundidor Jr. in a police lineup and was "85% sure" he was the robber who killed her husband, according to a police affidavit.
According to the police affidavit, Tundidor Sr.'s younger son, Shawn, provided plenty of incriminating evidence during an interview with police last week.
Shawn Tundidor, 19, reported the odd behavior of his father and brother the night of the murder, and that his father later confessed to killing Dr. Morrissey.
"Joe the landlord f---ed with me, he f---ed with the wrong one and wants to put us on the streets," Randy Sr. told Shawn, according to the affidavit.
Outside Randy Jr.'s arraignment on the murder charges late yesterday, Shawn Tundidor spoke out, denying the statements in the affidavit.
"This whole situation ain't fair, I said a lot more than what has been shown on the news and on TV," Shawn Tundidor said, adding that his family is devastated over the arrests.
"I don't know my mother, so my father and my brother is all I know," he said. "For them to be going away, especially looking at this much time and for these charges, it's ridiculous."
The Tundidors are being held without bond.
Back at the scene of the crime Monday, a family friend came by to clean the Morrissey's pool. He said Linda and the couple's son are staying with relatives and coping the best they can.
"[I'll] help them as much as I can," said friend Otto Bastidas. "Anytime they need me, they're gonna call me and I'm gonna be here."
