VERO LAKE ESTATES – The man authorities arrested for drug possession in September following the shooting death of another Vero Lake Estates resident now faces a charge of murder.
Bradford Winslow Vose, now-22, has been charged with first degree murder, according to the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office. Other charges include robbery and grand theft.
The victim, Joseph Farruggio, was shot and killed in Vose’s kitchen on Sept. 8, 2010, during what appears to be a drug deal gone wrong.
According to the warrant affidavit issued for Vose, he had arranged to purchase high-quality marijuana, which Farruggio was to deliver.
Vose and another man, who later told authorities the plan, were to take the marijuana and force Farruggio to leave the house.
The other man told investigators that when Farruggio arrived, he took the marijuana under the guise of weighing it and locked himself and the drug in a bedroom and waited for Vose to kick Farruggio out.
Instead, he told authorities, he heard arguing between Vose and Farruggio and then several gunshots rang out in rapid succession, then a brief delay before the final shot.
The man told investigators that Vose told him he had to shoot Farruggio because Farruggio had knocked him to the kitchen floor and threatened to kill him.
Authorities noted in the warrant affidavit that there was no evidence that Farruggio was armed with any weapon and there were no statements from either the witness or Vose to that affect.
Over the last several months, investigators have gathered additional witness statements and phone records that support the witness’s claim that Vose knew Farruggio was going to deliver marijuana to the home that night.
Vose told investigators that he was home alone when an unknown person came to his interior garage door and a strange vehicle was in the driveway. He said that when he opened the garage door, he was immediately attacked by the person later identified as Farruggio.
Farruggio, according to Vose’s statement to authorities, attacked him with closed fists, striking him in the head and face and now words were exchanged prior to the attack. He said he and the man fought down the hallway to the kitchen when he got knocked to the floor.
While on the ground, Vose said, the man took his wallet and Vose denied owing him any money. Vose then told investigators that he was scared and he grabbed a .38-caliber revolver from his waistband and shot the man several times.
When investigators questioned Vose about the alleged drug deal they learned about from two sources, Vose denied any involvement in a drug transaction or knowing one of the people investigators interviewed – a woman who had helped arrange the marijuana sale.
Text messages found on Vose’s phone, according to authorities, tied him to the woman.
Vose did admit to knowing the man who had told investigators of his involvement in the transaction but denied seeing him the day of the shooting.
Other witnesses confirmed for authorities that Vose had been with the man earlier in the day.
