Tony Lombardi

[Clockwork]

Consider me the type that believes Tony Lombardi and Tommy Burkett both were murdered. The cases are similar. They were found in a way that makes it seem hard to believe their bodies would be laying/sitting up like that after a supposed suicide.

Not to mention both had threats prior to their death.

But just to focus on Tony for an instant, I think the whole angle of being a ladies man maybe isn't looked at enough. He had three girls going at one time, one of them apparently in a serious relationship. Not to mention his own buddy was never interviewed despite trying to talk to a guy that was threatening Tony.

Also, possibly the biggest issue here, what noise did his mother hear in their house? She obviously heard the door opening and closing and assumed it was him. You know your own house better than anyone else, you know the noises of your house and the sound of the front door opening is always a very distinct sound in any of our homes. Why is it hard to believe that the killer was stuck in the home for a little bit before he was able to escape when the mother went to bed? I find that believable.

[SageSlowdive]

This has nothing to do with anything, but the actor playing Tony was SO FINE. The real Tony not so much...looked much older than 22.

[Stratego]

Originally Posted by Latka Gravas

This TL case appears to be suicide, unfortunately. It's very far-fetched that anyone would break into the house (where he lived with his parents) and kill him - without there being at least some evidence that someone actually did so. And, based on the UM segment - there was never any clear/obvious evidence of a break-in, nor did anyone see anything outside the house at the time (though that admittedly doesn't mean much, due to the lateness of the hour).

It does sound like TL received at least two death threats (one by another driver he had allegedly cut off in traffic, and another a guy who left a voice-message warning TL to stay away from his gf). However, even if they did occur IRL as they were dramatized on the UM segment, that doesn't mean any of these people broke into his house & killed him.

In essence, it does sound like TL had a lot of stressful incidents going on prior to his death. I.e., his driver's license was either going to be taken away from him (or had been taken away), people were threatening him, etc. It's possible that the combination of all of these issues was too much for him.

Agreed.

[Rayroy]

This was one LOOOOOONG thread. I stopped reading after page 9. Here is what I think.

I think murder.

If suicide:
He might have been the spoiled brat of the family and it's possible he felt like a disappointment and the driving drunk maybe made him afraid to tell his parents, so he took the coward's way out. Why no note? Why the bruises/defense wounds? A fight the night before at a bar is a stretch. He comes home with a broken jaw, chest wounds, a gash on his head and his watch broken off his wrist and on the floor? Also, in 1990 driving drunk was not as serious as it is today. At one point in the 1960s if you were drunk and killed someone, in some parts of the country it was just considered an accident. Use your 1990 eyes, not your post-2001 eyes.

If murder: I will get to how it coincides with what the mother saw at the bottom of this post.

If the mother was correct and not believing what she wanted to believe, this is how I think it happened. Tony boy was set up by a woman, brings her home, maybe he normally leaves the front door unlocked, or she went in behind him and left it unlocked. He starts getting it on. Two dudes come in start beating on him. He fears for his life, he grabs for his gun. Their original intention was to beat him up, but he pulled the gun, so it escalates. They fight him. The guy with his knees on his chest has the gun in his hand. He says you want to use a gun? He hits him in the face with the gun butt, and breaks his jaw. The watch came off during a struggle. He is naked in bed, so maybe while down he also gets hit in the groin. He is it pain, but trying to fight. Perhaps. Just perhaps, the gun went off by accident while he was being hit, or the gun was put in his face by the guy taunting him and during the struggle the trigger gets squeezed, explaining the trajectory. That would make it manslaughter. You guys never thought of that did you? Now the questions that need to be asked are was Tony left or right-handed and would the shell and gun be where they would be expected for that hand? Then again, they could fit depending on whether the shooter was left-handed or right-handed too and they would mirror each other.

Here's a reason he could have been naked. Maybe the guy who threatened him showed up and said he just wants to talk, can he come in. Find whatever scenario you need for him letting him or them in. They start talking, and it quickly turns to a beat down and the guys says, you like getting naked with my girlfriend? He strips him naked to degrade him and maybe the scenario with the gun like above happens or the killer saw the gun.

Here's a crazy scenario. All that happens and during the beating, Tony goes for his gun, but somehow shoots himself accidentally or there is a struggle and the gun gets moved to him and his finger gets forced to squeeze the trigger.

The flat foot to me looks like he is hiding something. It's quite possible the killer is related to him, a cop, big time crime guy, or related to another cop.

Now on to the mother's testimony. She might be believing what she wants to believe, she might be lying. Let's go with everything she said was correct. Here is how I think it happened if what she said were true. Tony gets killed, murdered, accidental, suicide, whatever and the guy(s) who did it leave. Maybe they leave the door unlocked, maybe it's always unlocked. They go away pumped all crazy with what happened. A few hours later they realized they left something there or might have left something there. Whatever reason, they go back, to clean up, get their possessions, whatever. Maybe a watch, wallet, knife or anything else that can trace them. They are trying to get it all together and clean up a little and boom, the mother comes home. Holy crap what do they do? They may not have intended on killing Tony, so they sure as hell don't want to kill his mother. Maybe she already knows them. Maybe they have no desire to kill because Tony's death was just meant to be a beat down. They turn off the light when they hear her car. They don't know what to do. They figure try to wait her out. Maybe they know Tony's schedule. They hide in the bathroom in his room. They wait a while, a long while. They hear nothing for maybe an hour. Ok, maybe she went to bed and is asleep or busy in bed and won't come out. It's dark now. they can't see. They turn on the light to leave and forget to turn it off. They leave in a panic and make the noise. They run off in the darkness.

It's possible the threats have nothing to do with Tony's death. It could be something no one knew about. Maybe another boyfriend/husband/brother. Maybe a coworker. Maybe a supposed friend. We don't know. None of us were there.

What I want to know is why they did not try to figure out when he got the bruises. The amount of blood could have helped to know if it happened when he died or if there had been enough clotting to make one realize it happened hours or a day before he died. Once his heart stopped beating, he would have stopped bleeding on his facial and chest wounds.

[Stratego]

A fight the night before at a bar is a stretch.

Why? It might've been the last straw on top of all the other things.

A fight the night before at a bar is a stretch. He comes home with a broken jaw, chest wounds, a gash on his head and his watch broken off his wrist and on the floor? Also, in 1990 driving drunk was not as serious as it is today. At one point in the 1960s if you were drunk and killed someone, in some parts of the country it was just considered an accident. Use your 1990 eyes, not your post-2001 eyes.

It doesn't matter of it's 1960, 1990 or 2026. If there is some kind of pressure to be "perfect", getting a DUI and losing your license might be very stressful.

[Rayroy]

Originally Posted by Stratego

Why? It might've been the last straw on top of all the other things.



It doesn't matter of it's 1960, 1990 or 2026. If there is some kind of pressure to be "perfect", getting a DUI and losing your license might be very stressful.

From what I see there, I can't go that route. If he got into a fight the night before with a broken jaw, there would have to be one hell of a headache. Why would he not go to the hospital? I avoid hospitals but I would imagine if I have a broken jaw, the first thing I would want to do is get it cleaned up. It's possible it could lead to depression and suicide shortly after, but my gut says murder.