Coin-collecting isn't always a good thing.....
 

This story makes me sad......:bear_sad:

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Coin collection behind murder of FDNY vet

BY JENNIFER BARRIOS
jennifer.barrios@newsday.com

May 28, 2007, 10:19 PM EDT

Robbery appears to be the motive in the murder of a former New York City firefighter from Long Island, Scottsdale, Ariz., police said Monday.

Jeff Bigham, 56, wanted Salvatore Princiotta's valuable coin collection. So the Californian flew to Princiotta's Scottsdale home, shot the retired firefighter four times, and took it, according to police.

Bigham then flew to California and sold the coins for $18,000 to an unwitting coin dealer in Vista, police said.

He also gave the dealer a large commemorative Elvis stamp that he had stolen from Princiotta's home, telling the dealer to try and sell it for him.

Princiotta's body was discovered after relatives, alarmed that they hadn't heard from him earlier this month, had asked a nephew who attended school in nearby Tempe to check on Princiotta.

The 21-year-old nephew, also named Salvatore Princiotta, went to the condo on May 14, where he found the door locked, the house neat and orderly -- and his uncle's body lying on his bedroom floor.

The safe was unlocked, the collection gone.

Princiotta had moved to Scottsdale last winter, hoping that the dry desert air would help the breathing conditions he developed after working at Ground Zero in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Princiotta and Bigham, who met at a Las Vegas convention, spoke by phone almost every day in the days leading up to Princiotta's death, police said.

Family members told police that they suspected a man named "Jeff," who had associated with Princiotta, was involved in his murder.

On May 25, police found Bigham at a motel in San Bernardino, Calif. When cornered, Bigham shot and killed himself.

Monday, Princiotta's brother, Chuck Princiotta, said he credited his 21-year-old son with noticing the unlocked safe and alerting authorities.

But the news that police had definitively linked Bigham to the crime was bittersweet.

"It only hammers home the unbelievable point that someone would murder somebody for some coins and a stamp," Chuck Princiotta said.
Copyright 2007 Newsday Inc.


http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny...,2343026.story

Re: Coin-collecting isn't always a good thing.....
 

Re: Coin-collecting isn't always a good thing.....
 

Too bad the NYC Firefighter wasn't a cop first - maybe the PERP would be dead instead. :yes:

Glocks and shotguns work great when you need them.

It's a jungle out there and sometimes the dirtbags sneak into you home.

Re: Coin-collecting isn't always a good thing.....
 

This reinforces my belief that a hermit-like lifestyle is the correct path, with the exception of my wife and dogs.

Don't make friends people!

Re: Coin-collecting isn't always a good thing.....
 

People have been killed for a pair of tennis shoes.

The moral of this story can't be "don't have anything of value because someone out there will kill you for it"

Re: Coin-collecting isn't always a good thing.....
 

Here's the moral: don't advertise any hard assets you keep in your home.

sad, but stupid
 

how about, dont meet strangers in your home alone, and haul out five figure valued property.

dont let loneliness suck you into stupidity. I see this all the time. I just heard a story about how a scion of a rich family dropped five bills on whores at the local strip joint before the trustee found out and turned off the water.

Re: Coin-collecting isn't always a good thing.....
 

Gee, would it be any different if it was $18,000 in $100's?

Re: Coin-collecting isn't always a good thing.....
 

YEP.....Guns kill people......and owning coins will get you killed, too ~ what else can we add to the list ?
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Sorry, I'm not getting rid of my prized collection and you don't know me. :bear_cool:

Re: Coin-collecting isn't always a good thing.....
 

I have one of these hidden in almost every room (call me paranoid)
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