Friday, November 18, 2011

Carmel. NY: NY man kills man who dined with his estranged wife

CARMEL, N.Y. — A man whose estranged wife went to dinner with his co-worker waited in the bushes for the man to come home, then shot him to death before killing himself in front of the distraught woman, police said Thursday.

The men had worked together for years in the Town of Carmel Highway Department and both lived in the hamlet of Mahopac, 45 miles north of New York City, Carmel police Chief Michael Johnson said.

He said that on Wednesday night, Michael Boccardi, 47, waited near the home of 56-year-old Michael Purdy. When Boccardi's wife drove up and dropped Purdy off after their dinner together, Boccardi "came out of the nearby foliage" and fired several shots at Purdy, Johnson said. Purdy was killed by a bullet to the head, the chief said.

Boccardi then jumped into his wife's car and ordered her to drive away, the chief said. The woman, distraught over what she'd seen, tried to speak to Boccardi, but he turned the pistol on himself and shot himself in the head, Johnson said.

The chief said he didn't know if Purdy had been dating Boccardi's wife, only that they were together Wednesday night.

He said he knew both men and described Boccardi as "a level-headed, calm guy."

"I'm taken aback," the chief said.

Both men were pronounced dead at the scene. Police said Boccardi used a Glock semi-automatic pistol that was legally registered to him.

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