The Long Island man who murdered four family members before committing suicide at his deceased mom’s house was “kind of a hoarder” who spent all his money on tools, authorities said Monday.
Deranged killer Joseph DeLucia, Jr., 59, of Syosset, worked as an auto mechanic at a local dealership — and his life seemed to revolve around his trade, according to Nassau County Police Capt. Stephen Fitzpatrick.
“He was kind of a hoarder, spent all his money on tools and stuff,” Fitzpatrick said at a Monday press conference. “The house was pretty much hoarded, packed with tools, stuff involved with an auto mechanic.”
Joseph DeLucia, Jr. killed four members and then himself in Syosset, Long Island. Facebook/Joe DeLucia
According to police, DeLucia was a hoarder. Dennis A. Clark
The inside of the Syosset house. Dennis A. Clark
The inside of a car at the Syosset house. Gregory P. Mango
The backyard of the Long Island house. Gregory P. Mango
Boxes of items seen inside the DeLucia family’s house. Gregory P. Mango
The backyard patio of DeLucia’s house. Gregory P. MangoBut things were changing quickly for DeLucia, a former EMT. His 95-year-old mom had passed away last week, and now his family was looking to sell the house on Wyoming Court that he’d never left, Fitzpatrick said.
Cops say that sent DeLucia into a rage — and he took it out on his three siblings and his 30-year-old niece, who he gunned down with a Mossberg shotgun around noon Sunday inside the home’s den.
Investigators at the scene of the the murder-suicide in Syosset on Aug. 26, 2024. Dennis Clark for the NYPost
The shotgun sued in the murder-suicide. Nassau Police Department
DeLucia’s family was planning on selling the house after his 95-year-old mother Theresa passed away last week.
Joanne Kearns, 69, was one of the murder victims. Joanna Kearns/Facebook
Tina Hammond, 64, was killed by DeLucia. Tina Hammond/Facebook
DeLucia’s niece Victoria Hammond, 30, was one of the victims. Victoria Hammond/Facebook“He was living there his entire life, never lived on his own,” Fitzpatrick said. “So you could see his mindset, where his world was now changing and he was in a panic.”
After killing the victims — Joanne Kearns, 69, of Tampa, Florida; Frank DeLucia, 64, of Durham, North Carolina; Tina Hammond, 64, of East Patchogue; and niece Victoria Hammond, 30, of East Patchogue — DeLucia turned the shotgun on himself and ended it all.
