Dr. Jozsef X. Piri, 49, was arrested in Florida more than two years after the shooting death of 44-year-old Roberto Fonseca-Rivera.
Authorities in Florida have made an arrest in connection to the killing of a Boston man in Vermont in 2019, officials announced Thursday.
In an affidavit, the Vermont Superior Court in Windham announced charges against Dr. Jozsef X. Piri, 49, in connection to the deadly shooting of 44-year-old Roberto Fonseca-Rivera in November 2019 in Rockingham, Vermont.
Piri, who moved from Connecticut to Florida this March, according to court documents, was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Fonseca-Rivera, who had been making a delivery for Hyde Park-based Katsiroubas Produce.
Fonseca-Rivera was found shot to death along Vermont Route 103 in Rockingham on the afternoon of Nov. 1, 2019, and reported missing after he didn't return to the company's distribution warehouse in Massachusetts later that night.
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Authorities first identified Piri as a suspect through video canvassing, according to court documents, placing him on the same road as Fonseca-Rivera around the same time.
Subsequent searches of Piri's residences in both Connecticut and Vermont, as well as his truck, determined that Piri had misled investigators about carrying firearms in his truck and concealing them in his home.
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Authorities also determined through search warrants that Piri had conducted unusual search activities for news in the area where Fonseca-Rivera had been killed, including before he had first met with investigators. His search engines were subsequently cleared, investigators uncovered. Piri had told investigators upon his first interview that he was unaware of any incidents occurring in the area in question in Vermont.
Upon a search of Piri's residence in Vermont, where he had been visiting due to an issue with a well pump, a firearm consistent with the one used to kill Fonseca-Rivera was located. Portions of the weapon were missing, investigators said, which was inconsistent with what Piri had told them about how meticulous he was with his firearms.
A Vermont State Police spokesman confirmed that Piri, who was working as a doctor in Naples, Florida, at Physicians Regional Medical Group, was in custody.
There remains no clear motive in the killing of Fonseca-Rivera. Investigators determined that Piri's trip to Vermont "hadn't gone smoothly" due to delays with the well pump and getting back to Connecticut.
It is unclear when Piri will appear in court or if has an attorney. If convicted, he could face life in prison.
The CEO of Katsiroubas Produce, Ted Katsiroubas, said in a statement Thursday that the company was please to learn a suspected had been identified in "the horrific killing."
He called Fonseca-Rivera "a good man just doing his job driving down the highway," and said the company hopes "that justice may be done for Roberto and that it may bring his family some peace."
