Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Fraudsters Kill, Dismember 71YO Victim | Crime Alert 03.06.25

Episode Date: March 6, 2025

Financial fraudsters kill and dismember their 71-year-old victim. Shirtless suspect steals a police cruiser and pulls someone over! For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Alert, I'm Nancy Grace. Breaking crime news now. Florida cops investigating the disappearance of 71-year-old Joseph Romano catch Joseph Shaliro going through the contents of Romano's mailbox. Cops discover proof Shaliro and friend Silviano Christman transferred thousands of dollars from Romano's bank accounts into fraud accounts. A search of Shaliro's home uncovers a freshly covered grave in the backyard inside Romano's dismembered remains. Nancy, it's unclear how the three men knew each other and what caused Shaliro and Christman to kill their elderly victim? Police believe Romano possibly unearthed Chaliro and Christman's scheme, leading to his death. The last day Romano was seen alive, officers proved that Chaliro and Christman were together,

providing the basis for the search warrant at Chaliro's Valrico home. The investigation is still ongoing. Joseph Chaliro, 45, and Silviano Christman, 31, now charged with murder, abuse of a corpse, conspiracy, exploitation of a disabled adult, and money laundering. Florida cops try to chase down their shirtless suspect who avoids several taser shots. Hernando Lopez manages to avoid officers long enough to get in the driver's seat of a police cruiser, takes off with the lights flashing, drivers pull over, Lopez abandons the cruiser, yanks a driver out of a red SUV, and takes off in that, then loses control, flips the SUV, Lopez taken into custody for domestic violence, resisting arrest, impersonating a cop, and grand theft. Wow. Next thing, it'll be a video game.

More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley. A former Virginia police sergeant is headed to prison for the fatal shooting of a shoplifting suspect. A Fairfax County judge has sentenced Wesley Shifflett to three years behind bars for reckless handling of a firearm, a felony conviction stemming from the 2023 shooting of

Timothy McCree. Shifflett, then a sergeant with Fairfax County Police, opened fire after a brief chase outside Tyson's Corner Center, where Johnson was suspected of stealing sunglasses. Body camera footage played in court shows Shifflett shouting, quote, get on the ground, then firing twice. Moments later, Johnson, wounded and bleeding, can be heard saying, I was reaching for nothing. The jury had acquitted Shifflett of involuntary manslaughter, but prosecutors argued he acted recklessly. Commonwealth's attorney Steve Descano says accountability is critical for public trust in law enforcement. Shifflett insists he fired in self-defense, believing Johnson was reaching into his waistband. His attorney plans to appeal.

Johnson's mother, Melissa Johnson, says the sentencing brings some relief, calling it a David and Goliath moment. The judge handed down a five-year sentence, suspending two years. Shifflett is expected to serve three. In a rare move, Alabama's governor has commuted the death sentence of a man convicted over three decades ago. Crime Online correspondent Sydney Sumner has the details. Governor Kay Ivey has commuted the death sentence of Robin Rocky Myers to life imprisonment without parole. Myers, now 63, was convicted for the 1991 stabbing death of his neighbor, 69-year-old Ludie Mae Tucker, in Decatur, Alabama. Throughout his incarceration,

Myers has consistently maintained his innocence. At his 1994 trial, the jury recommended a life sentence without parole. However, the presiding judge exercised judicial override, a practice since abolished in Alabama, to impose the death penalty. This marks the first time since 1999 that an Alabama governor has commuted a death sentence. Attorney General Steve Marshall criticized the decision, expressing astonishment and disappointment, particularly for the family of Ludie Mae Tucker. He also noted a lack of direct communication from the governor regarding the commutation. Advocates for Myers highlighted several concerns, the absence of physical evidence linking him to the crime, the victim's failure to identify him despite prior acquaintance,

and the jury's original recommendation for life imprisonment. Additionally, Myers, an intellectually disabled black man, was convicted by a nearly all-white jury. Juror Mae Puckett, who now believes in Myers' innocence, had urged the governor to intervene, stating, quote, he is innocent. Thanks, John. Atreya Berardi, 16, spends several months in foster care when her mom suddenly passes away. She moves in with her aunt and uncle in Rockledge, Florida, but struggles to settle in. She occasionally disappears a day or two, but always comes home. After two months, she packs a bag of just toiletries and her cat and leaves home on foot in the middle of the night. Her phone, her laptop, and most of her stuff left behind.

Cops are convinced she's in danger. Atreya, 5'4", 110 pounds, brown eyes, long brown hair, nose piercing, heart tattoo, left thumb. Her cat is gray with a deformed ear. If you have info on Atreya Berardi, now missing 11 months, call Rockledge, Florida PD 321-690-3988. This is an iHeart Podcast.