Police have identified the man killed inside his Buck County home on Friday when two masked gunmen broke in and tied up his girlfriend and 12-year-old son.
Joe Canazaro, 48, was killed. Early in the day police said he was shot and then later said they wouldn't know anything definite until an autopsy was done. Police think it Canazaro murder was not random, but that he was targeted.
Canazaro lived in a sprawling home in Hilltown Township along Swartley Road.
He was the co-owner of Finn McCool's Tavern in Ambler, according to NewtownPatch.com.
Shortly after 10 a.m., two men broke into the home. They were both armed and wearing masks. They tied up the girlfriend and boy in the basement of the home, killed Canazaro and then took off in his truck with bank books and weapons. Canazaro's girlfriend and son were able to get free and run to a neighbor's house for help. Canazaro's other son was away at school when the break-in happened.
“The people who perpetrated this offense are a danger to anyone they come in contact with at this point,” said Hilltown Township Police Department Chief Christopher Engelhart.
Around 3:30 in the afternoon, police found Canazaro's black Lincoln pickup truck at a Friendly's restaurant on West Broad Street in Quakertown. They towed it away and searched a nearby dumpster.
Homicide detectives spent the day and much of the night interviewing Canazaro's girlfriend and son. Robbery may be the motive, they say. The two gunmen are on the run.
In May, a wall collapsed at Finn McCool's Tavern. The pub's been shut down since, but the day before Canazaro's murder, they posted on their Facebook page that they were now hiring for all positions. Now the update says:
People are posting condolences on the page now.
