Two men charged in an armed home invasion in Montgomery County that left a man dead and his mother critically injured, targeted the wrong home after an employee at their junk removal business tipped them off about guns that were inside a Bucks County house, officials revealed.
The announcement was made following the arrest of Kelvin Roberts, 42, of Philadelphia, on Tuesday, Dec. 17. Both Roberts and his boss Charles Fulforth, 41, are charged in the murder of 25-year-old Andrew Gaudio and the shooting of his 61-year-old mother Bernadette Gaudio.
“The motive in this case was to steal guns and they simply got the wrong house,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said. “They went into the wrong house with bad intentions and shot an innocent 61-year-old woman as she lay in her bed and they executed her 25-year-old son. And I say executed because Andrew was shot in the back of the head as he lay down on the floor of his mother’s bedroom and he was facedown when that shot to the back of the head came.”
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The murder of Andrew Gaudio
On Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, at 2:22 a.m., police responded to a reported home invasion on Meredith Road in the Wynnewood section of Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania. The homeowner, 61-year-old Bernadette Gaudio, had called 911 to report that she had been shot several times. During the call, her attackers could be heard rummaging through the home.
When police arrived, they found both Bernadette Gaudio and her son Andrew suffering from gunshot wounds. Andrew Gaudio was pronounced dead at the scene while his mother was taken to the hospital where she underwent emergency surgery.
Andrew Gaudio’s death was ruled a homicide. Investigators said he had been shot five times.
Deadly Lower Merion home invasion
During an interview, Bernadette Gaudio said she was sleeping when she was awakened by a man wearing a black hoodie. The man shot her unprovoked while she was lying in bed, leaving her paralyzed. Her son Andrew then entered her room to check on her when the gunman shot and killed him before shooting Bernadette Gaudio again, according to the criminal complaint.
Despite her injuries, Bernadette Gaudio was still able to call 911 by using Siri on her cellphone. Investigators said at least two people had broken into her home, stealing a jewelry box and a video game console.
"It was a very brave move on her part because I think indications are that the individuals were still in the house at the time," Steele said during a press conference last week.
“This was a horrible crime and I find it very difficult not to think about what Bernadette is going through with her recovery and what happened in that bedroom and what she saw happened to her son," Steele said.
Kelvin Roberts identified as a suspect
Detectives reviewed dashcam footage from one of the officers who responded to Gaudio’s home. The video shows the officer’s vehicle blocking the path of a white Hyundai Azera with one man inside. The vehicle evaded the patrol car and sped off.
Footage from nearby traffic cameras captured the license plate, Pennsylvania registration 24963 PD. Investigators determined the tag was fraudulent and the vehicle had been stolen.
More dashcam footage showed a green colored Jeep Cherokee leaving the driveway of the home moments later. Investigators determined the Cherokee belonged to Bernadette Gaudio and one of the suspects stole it.
Through a PennDOT records search, investigators tracked the Hyundai Azera to its owner who lived on the 5900 block of Sansom Street in Philadelphia. Detectives then went to the area and spotted the stolen green Jeep Cherokee parked on the street a block away from the home.
Investigators then identified the driver of the stolen Hyundai as Kelvin Roberts after speaking with a resident in the area and showing them a surveillance photo.
Police reviewed more surveillance video showing Roberts speaking with the driver of the Jeep Cherokee along Sansom Street shortly after the deadly home invasion on Dec. 8, according to the criminal complaint.
Investigators executed a search warrant of the Sansom Street home and recovered several items, including live rounds of ammunition, a gun cleaning kit and a cellphone, officials said. They also found the jewelry box that had been stolen during the home invasion, according to the criminal complaint.
After speaking with another resident, detectives secured an arrest warrant for Roberts on Dec. 9, charging him with murder and other related offenses. Police then met with a confidential source who revealed Roberts was criminally involved with his boss at the junk removal company Junkluggers in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, officials said. The source did not know the name of Roberts’ boss but said the man was into guns and drugs and that he and Roberts “hit” houses together.
Charles Fulforth identified as a suspect and arrested
On Tuesday, Dec. 10, detectives went to Junkluggers on 620 Davisville Road in Willow Grove. They spoke with 41-year-old Charles Fulforth who said he was Roberts’ boss, according to the criminal complaint. After initially telling detectives he hadn’t heard from Roberts since he last came to work the week prior, Fulforth then stated that Roberts had texted him on Dec. 8 and asked him for “help,” investigators said.
After telling detectives he didn’t know why Roberts had asked him for help and that he had deleted the text, Fulforth gave police his work number and his personal number, according to the criminal complaint.
Investigators said Fulforth matched the description the confidential source had given them as well as the man who had exited the stolen Jeep.
Investigators said an analysis of cellphone records revealed that both Roberts and Fulforth were at Gaudio’s Lower Merion home before, during and after the deadly shooting, as well as the home on Sansom Street in Philadelphia.
On Dec. 11, 2024, police obtained an arrest warrant for Fulforth, charging him with murder and other related offenses. On Dec. 12, around 10:45 a.m., Fulforth was arrested at 1610 the Fairway, an apartment complex in Jenkintown, Abington Township.
Police said Fulforth was carrying two bags with various tools, gun parts and ammunition at the time of the arrest. Investigators also found a loaded 9 mm ghost gun with a Taurus slide, two silencers, a black balaclava mask, a 3D printer used to manufacture ghost guns, and the key to the stolen jeep inside Fulforth’s apartment, according to the criminal complaint.
Fulforth is charged with second-degree murder, robbery, burglary and other related offenses.
Texts between Fulforth and Roberts
Investigators also reviewed one of Fulforth’s phones which showed he had searched the address of Gaudio’s home in Apple maps, according to the criminal complaint. His phone also had an image taken from Bernadette Gaudio’s bedroom of a hand wearing a black rubber glove and holding a brown box, investigators said. In the picture, Andrew Gaudio is seen lying face down on the floor, according to the criminal complaint.
Fulforth’s second phone also included text messages between him and Roberts, investigators said.
In one message, sent on Dec. 7, 2024, Fulforth tells Roberts, “I got some info on this house yesterday. It was an estimate two old people with a whole lot of guns. Down city line Avenue,” according to the criminal complaint.
Another message that Roberts texted Fulforth between Dec. 8 and Dec. 9 states, “I’m trying to slide to Jamaica ASAP whatever u send me I’m gone. I need as much $ as I can get the type my crib off FBI all that s*** bro. Trying to book me 4va body s*** crazy.”
Detectives also found text messages between Fulforth and an unidentified Junklugger employee in which they discuss a house on City Line Avenue.
Wrong house targeted
Business records obtained by investigators revealed that on Dec. 6, 2024, employees at Junkluggers conducted an estimate for a junk removal job at a residence in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, with an address that was similar to that of Bernadette Gaudio’s. The work was scheduled to be completed on Dec. 9, 2024.
During the estimate, photographs were taken of the items to be removed, which is a normal business practice for Junkluggers, investigators said.
On Dec. 16, 2024, police met with the owners of the Bucks County home who confirmed that they met with Junkluggers employees to conduct an estimate for a clean-out service in the basement of their house, officials said.
One of the homeowners owns multiple firearms that were secured in three safes. A storage rack containing firearm related items was also visible inside the basement, according to the criminal complaint.
Investigators believe Fulforth and Roberts mistakenly believed Gaudio’s home in Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County, was the Bucks County home with the guns inside.
“Seemingly what got lost in the translation is where the intended house was,” Steele said. “The estimate was done in Bucks County and they went to Meredith Road in Lower Merion. So, it was simply the wrong house.”
During an interview on Dec. 11, Fulforth allegedly admitted he and Roberts went to Gaudio’s home on Dec. 8 and that he stole her Jeep Cherokee. Fulforth described himself as a “gun guy” and admitted the weapon found in his possession at the time of his arrest was the gun that was used in Andrew Gaudio’s murder, according to investigators. Fulforth allegedly told detectives that it, “wasn’t supposed to end this way.”
The arrest of Kelvin Roberts
On Dec. 17, 2024, Roberts was arrested by Upper Moreland Police after he showed up to Junkluggers in Willow Grove, investigators said. At the time of his arrest, he was in possession of a handgun which police said did not have a registered owner, according to the criminal complaint.
While being interviewed by detectives, Roberts allegedly admitted to targeting the Lower Merion home after mistakenly believing it was the house with the guns inside that the unidentified Junkluggers employee had told him and Fulforth about.
Roberts said Fulforth was wearing a heavy ballistic vest which matched the description of one recovered by police inside Fulforth’s apartment, according to the criminal complaint.
Roberts also allegedly said Fulforth brought zip ties to restrain anyone they encountered inside the home.
Roberts claimed he was in the basement of the home and stealing bottles of alcohol from the house but denied going upstairs to the second floor, according to the criminal complaint. Roberts also claimed he saw Fulforth go up to the second floor and that he then heard gunfire upstairs, police said. Roberts claimed he heard Andrew Gaudio yell out “mom” during the gunfire, according to the criminal complaint.
Roberts said he left the home and drove around the block several times while waiting for Fulforth before driving past the responding police officers and going back to the residence on Sansom Street in Philadelphia, according to the criminal complaint.
Roberts told police that Fulforth later admitted to him that he had shot Bernadette Gaudio, according to the criminal complaint. Despite his alleged claims, officials have not yet determined which suspect pulled the trigger.
Following the incident, another Junkluggers employee gave Roberts $200 or $300 after being instructed to do so by Fulforth, according to the criminal complaint.
Roberts told police he believed the cash was a percentage of the money they made from the sale of items that were stolen from inside the Lower Merion home.
Roberts is charged with first-degree murder, robbery, burglary and other related offenses. He will be arraigned and remanded to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility without bail.
The investigation continues
While Roberts and Fulforth are in custody, Steele said the investigation is not over and they are looking into whether or not other homeowners in the area who hired Junkluggers for an estimate were burglarized.
“This is clearly individuals that are involved in gun trafficking,” Steele said. “There are gun charges in this case. There is a 3D printer. There were indications of a ghost gun that was used in this case or privately made firearm, and we believe there are others. We believe there may be others. Lot more of these guns out there and so we need to know if anybody has these guns and we need to get them off the streets.”
If you ever contacted Junkluggers for business, contact your local police department.
Roberts was already a wanted man at the time of the home invasion. Philadelphia police were searching for him due to his alleged involvement in a burglary.
Police in North Wales, Pennsylvania, were also searching for him in connection to a burglary in September in which he allegedly stole electronics, including gaming equipment. Investigators said those stolen items ended up at a pawn shop in Cheltenham. Owners of the shop told NBC10 they had not seen Roberts before he came in to pawn the items. Once they learned they were stolen, they turned the items over to police.
Roberts was also arrested on gun charges in Montgomery County back in 2003. The serial number of his weapon was destroyed, according to court documents.
Records also show Roberts was arrested multiple times in Philadelphia for weapons violations, assault and drug offenses.
Fulforth, meanwhile, has an extensive criminal history dating back to 1999, including charges of assault, robbery, arson and criminal trespass, according to the criminal complaint.
It wasn't immediately clear if Roberts had an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
Fulforth has remained jailed since his arrest. NBC10 reached out to his attorney for comment.
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