The wife of the man accused of killing four people at a Long Island pharmacy before stealing over 11,000 hydrocodone pills and other drugs pleaded not guilty to robbery and governmental obstruction charges today. Melinda Brady, 29, did not make bail, which was set at $1.5 million bond or $750,000 cash; according to court papers, she discussed robbing the Haven Drugs on Saturday night, gave her husband, David Laffer, 33, one of her prescriptions to use, and drove the car on Sunday while Laffer went into the pharmacy.
Laffer was charged with four counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Haven Drugs worker Jennifer Mejia, 17; pharmacist Raymond Ferguson, 45; and customers Bryon Sheffield, 71, and Jamie Taccetta, 33. Suffolk County prosecutors painted a horrifying timeline: Laffer allegedly "simply shot [Ferguson] after engaging the pharmacist in conversation" and then went to steal the hydrocodone. Then, after spotting Mejia, ADA John Collins says Laffer shot her twice.
The Wall Street Journal reports, "Another prosecutor, James Chalifoux, said Mr. Laffer next moved quickly about the store, trying to wipe fingerprints clean and steal drugs while eyeing the front door. He eventually returned to where the pharmacist was lying on the ground and shot him twice more. When Ms. Taccetta and another customer, 71-year-old Bryon Sheffield, walked into the store, Mr. Collins said, 'He came up behind them and simply executed them by shooting them in the back of the head.'" But as much as Laffer allegedly tried to clean up the scene, a paper found near Ferguson's body had fingerprints leading cops to Laffer.
Laffer pleaded not guilty and was held without bail. Taccetta's uncle and brother were removed from the court for yelling at Laffer and calling him a coward, "You're a coward for what you did to those families."
Taccetta was going to get married this October (her fiance had been waiting for her in a car and he was the one who discovered the bloodbath), Mejia was supposed to graduate today, and Ferguson would have celebrated his 10th wedding anniversary on July 4th. Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer said the killings were "very difficult to comprehend. We talked about this with our staff, with our homicide detectives, and this is very unusual. We found out that there was no criminal background with this individual and to suddenly engage in this type of violent behavior is beyond understanding. It doesn’t make sense. I don’t have the answer. Nobody has the answer."
