Joseph Canazaro, 48, of Hilltown Township.
Investigators in Bucks County have renewed their call for leads in the 2013 homicide of 48-year-old Joseph Canazaro at his Hilltown Township home.
According to a release from the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, two armed men entered Canazaro’s home along the 300 block of Swartley Road just before 10 a.m. on Jan. 18, 2013. Media reports at the time indicate the suspects — one believed to be Hispanic and the other believed to be Asian — gained access to the home through a first-floor window, then proceeded to tie up Canazaro, his girlfriend, and his 12-year-old son.
The suspects reportedly ransacked the home, taking guns, money, jewelry, and bank records before fleeing the scene in Canazaro’s truck. Both the girlfriend and son were able to free themselves and went to a neighbor’s house, where they called 911. However, when police arrived, they found Canazaro dead inside of the home’s garage, investigators said.
Canazaro’s truck was later located at the Quakertown Plaza Shopping Center, where surveillance footage from a neighboring business showed the suspects arriving in the truck, transferring the stolen items into a getaway vehicle, and then fleeing the area.
The vehicle is described as a red, four-door Nissan sedan, believed to be a 2004 to 2008 Nissan Maxima or Altima, police said.
Reports indicate Canazaro — who owned multiple properties and businesses, including Finn McCool’s Tavern on Penn Street in Hatfield Township — filed for bankruptcy in 2008, with reports indicating he defaulted on loans and owed money to casinos.
At the time of his death, Canazaro owed millions of dollars to creditors, leading police to believe that money may have been the motive for his killing.
"It's a very involved, very complex to look at those records, to figure out exactly where the money came from and where it went," said former Hilltown Township Police Chief Chris Engelhart, in an NBC10 report on Jan. 22, 2013.
Anyone with information regarding the killing of Canazaro is asked to contact the Bucks County Detectives at 215-348-6354 or the Hilltown Township Police Department at 215-435-6011. Tips can also be sent anonymously here.
See also:
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