FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - Police have made an arrest months after an elderly couple were killed inside their Fort Lauderdale home, but the man who was taken into custody is not currently being charged in their murder.
It has been a long and painful process for the family of Major and Claudette Melvin, who were murdered inside their Fort Lauderdale home back in March.
Kim Mitchell, the couple’s daughter, spoke with 7News on Wednesday.
“We’re angry, we’re very angry. We’re still trying to wrap our minds about how can we? Who would? Who did? Why?” said Kim.
Questions still linger, but it appears some progress is being made in the investigation.
Fort Lauderdale Police said they arrested 30-year-old Maurice Newson, a former boyfriend of the couple’s granddaughter, for stealing and selling the Melvins’ red Ford Fusion.
According to detectives, the car was taken the night of the murders.
Tonya Mitchell, another daughter of the victims, spoke with 7News days after her parents’ bodies were found.
“The person walked in through the front door, and Major must have tried to get up, and when he got up, he got tangled up in the blanket, and they shot him point blank with a nine-millimeter,” she said. “She was shot as well, in the chest, and she fell back. It’s just terrible.”
Police said 89-year-old Major and 85-year-old Claudette were both shot dead in the home they shared for five decades.
Nothing was taken from the home but the Ford Fusion.
In early April, however, detectives said they received a tip that the sedan was at a tow yard in Wilton Manors.
A tow truck driver told police that on March 22, the same day of the murders, he was told by his boss to meet someone at a Tri-Rail station to buy a 2014 Fusion.
The police report said the driver told police that the seller “stated that he had recently purchased the 2012 Ford Fusion and was selling it because he was tired of putting money into the vehicle.”
The driver bought the car for $200, and he later called police when he saw the Melvins’ car on the news.
Detectives traced Newson’s cellphone number and determined he is the man who sold the car.
The arrest report states detectives were “told by family that Maurice had been coming around the home following the homicide ‘acting strange’ and asking a lot of questions.”
The arrest report also states Melvins’ granddaughter voluntarily took a polygraph test but was “found to be untruthful on the question of being involved in the deaths of her grandparents.”
At this point, Newson is charged only with theft and sale of the car, and the victims’ granddaughter is not currently charged, as detectives continue their investigation.
Tonya had a message for the person who took her parents’ lives.
“What did you want? What were you looking for? You took nothing, but you killed them. Why?” she said. “To come in and kill two elderly people like that, you’re gonna burn in hell.”
At this point, it remains unclear who else, if anyone, is under investigation in connection to the killings.
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