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NEWS RELEASE For Immediate
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A 39-year-old Clearwater man - a one-time male revue dancer and most recently, a personal trainer to the privileged of the Tampa Bay area - was charged with two counts of First-Degree Murder today in connection with the slaying two weeks ago of a married couple in their Clearwater home.
RICHARD T. ROBARDS (07-25-67) - who has been living out of motels in recent weeks - was charged with killing Frank (12-13-45) and Linda (09-14-46) Deluca in their 1502 Murray Avenue home on Tuesday, August 1, a day before their bodies were discovered in the smoke-filled house. (Robards was already in the Pinellas County Jail this morning on felony drug possession charges when the Murder charges were filed).
Clearwater Police Criminal Investigations Division Case Agent Christopher Precious believes Robards killed the Delucas - with whom he had a close relationship stemming from his work as their personal trainer - so he could steal a cabinet safe for the sizeable amount of currency inside. Once Robards stabbed to death the Delucas, he used newspaper and gasoline to ignite a fire he hoped would destroy evidence of the crime. But according to a Clearwater Police Arson Investigator, a lack of oxygen starved the fire, and the blaze didn’t spread as anticipated.
A team of detectives ultimately located the still-unopened stolen safe – specifically because of the news media’s spotlight on the case – connected it to Robards’ words and actions, and when they opened it Thursday (August 17), discovered a substantial amount of money inside. According to Detective Precious:
Clearwater Police were summoned to the Deluca’s modest home shortly before noon on Wednesday, August 2, after a friend of the family, unable to reach them by telephone, found the couple dead inside their home. The house was filled with smoke as the result of a fire started in the office, where both bodies were found.
Both Frank and Linda had been stabbed multiple times in the upper chest and neck region; he had defensive wounds on his hands, she had stab wounds in her back.
Investigators had to delay their initial detailed probe until the house was cleared of toxic fumes from the piled up burning newspapers. They determined gasoline had been used as an accelerant to start the fire that apparently burned for a while, but extinguished because the house was closed up and oxygen was depleted.
One of the first circumstances to catch the attention of Homicide investigators was a set of drag marks on the driveway of the Deluca’s home. The drag marks, which stretched from the top of the driveway down between the couple’s cars toward the street, appeared fresh. Early on in their interviews of the victims’ friends and family, detectives learned the couple had a large, heavy Wells Fargo cabinet safe; it was missing.
Judging from the circumstances inside the house - including a coffee pot plugged in, the Tuesday newspaper inside and the Delucas’ manner of dress - investigators believe the killer arrived on the morning of August 1, although the crime was not discovered until the next morning.
Once the Delucas were killed, detectives believe Robards, a powerfully built man, pushed the heavy safe outside to the driveway. They later determined he solicited an acquaintance to help him take the safe from the scene. Detectives believe Robards got the acquaintance to drive his SUV to the house where they tried to get it in the rear of the vehicle. When that failed, they got a trailer and moved the safe to the other man’s Palm Harbor residence. Investigators don’t believe the other man knew of the dead couple inside the house, having been told the safe was Robards’ and that he had lost the combination.
As detectives spoke with numerous people both closely and peripherally associated with the Delucas, they discovered that Frank had a federal conviction in the early 1990s stemming from his sale of marijuana from his Clearwater paint business. Various people told detectives that they had heard “rumors” and “had knowledge” of the Delucas selling amounts of marijuana from their home.
By Friday, two days after the crime was discovered, investigators thought it would be beneficial to release details of the missing safe, and the Tampa Bay media was provided specifics and pictures of a safe similar to the one missing. By that evening, police had a tip naming Richard “Damien” Robards, the couple’s personal trainer, as possibly being involved with the Deluca’s death.
The team of detectives soon located another person who told them Robards had asked him, some time prior to the murder, to participate in the burglary of a home to steal a safe. That person was not involved in the August 1 crime.
On Monday, August 7, Richard T. Robards was arrested by undercover Clearwater Police Vice & Narcotics Detectives on charges of felony possession of marijuana. He has been in the Pinellas County Jail ever since. In following Robards’ recent activities and movements, detectives found a scoped hunting rifle and about 11 lbs. of marijuana in a rental unit in his name. Although he once lived in a Treasure Island house, Robards has recently been moving from place to place, motel to motel, “free-loading” off of friends, some of them former clients from when he was a personal trainer to professional athletes and business owners.
Another situation developed that once again led to Robards’ involvement in the crime: several days after the crime, a woman’s purse was discovered among reams of cardboard in a City of Clearwater recycling dumpster. When city workers noticed the purse – it was a cardboard only recycle bin – they notified police who discovered identification that led back to the Deluca’s home.
Investigators also discovered distinctive personal property belonging to Robards among the recycled cardboard, and later, matching property was found in his belongings in his hotel room.
Detective Precious believes Robards took the purse from the Deluca’s home after the slayings, and disposed of the purse and shirt in an attempt to eliminate evidence of the crime.
The missing safe was found late on Friday, August 11, in the Palm Harbor home of the man Robards had convinced to help him collect the heavy cabinet. It had not been opened subsequent to the theft.
Ultimately, the stolen safe was opened Thursday (August 17), inside Detectives discovered collectible coins and paper money, jewelry, personal documents, a handgun and a substantial amount of currency.
Richard T. “Damien” Robards was charged late this morning with two counts of First-Degree Murder, and remains in the custody of the Pinellas County Jail. He is the lone person charged in connection with this case, which is an on-going and still-active probe.
Additional details may be made public if circumstances warrant.
For additional information regarding this case, please contact Public Information Officer Wayne Shelor at 727-562-4333.
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