Documents: Health aide, friends schemed to rob man found dead

Victim suffered facial, head injures; hands were tied behind back

A scheme by a caretaker and two of her friends to rob a 75-year-old Rocky Hill man ended in a gruesome killing, the man’s beaten body left on the second floor of his home with his hands tied behind his back and injuries to his face and head, documents obtained by the Courant show.

After the robbery turned into a killing, the two people who have been charged in the case stole the man’s car and dog and planned to hide the body to make the death look like Robert Iacobucci “voluntarily left with a prostitute,” according to a state police report.

Police charged Madeline

Dickey, 35, and Franklyn Cruz, 42, with murder, first-degree robbery, second-degree burglary and third-degree larceny after a witness alerted authorities to the events that led to the 75-yearold’s death.

Melissa Feliciano, who had worked as a caretaker for Iacobucci, is identified in the documents as being involved but has not been charged. Police have not

found her. Authorities have said additional arrests are expected.

Dickey and Cruz were arrested outside their New Britain home Monday night with Iacobucci’s car. The two were interviewed and laid out details of the alleged crime to investigators early Tuesday, a state police report on the investigation revealed.

Cruz told police that Feliciano, a CNA who cared for the Rocky Hill man, was friends with Dickey, who also would occasionally help take care of Iacobucci. Cruz said he would often tag along, but wait in the car and “smoke crack,” while the two women would work, he said.

On the evening of April 4 — Easter Sunday — the three went to Iacobucci’s residence. Dickey said that she and Cruz waited in the car while Feliciano was inside, and when she returned she complained the elderly man treated her poorly. She later mentioned he was sick and that she would inherit all

his belongings after he died, Dickey told police.

Hours later, around 1 or 2 a.m. on April 5, Feliciano convinced the couple that they should “scare and frighten Iacobucci into giving them money,” Dickey told investigators, according to the report. The trio drove to Rocky Hill.

Dickey told police she waited in the car while Cruz and Feliciano attacked the elderly man — tying him up, kicking him and stealing his wallet that only had $37, before returning to the car, according to the report. The couple dropped off Feliciano in Hartford, and she has not been located since, the warrant said.

The couple then returned to Iacobucci’s home, where Dickey told police they discovered the attack had left the man dead, records show. But instead of calling 911, they stole Iacobucci’s dog, one of his vehicles and other items, the report said.

Dickey called an acquaintance at 5 a.m. to meet at a nearby Dunkin’ Donuts, where she showed him Iacobucci’s stolen car and dog, he told police.

Later that evening, Dickey

made plans to meet with the acquaintance. He told police that Cruz told him about a plan to move a body, to make “it appear [Iacobucci] voluntarily left with a prostitute, then move themselves into his residence, essentially taking it over,” the police report said.

The acquaintance then called police around 7:30 p.m. to conduct a wellness check on Iacobucci, according to the report.

Officers first noticed one of two of Iacobucci’s vehicles was missing. They then tried calling his cellphone, which was answered by a woman who only gave the name “Melissa” and said the elderly man was out with a woman named “Danielle.” When police asked why the woman had Iacobucci’s phone, she immediately hung up, they said.

After that encounter, officers called the acquaintance and learned that he had already met with Dickey and Cruz. He explained the day’s events to police, adding that the couple had two U-Haul trucks and planned to go home, change clothing, switch out the stolen vehicle’s license plates then

dispose of the body.

Officers then went to Cruz and Dickey’s residence, and made their arrest when they saw the couple trying to change license plates on the stolen car, records show.

During their arraignments Tuesday in Superior Court in New Britain, court officials said both Cruz and Dickey struggle with drug addiction. Dickey recently relapsed after seven or eight years of sobriety, a public defender said.

Dickey has been working part time for Allied Community Resources, an organization that helps people with intellectual and other disabilities. Cruz collects disability, the court officials said.

Cruz’s bail was set at $2 million, and his next court date is scheduled for April 28. Dickey’s was set at $1 million; she is due in court April 27.