Evidence points to son accused of killing dad
Bloody clothing and maggots in a suitcase and the pings of a dead man’s cellphone led Boca Raton detectives to accuse a former judge’s heir ofmurder.
Jimmy Scandirito tried to cover his tracks, police say.
Scandirito, 49, of Fort Lauderdale, changed his cellphone number, stole a license plate froma vehicle in Fort Lauderdale and was recorded on Publix video buying duct tape, garbage bags and cleaning supplies with his father’s debit card, police said.
But evidence of body fluids were found in the kitchen and garage of the home of widower James “Skip” Scandirito, 74.
Drops of blood were also found on a hand truck in the garage at the house, in the 400 block of Northwest 72nd Street in Boca Raton.
Skip Scandirito was a lawyer and Michigan judge who reportedly resigned after being accused of offering to trade sexual favors for lenient sentences— allegations he denied.
After moving to Florida with his wife Terri, and Jimmy, their only child, Skip worked for the Florida Department of Children & Families in the early 2000s. But he was fired by the department and disbarred. He worked as a paralegal for a lawyer friend and after retiring, worked in the pro shop at the now defunct Ocean Breeze Golf Club.
About 3:30 a.m. on April 4, detectives followed Jimmy to that abandoned course at5800NWSecond Ave. It is about 1.5 miles south of Skip’s home.
Police saw Jimmy enter the course carrying a small bag and then leave, wearing different clothing and carrying a larger suitcase that was tossed into a dumpster. Cops retrieved the suitcase and, inside it, found the blood-soiled clothing, insects and the odor of decomposing remains, according to the arrest report.
Later that day, detectives say Skip’s remains were unearthed from a 4-foot deep hole. Police
divers recovered a shovel 20 yards from the shore of a nearby pond.
There is no motive described by police about why anyonewouldwant to kill Skip, who longtime friend Stuart Rosenthal called “a good guy” who “didn’t deserve this.”
But money could been one reason.
Jimmywas the sole beneficiary on many of his father’s accounts, worth about $800,000, according to a police report. Using forged documents, Jimmy tried several times to withdraw about $9,500 from one of Skip’s accounts, but was unsuccessful, the report said.
Skip was last known to be alive on March 28 at about 12:47 p.m., police said.
That morning, Jimmy and Skip played golf at SouthwindsGolfCourse in west Boca Raton, the son told police. He also said father and son got drunk on tequila that afternoon while celebrating the birthday of his late mother, who died in April 2017.
Jimmy also told police his father went to a tennis tournament with a friend in Miami onMarch 29, and didn’t return home that night, the report said.
Police think that after Skip was dead, Jimmy used his father’s credit card, which only the elder man had control of, to make the Publix purchases. Jimmy also bought a hand truck and gas can fromHomeDepot and told investigators those supplies were to use with a pressurewasher at his Fort Lauderdale home.
A family friend dropped by Skip’s house on March 31 to watch basketball on TV, but Skip never showed and didn’t answer calls or texts to his phone, Jimmy told police. On April 1, the friend called hospitals and then Boca Raton police, to report Skipwas missing.
The dead man’s cellphone records showed the phone was not with him, police said. From March 28 to March 31, it was found to have been at the golf coursewhere Skipwas have
buried, but it also traced to Jimmy’s Fort Lauderdale apartment, aswell as Skip’s houseinBocaRaton. Skip’s cellphone last made contact with a cell tower on March 31 at 8:43 a.m. at 2275 S. Federal Highway in Delray Beach.
Jimmy’s cellphone connected with a tower near Knowles Park at 1001 S. Federal Highway in Delray Beach on March 31, and Skip’s Ford Escape was found abandoned there on April 1, police said.
After Jimmy and the family friend were interviewed by detectives on April 3, police got a search warrant for Skip’s house that day and discovered the blood evidence. They also found Skip’s medication, which was last taken the morning of March 28. That night’s dose was untouched.
Jimmy emptied his bank account of $1,400 and onMonday, was driving his Toyota Prius with the stolen tag on Interstate 75, two miles north of Alachua, authorities said.
While Alachua County Sheriff’s deputies stopped Jimmy for the tag, they learned there was a warrant from Palm Beach County for his arrest. He was jailed in Gainesville and detectives interviewed him there.
“Our detectives did a great job tracking down leads,” Mark Economou, public information manager for Boca Raton police, saidWednesday. “It shows from the arrest report that itwent froma missing person’s report to a criminal investigation. Our detectives were able to turn up inconsistencies in Jim Jr.’s stories and make an arrest.”
Jimmy was still in the Gainesville jail Wednesday. Economou said Palm Beach County Sheriff ’s deputies would bring him home to face the murder charge, a transfer that was expected to happen by week’s end.
Boca Raton police ask anyone with information about the case to call Detective Tim Kurdys at 561-338-1377.