Drug debt led to fatal shooting of two men, suspect tells cops

BOYNTON BEACH – Joseph Bruny Jr. told investigators he was a drug dealer looking to collect on a debt when two of his clients came at him with guns, Boynton Beach police said Monday.

But both men were found shot multiple times in the back Sunday and the only shell casings recovered matched a firearm found in Bruny’s car — not the firearms found near the bodies, according to the police report.

Bruny was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail on two counts of homicide while engaged in a felony and one count of armed robbery and is being held without bond, records show.

While police didn’t release the names of the victims, family members identified them as brothers Malcolm Frederick, 24, and Jamal Frederick, 21, according to Sun Sentinel news partner WPEC-Ch. 12. The two were found face down, with firearms under their bodies, in a carport at 229 NW Third Avenue, police said.

Bruny, 26, of Boynton Beach, called 911 during the deadly encounter and a dispatcher heard what sounded like gunfire, according to the police report. Bruny was still on the call as police pulled him over in his vehicle a short distance from the scene.

Bruny told investigators “he sells marijuana and the victims were his clients,” according to the arrest report. He said he was trying to collect $700 for a quarterpound of marijuana that he fronted the brothers about a month ago, the police report said.

Bruny