Jupiter triple-homicide victims were likely shot in backyard

Police search warrant sheds light on fatal Super Bowl party.

JUPITER — The three people slain Feb. 5 at a Jupiter home likely were shot in the home’s backyard, where a party had been taking place during the Super Bowl, a town police search warrant made public this week indicates.

Investigators retrieved seven bullet fragments — including ones from a palm frond, by a fire pit and elsewhere on the ground in the yard — while searching the Mohawk Street home where Kelli J. Doherty, 20, of Tequesta, Sean P. Henry, 25, of Jupiter and Brandi El-Salhy, 24, a Jupiter native who lived in Gainesville, were found shot to death. No one has been arrested as of Thursday evening.

A fourth person wounded in the attack remains hospitalized, Jupiter police spokeswoman Kristin Rightler said Thursday. Investigators have spoken to that person, whom they have declined to identify. Rightler said she could not confirm the extent of those conversations.

When asked Thursday about the bullets found in the backyard, Jupiter Police Chief Frank Kitzerow declined comment.

The bodies of the victims were found amid Shock Top and Bud Light beer bottles in the yard, which has a pool as well as the fire pit and backs up to a canal, the warrant said. Fragments of a bottle was found under one of the bodies.

The warrant also raises doubts about whether robbery was a motive for the slayings, Jupiter’s worst mass shooting since November 2009.

All the victims were wearing jewelry when their bodies were found. Investigators also seized several personal items belonging to them, including a wallet and $128 cash that belonged to Henry, El-Salhy’s wallet and keys, and Doherty’s purse. Keep up with The Post’s complete coverage of Jupiter on its Facebook page dedicated to the town. On Facebook, search for Post on Jupiter.

Six firearms, three air rifles, cellphones and an iPad also were found in the home. The firearms included rifles, shotguns and handguns, as well as multiple rounds of ammunition. In the days after the shootings, agents and trace-sniffing dogs from the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives took part in the search for evidence.

The home was being rented by Charles Vorpagel, 27, who was arrested Feb. 9 and is being held on federal drug and weapons charges. A judge last week declined to set bail for Vorpagel after declaring him to be a flight risk.

Vorpagel has told authorities he