A Florida man has been arrested in the death of his grandfather, one month after he was filmed giving a glowing eulogy at the man’s funeral, according to Law & Crime.
Joshua Nareau, 23, gave the eulogy for his grandfather James Khoury, 71, on Jan. 7.
“Jim, I called him Grampy, by blood he was my grandfather, as a person he was my father. He helped raise me. He made me the person I am today,” Nareau said to the crowd at a North Port, Florida, church.
North Port is southeast of Sarasota, Florida.
“You are all here because you knew and loved my grandfather and I thank you so much for that,” he said. “My goal in life is to be as good as this man was. He helped everyone in this room in some way and I know that.”
Police considered Nareau a suspect in Khoury’s Dec. 28 death, even on the day he gave the eulogy, according to a press release from the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Department.
Nareau was arrested on Feb. 15 on charges of second-degree murder.
Law & Crime obtained a probable cause statement that links Nareau to the crime via forensic testing from his rifle and the scene of Khoury’s death.
“I am glad to finally be able to bring an update to you on this terrible incident. As you can see, even though we were not able to share much with you, my detectives and forensics team did a great job and we had a direction for the investigation and ultimately got the person responsible,” Sheriff Bill Prummell wrote.
“This does not make it any easier for the family of the victim, who now have even more grief to cope with, but I hope it brings peace of mind to the community once more. Please pray for Mr. Khoury’s family as they navigate this unthinkable situation,” Prummell continued.
According to the Port Charlotte Sun, the 71-year-old had been shot through the chest and had a weapon of his own strapped to his hip.
The probable cause statement obtained by Law & Crime said Lynda Khoury, the victim’s wife, heard a gunshot and saw him fall to the ground after she kissed her husband and walked him out the door.
Detectives found Nareau sitting in the grass near the crime scene. He told detectives that he’d been sleeping when his grandmother called and told him his grandfather had been shot, so he ran over to the property as soon as he got dressed.
A review of Nareau’s phone records by investigators painted a different picture. According to the records, Nareau walked to his grandparents’ home from his own and also walked around his grandparent’s house at the time of the shooting.
A projectile was found in a pine tree near the Khoury’s home. An analysis of the projectile showed it belonged to a “Savage” bolt action rifle, which detectives said Nareau owns.
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