Convicted killer of Deerfield Beach couple doesn’t deserve execution, jury says

Rosario “Ross” Melici, the Lake Worth Beach man convicted last month of murdering his ex-wife’s uncle in Deerfield Beach in 2013, will not be executed for the crime.

A Broward jury rejected the death sentence for Melici by a 10-2 vote after deliberating less than two hours late Thursday. Melici had admitted to targeting Philip Russo, 88, and his wife, Barbara, 78, for a robbery, binding them, covering their mouths with painter’s tape and placing a plastic bag over Barbara Russo’s head to keep her from pleading for her husband’s life.

Melici, 69, at one point wanted to act as his own lawyer. Broward Circuit Judge Martin Fein talked him out of that strategy, and defense lawyer Richard Castillo argued that the defendant deserved mercy because of his age, his mental incapacity and his failing health.

Convicted murderer Rosario "Ross" Melici at the defense table during the penalty phase of his murder trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Monday. — Convicted murderer Rosario “Ross” Melici at the defense table during the penalty phase of his murder trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Monday. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

But according to one juror, the main issue blocking the death penalty for the two dissenting jurors was the question of whether Melici is the one who fatally stabbed the couple in their Deerfield Beach condo unit.

Legally, that question should not matter. Though Melici gave statements that pinned the blame on his confessed accomplice, Michael Marotta, under Florida law both are equally guilty of murder regardless of who committed the act.

But Castillo raised it in his closing argument, and it resonated in the jury room.

Marotta will face a separate jury. His trial date has not been set.

Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457. Follow him on Twitter @rolmeda.