It wasn’t difficult for police to identify Michael Robert Schnitzerling as a suspect in the September 2019 shooting death of Bruno Salituri in Fort Lauderdale.
The killer dropped Schnitzerling’s .22-caliber handgun in Salituri’s kitchen, a silencer still attached. He also wore an orange shirt with the logo for a company called “Florida Drilling,” where Schnitzerling worked.
Obviously, he was the killer, prosecutor Courtney DePersio told a jury during opening arguments in Schnitzerling’s trial Monday morning. Schnitzerling, 34, sat quietly and patiently at the defense table as DePersio laid out the case for his guilt: The killer carried his gun, wore his clothes, drove what appeared to be his car. Schnitzerling’s phone records track with the killer’s moves.
Defense lawyer Joseph Kimok said the prosecution’s case was too clear to be credible, and that his client is an innocent man.
Schnitzerling, according to investigators, shot and killed Salituri in one part of Salituri’s Fort Lauderdale house. Then he shot and tried to kill DeWayne Williams, who lived with Salituri, in another part of the house. Williams escaped, allegedly with Schnitzerling chasing him, shooting and missing.
Then, with no one to stop him, Schnitzerling dropped his gun, registered in his name, in the victim’s kitchen, where no one was shot, Kimok said.
“It’s almost as if the shooter wanted law enforcement to find it,” Kimok said, referring to his client as a “perfect fall guy.”
Kimok reinforced his suspicion with the trial’s second witness, SWAT officer Michael Peugh, who described finding the gun after officers entered the victim’s home.
“Just lying there in the middle of the floor?” Kimok asked. “It could not have been more obvious when you walked into that kitchen.”
Testimony in the case is scheduled to continue Tuesday. If Schnitzerling is convicted, the same jury will be asked to determine whether he deserves to be executed for Salituri’s death. He’s also charged with the attempted murder of Williams.
Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457. Follow him on Threads.net/@rafael.olmeda.