A man from Amityville, New York was arrested and charged with second-degree murder on Thursday for stabbing his elderly father to death while attending an online Alocholics Anonymous (AA) meeting via Zoom.
Thomas Scully-Powers,32, confessed later the same day to stabbing his father Dwight Powers,72, claiming his father instigated the fight and attempted to cut his wrist. Police described a "nick" on his wrist.
During the confession, Powers said he used three different knives in the act because they kept bending. "He wouldn’t die, he kept breathing, so I had to keep stabbing him,” he said.
Members of the chat called 911, but police say it took them about 10-15 minutes to figure out his name and address due to the anonymous nature of the group's meetings.This is Thomas Scully-Powers - the man who police say stabbed his father to death with several different knives during a Zoom meeting pic.twitter.com/Mcx2R09RrL
— Kristin Thorne (@KristinThorne) May 22, 2020
The video participants said they could hear the assault, including the father‘s moans, though he had fallen out of sight behind a counter, the prosecutor said.
“A bald, naked man went into this room, ripped bed sheets off the bed, placed them on the ground as if he was covering something up, and then he covers up the camera so nobody sees him,” said one of the meeting participants, who asked to remain anonymous.
When police arrived at Powers' door, he answered, but quickly slammed the door on them. He jumped out of his second-story window and began fleeing on foot.
Police caught up with Powers after about a mile, arresting him while he attempted to wash the blood from his clothes using bottles of Dr. Pepper he took from a nearby deli.
While executing a search warrant, Police found the father’s body wrapped in a blanket on the floor, a blood-covered bedsheet in a trash bag, and a mop and bucket in a bathroom.
“This is a shocking and disturbing case,” Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini said in a statement. “By the defendant’s own admissions, he brutally stabbed his own father repeatedly until he was certain he was dead. The investigation into this horrific murder is still ongoing, but rest assured we will obtain justice for the victim.”
. The son previously was charged with criminal mischief in the third degree for shooting at a pizzeria and then violated the terms of his probation, the prosecutor said.
He also was charged with reckless endangerment in the third degree for allegedly shooting a BB gun, a matter still pending, the prosecutor said.