Robert Murray

Then Det. Carlo Sciandra found it: a handgun and three loaded magazines resting on top of the valve flap.

That’s what Sciandra explained in the report detaling Murray’s arrest on Tuesday.

The week before, deputies responded to the 3700 block of Adriatic Lane in Jensen Beach, where a man reported more than $10,000 in jewelry and a semi-automated handgun stolen from his home.

The man told deputies that Robert J. Murray Jr. was at the home before the burglary alarm went off and the items were discovered missing at about 12:30 p.m. on Dec. 18, according to a sheriff’s report.

Deputies later learned that Murray was staying at a Holiday Inn, where they headed for an interview.

During the questioning, an investigator asked to use the restroom, the report states. But when Sciandra couldn’t flush the toilet, he lifted the tank cover to see if he could fix the problem.

Then he found the stolen handgun, he said.

Murray later admitted to stealing from the Jensen Beach man, deputies said. He is being held at the Martin County jail on $25,000 bail and faces felony charges of grand theft and theft of a firearm.

Tags: Carlo Sciandra, stolen gun, tank, toilet

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008 at 4:45 pm and is filed under Crime, Martin County, Weird News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.