Advertisement

Eight years after murder, St. Petersburg police arrest suspect

 
Peter Michael Neville, 35, faces a first-degree murder charge in the slaying of 83-year-old Lawrence Ricker on March 28, 2006. [TONY MARRERO | Times]
Peter Michael Neville, 35, faces a first-degree murder charge in the slaying of 83-year-old Lawrence Ricker on March 28, 2006. [TONY MARRERO | Times]
Published Dec. 6, 2014

ST. PETERSBURG — Lauren Connor heard the detective on the other end of the phone line and knew she was about to get good news.

For eight years, Connor has waited for an arrest in her father's murder. On Friday, as she sat at her desk at a mortgage company in Largo, she figured an unsolicited call from a detective in the middle of the day could only mean one thing.

She was right. St. Petersburg Police had arrested 35-year-old Peter Michael Neville and charged him with first-degree murder in the slaying of Lawrence Ricker, an affable retired psychologist and University of South Florida professor who was found in the charred remains of his St. Petersburg home on March 30, 2006.

Conner hung up the phone and looked heavenward.

"We got him, Daddy," she said. "We got him."

The arrest came as a result of advanced DNA technology, diligence and a healthy bit of luck, Major Mike Kovacsev said during a news conference Friday.

Neville had not been a suspect until recently, after investigators sent evidence collected from Ricker's charred home for DNA "touch" testing. The technology was still developing eight years ago, Kovacsev said.

"The bottom line is just touching an item opens up a whole new doorway for us, and in this case it opened it up ... to the point where we were able to make an arrest," he said.

Investigators say Neville didn't know Ricker but had a family member who lived a few blocks from Ricker's home on 14th Street N, in Allendale. Neville's motive, they said, was burglary, robbery or both, and he set the house ablaze after killing Ricker.

Kovacsev declined to say where the DNA was found, citing an active investigation. Neville's DNA sample had been collected and filed in the state database after he was sentenced to prison in December 2006, nine months after Ricker's murder. He served five years for aggravated stalking, assault with a weapon and possessing a firearm, and was released in 2012, records show.

Neville has been arrested several more times since, including last month, when he was charged with retail theft and served about 20 days in jail. He was released about a week ago and arrested Friday at the Safe Harbor shelter next to the jail, Kovacsev said. He was being held without bail in the Pinellas County Jail.

"He didn't make a statement but I believe he was surprised," he said. "I don't think he planned on going to jail, especially for a murder."

A father of three, Lawrence Ricker retired from teaching at 65 and from private practice as a licensed psychologist about five years later, Connor told reporters. "He loved to help people," she said.

Faye, his wife of 54 years, died in 2002 after a yearslong struggle with Alzheimer's. Ricker survived a bout with prostate cancer and was enjoying retirement. He drove a 1978 Toyota Corolla, refused to buy a computer and sent handwritten letters to family members. He enjoyed crossword puzzles and dined out often, making restaurant staff laugh with funny stories.

Keep up with Tampa Bay’s top headlines

Subscribe to our free DayStarter newsletter

We’ll deliver the latest news and information you need to know every morning.

You’re all signed up!

Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Explore all your options

About 11:30 on the night of March 28, Ricker's next door neighbor called Connor and said her father's house was on fire. Conner and her husband Tim sped the three miles from their home in Shore Acres and watched the house burn.

"The fire department guys kept coming out with their bells ringing on their tanks because they were staying in so long, but they couldn't find him," she recalled.

Ricker's remains were found two days later on a couch covered by a portion of the roof that had collapsed. The medical examiner determined he'd been killed before the fire; investigators have not released the exact cause of death.

Over the years, the phone numbers of detectives who worked the case collected in Connor's cell phone. She began to doubt that someone would ever be arrested.

Her voice broke as she vowed to attend Neville's court dates.

"If it's true, if he's the one, then the sooner it's done, the better off we'll all be," she said.

Times staff writer Zachary T. Sampson and news researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. Contact Tony Marrero at (727) 893-8779 or tmarrero@tampabay.com. Follow @tmarrerotimes.