DNA, phone records link Philly man with unsolved 2013 Hilltown murder. How he was caught.
A Philadelphia man is accused of breaking into a Hilltown Township home, tying up three people, stealing jewlery, guns and money before killing a man and raping his girlfriend then fleeing in a stolen truck — a 2013 crime that baffled investigators for a decade.
Thomas Delgado, 50, faces 28 felony charges including homicide and kidnapping and related misdemeanors in the murder of Joseph Canazaro, a 48-year-old father of two and rape for the assault on the victim’s girlfriend. He was arraigned Wednesday and taken to Bucks County Correctional Center without bail. He had no legal representative listed on the docket as of Thursday.
Authorities believe that Canazaro was targeted and phone records appear to connect the victim and defendant two years before the fatal home invasion, according to a probable cause affidavit.
DNA tested years after the crimes appears to have led to the arrest.
Delgado was one of two masked men who allegedly broke into the Swartley Road home, shortly after 6 a.m. on Jan. 18, 2013 entering the home through a first floor window in a master bedroom, police said. The men allegedly were armed with handguns and bound Canazaro and his girlfriend with zip ties, the affidavidt said.
After his 12-year-old son entered the bedroom one of the men put a knife to his throat and bound him with zip ties as well.
The men then led Canazaro around the bedroom to retrieve valuables and money. Among the stolen items were a Rolex watch, firearms, casino chips, identity documents and cell phones, police said.
Shortly after the girlfriend believed the men left, she freed herself, then the boy and went looking for Canazaro but could not find him. Police found him later in the garage dead, face down with his hands still bound. An autopsy determined he died of multiple stab wounds.
When the girlfriend could not find Canazaro, she attempted to call 911, but the cordless phone died. She then got the boy, the family's dog and they went outside to her vehicle to get help. In the driveway the girlfriend noticed that Canazaro's 2006 black pickup was missing.
The truck was later found abandoned behind a restaurant in a Quakertown shopping center, authorities said. Police obtained surveillance video from the shopping center which showed shortly before 10 a.m. the day of the home invasion murder the stolen pickup parked behind the restaurant. Almost immediately a red Nissan sedan pulled up next to it.
Authorities allege video showed two men retreiving items from the bed of the stolen pickup truck and loading them into the Nissan. Both men then got into the Nissan and drove off, the affidavidt said.
A decade later, the second home invasion suspect has not been apprehended.
While Hilltown detective continued to work the case, a big break came in 2019 when detectives took another look at the stolen pickup truck looking for evidence and found items the girlfriend described the suspects as wearing during the home invasion, according to court documents.
The items were sent to the FBI Laboratory in Quantico VA for DNA analysis, which later came back indicating a possible match with a Thomas Delgado in Philadelphia. A description of her alleged rapist also matched the physical characteristics of Delgado, police said.
The girlfriend told authorities that she did not know Delgado and she did not know the man who raped her.
When authorities analyzed phone records they found Canazaro received multiple calls from a phone number associated with Delgado in 2011, according to the affidavidt. Additional phone records showed Canazaro received dozens of calls in 2011 to a phone number associated with a woman who lived with Delgado.
In the years before his murder, Canazaro had incurred millions in debt, including money owed to various casinos. He claimed bankruptcy on $10 million in debt and later settled two federal lawsuits involving passing bad checks.
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This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Suspect in 2013 Hilltown home invasion murder of Joe Canazaro arrested
