Charges dismissed against murder suspect in 2013 Hilltown fatal home invasion. Here's why
Earlier this year the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office announced an arrest in a home invasion robbery, murder and rape in Hilltown, a cold case that baffled investigators for a decade.
Eight months later the case is back on the unsolved list.
Following a three hour hearing Monday, all charges were dismissed against Thomas Delgado, the Philadelphia man accused of participating in the violent home invasion that left 48-year-old businessman Joseph Canazaro dead.
District Judge Regina Armitage dismissed all but two of the 34 charges against the 50-year-old Delgado including homicide, kidnapping, and related offenses in the Jan. 18, 2013 crime, which went before a Bucks County Grand Jury, which recommended charges.
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In her decision, Armitage said prosecutors did not present enough evidence to prove that Delgado, who did odd jobs for Canazaro at his home, was physically there during the crime.
”We do have some missing pieces here,” she said. “Serious missing pieces.”
The district judge held Delgado for trial on charges of receiving stolen property and conspiracy related to the theft of Canazaro’s 2006 black Lincoln Mark LT pickup truck, but prosecutor Christopher Rees immediately withdrew those remaining charges, effectively dismissing the case.
Delgado, who maintained his innocence, was immediately released from the Bucks County Correctional Center where he had been held without bail since his January arrest.
His public defenders and family declined comment after the hearing.
Authorities said two armed, masked men — an Asian male and a "possible" Hispanic male — broke into the Swartley Road home through a first-floor window in the master bedroom, shortly after 6 a.m. on Jan. 18, 2013. The second suspect remains unknown.
The men held the family, including Canazaro’s 12-year-old son, hostage for four hours while they ransacked the home, stealing items including cash, guns, casino chips, and jewelry, police said.
Canazaro’s girlfriend alleged she was raped by the man she believed was Hispanic, as he guarded her and the son. The same suspect also allegedly held a knife at the throat of Canazaro's son.
The suspects left the girlfriend and son blindfolded and bound with zip ties in the basement; the girlfriend freed herself and escaped with the son and family dog to a neighbor’s house who called 911.
Police would later discover Canazaro dead in the garage, dressed in only underwear with his hands bound with zip ties. An autopsy determined he died of multiple stab wounds. His missing 2006 Lincoln Mark LT pickup was found abandoned hours later in a Quakertown shopping center.
Surveillance video showed two men retrieving items from the bed of the stolen pickup truck and loading them into the Nissan, the day of the murder. Both men then got into the Nissan and drove off.
The Monday preliminary hearing started with a prosecution bombshell after Rees withdrew the two rape-related charges after preliminary DNA tests excluded Delgado as the suspected rapist.
But the prosecutor argued that DNA from a face mask found inside Canazaro’s stolen pickup truck was a “possible” match with Delgado, who has a history of violent criminal convictions, providing strong evidence connecting him to the crime.
The mask and two pairs of gloves, which the girlfriend said were worn by the suspects, were found in the pickup truck in 2019.
Hilltown Detective Louis Bell, the prosecution's only witness Monday, testified that cell phone records and data extracted from 10 cell phones belonging to Canazaro connected him and Delgado in 2011.
After he was taken into custody, Delgado acknowledged that he did manual labor for Canazaro at his home, Bell said. He also told the detective that he was in jail “when my boss died,” though Bell did not tell him who died.
Records also showed Delgado was not incarcerated the day of the murder, Bell testified.
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Bell also testified that prosecutors are awaiting a final confirmation the DNA on the mask matches a sample taken from Delgado when he was arrested.
Public defenders Caroline Crist and Brandon Ingraham argued prosecutors did not present any evidence that put their client inside the house during the crime.
They pointed to testimony from Bell that DNA taken from a shirt found in the bedroom also did not match Delgado. Authorities believe the suspect wiped himself with the shirt after raping the girlfriend.
The DNA exclusion of Delgado as the rape suspect alone should have been enough to throw out the entire case against him, the public defenders argued.
“The facts of the affidavit have been proven untrue,” Crist said. "We firmly believe Mr. Delgado is innocent of all charges.”
Following the hearing, Rees said he respected Armitage’s decision.
“Clearly we believe the right person was arrested,” he added. “What the DNA on that mask to us proved is that it was this man who committed those crimes.”
Canazaro was a local businessman and co-owner of a popular Ambler tavern, but his other businesses had been sued dozens of times, often for failure to pay on debts, according to media stories.
In 2008, Canazaro filed for bankruptcy to get out from under $10 million in debt including nearly a million dollars owed to casinos in Atlantic City, Las Vegas and Mississippi, authorities said. He also settled two federal lawsuits involving bad checks.
Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Charges dropped against murder suspect in 2013 Hilltown home invasion
