STATE OF VERMONT

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY

VERMONT STATE POLICE

 

Arraignment scheduled for suspect in 2019 homicide in Rockingham

 

ROCKINGHAM, Vermont (Friday, Dec. 24, 2021) — The suspect in the 2019 fatal shooting of a 44-year-old Boston man in Rockingham, Vermont, has been extradited to Vermont and is scheduled for arraignment next week.

 

Jozsef Piri, 49, of Naples, Florida, who has been in custody since his arrest Dec. 16, was returned to Vermont on Thursday night by members of the Windham County Sheriff's Department. Piri is jailed without bail pending arraignment, which is set for 1 p.m. Monday, Dec. 27, in the Criminal Division of Vermont Superior Court in Brattleboro.

 

Piri has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the homicide of Roberto Fonseca-Rivera, whose body was found inside the cab of the Katsiroubas Produce truck he had been driving  Nov. 1, 2019, along Vermont Route 103.

 

Members of the media should call the court clerk's office prior to arraignment to confirm details of the hearing.

 

No further information is currently available.

 

 

***Update No. 5, 8:25 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021***

After a lengthy investigation that began more than two years ago, the Vermont State Police has arrested a suspect in connection with the Nov. 1, 2019, fatal shooting of a truck driver in Rockingham.

 

An arrest warrant for second-degree murder was issued Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021, for Jozsef Piri, 49, of Naples, Florida. Deputies with the Collier County Sheriff’s Department assisted Vermont State Police detectives in arresting Piri on Thursday, Dec. 16. The murder charge arises from the shooting death of Roberto Fonseca-Rivera, 44, of Boston, Massachusetts, whose body was found behind the wheel of the Katsiroubas Produce truck he had been driving along Vermont Route 103 in Rockingham. Piri and Fonseca-Rivera did not know each other.

 

Through investigation, the state police learned that Piri was driving a 2018 Toyota Tundra on Vermont Route 103 in close proximity to Fonseca-Rivera’s delivery truck on the day in question. Piri lived in Connecticut at the time and was returning home from a property he owned in Londonderry, Vermont. Detectives reviewed surveillance footage, GPS data, photographs and other information to determine that Piri was driving immediately in front of Fonseca-Rivera just before the shooting occurred.

 

Further details of the allegations are contained in the affidavit of probable cause, which is filed in the Criminal Division of Vermont Superior Court in Brattleboro. The Vermont State Police is unable to provide any additional comment on this case.

 

The Vermont State Police Major Crime Unit worked closely with the Windham County State’s Attorney’s Office throughout this investigation. Also participating in the case were VSP’s Bureau of Criminal Investigations, Crime Scene Search Team, Technology Investigation Unit, and Victim Services Unit; the Vermont Forensic Laboratory; the Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office; the Boston Police Department; the Massachusetts State Police; the Connecticut State Police; the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the FBI.

 

Piri’s arraignment in Vermont is pending his extradition from Florida and has yet to be scheduled.

 

 

***Update No. 4, 2:05 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2019***

As part of the ongoing homicide investigation, the Vermont State Police is are asking for the public’s help in identifying a silver pickup truck that was passing through the area of Vermont Route 103 in Rockingham near the time of the shooting on Friday, Nov. 1, 2019. The occupant(s) may be witnesses to the incident, and police would like to speak to them.

 

The truck is believed to be a 2016 or newer Toyota Tacoma SR5, standard edition, with a tonneau cover and a bug visor. Photographs of the truck are attached to this release.

 

Anyone with information about this vehicle, or who may have any tips regarding the investigation, is asked to call the Vermont State Police barracks in Westminster at 802-722-4600. Tips may also be submitted anonymously online at https://vsp.vermont.gov/tipsubmit.

 

 

***Update No. 3, 6:40 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019***

On Friday, Nov. 8, 2019, the Vermont State Police will conduct a detail to contact motorists at the site of the homicide on Vermont Route 103 in Rockingham. Detectives and troopers will be present from 12:45 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. to talk with motorists about the incident, hand out flyers and attempt to identify potential witnesses to the case. The detail is coinciding with the time and day of the week the incident occurred in hopes of identifying any drivers who make regular trips through the area.

 

Anyone with information about the truck or who may have any tips to pass along about the case is asked to call the Vermont State Police barracks in Westminster at 802-722-4600. Tips may also be submitted anonymously online at https://vsp.vermont.gov/tipsubmit.

 

For members of the media, an investigator will be available to discuss the case and Friday’s detail at the Westminster barracks at 1:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8, 2019.

 

 

***Update No. 2, 12:20 p.m. Monday, Nov. 4, 2019***

The Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office completed the autopsy Sunday on the victim, Roberto Fonseca-Rivera. The cause of death is gunshot wound of the head and neck, and the manner of death is homicide.

 

The investigation remains ongoing and active. State police continue to ask that anyone who saw the delivery truck or has any information about this case call the Westminster barracks at 802-722-4600. In addition, investigators ask that any businesses, residences or vehicles that may have video showing Vermont Route 103 from Rutland at about 12:15 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 1, to Interstate 91 in Rockingham at about 2 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 1, also call the Westminster barracks.

 

No other information is available at this time. 

 

 

***Update No. 1, 1:25 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2, 2019***

Investigation is continuing Saturday, Nov. 2. into the suspicious death of a man in Rockingham. The victim is identified as Roberto Fonseca-Rivera, 44, of Boston, Massachusetts, who appears to have died as the result of gunshot wounds. An autopsy is planned for Sunday, Nov. 3, at the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington to determine the cause and manner of Mr. Fonseca-Rivera’s death.

 

The victim was employed by Katsiroubas Produce of Hyde Park, Massachusetts, and was in Vermont in a company vehicle making deliveries. His last known location was at about 12:15 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, leaving Rutland and heading southbound on Vermont Route 103. Investigators believe the shooting occurred between 1 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Vermont Route 103 near the location where the victim’s body was discovered Friday evening in his vehicle. Preliminary investigation indicates this was an isolated incident. Katsiroubas Produce is cooperating with the Vermont State Police in the ongoing investigation.

 

The Vermont State Police would like to speak to anyone who saw the Katsiroubas Produce truck on Vermont Route 103 on Friday afternoon, including anyone who may have observed anything suspicious with the truck or with any other vehicles operating near the truck. A photograph of the truck is attached to this release. People with any potential information are asked to call the state police barracks in Westminster at 802-722-4600.

 

Further updates will be provided when additional information is available.

 

 

***Initial news release, 10:40 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, 2019***

The Vermont State Police is investigating an untimely death in the town of Rockingham.

 

Police responded at about 5:45 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, 2019, to a call for a welfare check on the male driver of a box truck on Rockingham Road, also known as Vermont Route 103, in the town of Rockingham. Responding troopers located the truck pulled over to the side of the southbound lane between Lower Bartonsville and Williams roads. The operator was found deceased. Initial investigation indicates the circumstances surrounding the death are suspicious.

 

The Vermont State Police response to the scene includes members of the Major Crime Unit, Bureau of Criminal Investigations, Crime Scene Search Team, and Field Force Division. The southbound lane of Vermont 103 will remain closed as the investigation continues. Drivers are urged to use caution and take alternate routes if possible.

 

Police ask that anyone with information about this incident call the Westminster Barracks at 802-722-4600. Tips may also be submitted anonymously online at https://vsp.vermont.gov/tipsubmit.

 

No further details are available at this time. Updates will be issued when new information is available.

 

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