Man accused of killing his own mother after body found in Miami Beach dumpster, police say
A man is accused of murdering his mother after her body was found nearly decapitated and mangled in a dumpster outside a Miami Beach apartment complex, police said.
On Sunday, Miami Beach Police announced the arrest of 40-year-old Anthony Caruso for the alleged murder of his mother, Elizabeth Caruso, at his South Beach apartment the day before. He was booked in jail on a second-degree murder charge.
A welfare check leads to a gruesome discovery
Just after 9:20 p.m. Saturday, Miami Beach Police responded to a welfare check at an apartment building on 800 Washington Avenue.
According to the arrest documents, officers were dispatched to the apartment to check on Elizabeth Caruso, who had arrived in Miami Beach from New Jersey midday Saturday to check in with her son, Anthony, who police said had a history of mental illness. The caller, identified as Elizabeth Caruso's son-in-law, was concerned because he had not heard from her for over six hours.
Upon arrival, officers said they found blood on the apartment's front door and blood smeared on the hallway floor from the door to the trash room directly across from it. When officers opened the door to the trash room, they saw more blood on the walls and floor surrounding the trash chute. They then went down to the first floor and found a locked room where the bottom of the chute was located. Miami Beach Fire Rescue then responded to the scene and helped breach the lock, and they entered the trash room where the dumpster was located. Once inside, officers found a dead woman – later revealed to be Elizabeth Caruso – inside the dumpster, according to the arrest documents.
The officers then tried to make contact at the apartment again, but no one came to the door. At this time, Miami Beach Police's SWAT and Hostage Negotiation Teams were deployed to the apartment building, and a search warrant was obtained.
Witnesses describe the eight-hour standoff
A man who works in the area provided cellphone video of the scene to CBS News Miami, where he said there was initially a large police presence outside of the apartment complex and that the street was blocked off.
Another man told CBS News Miami that he watched flash bangs erupt inside one of the apartments on the seventh floor, where video showed one of the units illuminating with an orange light.
"The investigation revealed there was a trail of blood coming from that apartment to the trash chute and subsequently down the trash chute, inside of the waste container," Miami Beach Police public information officer Christopher Bess said. "We do have a subject in custody at this time, which we can confirm, we believe to be the son."
Upon serving the warrant, SWAT officers commanded Anthony Caruso several times to surrender to no avail, and tried using several tactics to get him to comply. However, they were unsuccessful.
According to the arrest documents, SWAT officers then had to use a taser and a police K9 to apprehend Anthony Caruso, where the K9 grabbed him and injured his right arm. SWAT officers were then able to get Anthony Caruso to comply and took him into custody. Miami Beach Fire Rescue then took him to Mount Sinai Hospital for treatment. Once he was medically cleared, he was then taken to the Miami Beach Police Department for questioning. The arrest documents said Anthony Caruso invoked his rights but did not provide a statement.
Police told CBS News Miami that they had an eight-hour standoff with the suspect and took him into custody around 5 a.m. Sunday.
The medical examiner's inspection
Vanessa Lopez, a resident of the building, told CBS News Miami that the building was on lockdown due to the ongoing criminal investigation.
"They were asking for ID to come back inside — we couldn't come back unless they let us know," she said. "Apparently, it's a domestic fight, and they killed a woman, and she was in the dumpster."
The medical examiner was notified of the investigation, and the dumpster containing Elizabeth Caruso's body was taken to the medical examiner's office, where detectives, crime scene technicians, and the medical examiner inspected her body. According to the arrest documents, Elizabeth Caruso's neck was severely injured "nearly to the point of decapitation" and sustained several bone fractures in her arms, hands, face and head.
Anthony Caruso was then taken to Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center for processing and was charged accordingly.
