John Jefferson
Insets: Suspects Charles Fulforth and Kelvin Roberts (Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office). Background: Bernadette Gaudio and her son Andrew Gaudio (GoFundMe).
Two men have been arrested in Pennsylvania for a home invasion mix-up that left a 25-year-old man shot to death and his 61-year-old mother paralyzed, with police and prosecutors accusing the suspects of being gun traffickers who targeted the wrong house after getting a tip about a weapons stash from a junk remover.
Kelvin Roberts, 42, and Charles Fulforth, 41, both allegedly work at a junk removal business known as Junkluggers, based in Willow Grove, and were told of a house in the area where “two old people” lived with “a whole lot of guns,” according to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, which filed a criminal complaint against Roberts this week after charging Fulforth on Dec. 12, according to Philadelphia NBC affiliate WCAU.
Both Fulforth and Roberts are charged with first-degree murder, robbery, burglary and other offenses related to the home invasion and shooting of Bernadette Gaudio and the death of her son, Andrew Gaudio.
“The motive in this case was to steal guns and they simply got the wrong house,” said Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele at a press conference Tuesday.
“They went into the wrong house with bad intentions and shot an innocent 61-year-old woman as she lay in her bed and they executed her 25-year-old son,” Steele told reporters. “And I say executed because Andrew was shot in the back of the head as he lay down on the floor of his mother’s bedroom and he was facedown when that shot to the back of the head came.”
The home invasion happened on Dec. 8 at the Gaudios home in Lower Merion Township, according to prosecutors, with Fulforth — Roberts’ boss — allegedly joining in on the attack after they were told of the weapons stash by a fellow Junkluggers employee.
“On Dec. 14, 2024, detectives searched business records of Junkluggers that found there was an estimate for junk removal job done in Bucks County,” the DA’s office said in a Tuesday press release. “During the estimate, there were several photos taken including a large gun safe. Phone records between Roberts and Fulforth show them discussing a house ‘with a whole lot of guns.’”
Prosecutors allege Roberts and Fulforth wound up going to the wrong house, with the owners of the actual residence confirming with cops that they had used the service of Junkluggers recently and owned “numerous” guns.
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“During a conversation with the owners of the Bucks County residence, they confirmed meeting with Junklugger employees and indicated they owned a large safe in their basement with numerous firearm boxes,” the DA’s office said.
Cellphone records obtained by cops through search warrants show that the day before the invasion, Fulforth told Roberts in a text message, “I got some info on this house yesterday. It was an estimate … two old people with a whole lot of guns,” according to WCAU. A message that Roberts sent in reply allegedly read, “I’m trying to slide to Jamaica ASAP whatever u send me I’m gone. I need as much $ as I can get the type my crib off FBI all that s— bro. Trying to book me 4va body s— crazy.”
Searches of their cellphones and internet data also showed that the two men entered the Gaudio’s address into Apple Maps while looking for the intended residence, according to prosecutors, despite the home they were actually targeting being in an entirely different county.
“The estimate was done in Bucks County and they went to Meredith Road in Lower Merion,” DA Steele said at Tuesday’s presser. “So, it was simply the wrong house.”
Fulforth allegedly took photos while he and Roberts were inside the home after the shooting occurred, according to prosecutors, including one from Fulforth’s phone that shows Andrew Gaudio lying face down on the floor.
Footage from traffic cameras and surveillance videos was used to link the two men to the home, with their cars and license plates being captured on film, prosecutors said. One of them was allegedly caught on video driving Bernadette Gaudio’s Jeep Cherokee. Roberts was later captured in the area on camera speaking to someone who was driving the Jeep shortly after the home invasion.
Authorities took Fulforth into custody last Thursday and found two bags of tools inside his home, gun parts, ammunition, a loaded 9 mm ghost gun with a Taurus slide, two sets of silencers, a black balaclava mask, a 3D printer used to manufacture ghost guns and the key to Bernadette Gaudio’s Jeep, according to prosecutors.
“This is clearly individuals that are involved in gun trafficking,” Steele told reporters. “There are gun charges in this case. There is a 3D printer. There were indications of a ghost gun that was used in this case or privately made firearm, and we believe there are others. We believe there may be others. Lot more of these guns out there and so we need to know if anybody has these guns and we need to get them off the streets.”
Family for the Gaudios made a GoFundMe page for Bernadette as she dealt with the death of her son. It describes Bernadette Gaudio as a loving mother who “lost her husband 15 years ago and is now facing the loss of her youngest son and a life of possible paralysis.”
“On Sunday, December 8, 2024, during a home invasion Bernadette was shot multiple times and paralyzed, and Andrew was murdered,” the page says. “A young man of 25 whose life was just beginning — gone. … This family has faced too many tragedies.”
Prosecutors have not said who they believe is responsible for pulling the trigger and shooting the Gaudios. Both Fulforth and Roberts are being held without bond at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility.
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