The Florida father accused of running off with his autistic son after killing his ex-girlfriend and her family shot and bludgeoned his victims to death — and then buried them with a shovel he bought with one of their debit cards, police say.
Pasco County officials charged Adam Matos with four counts of first-degree murder Monday, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
Police discovered the bodies rotting earlier this month near the Hudson home where Matos lived with his 27-year-old ex-girlfriend and her parents — three of his four alleged victims.
Megan Brown died from a gunshot wound to the head, according to police documents. Her dad, 52-year-old Gregory Brown, had also been shot. Her mother, 51-year-old Margaret Brown, was found with severe trauma to the head and a plastic bag over her face. And Megan Brown’s new boyfriend, 37-year old Nicholas Leonard, was bludgeoned to death.
Between the killings and his arrest, Matos cared for his autistic son, Ismael (Tristan) Santisteban while covering up his crimes, police said. According to court documents, he told neighbors the family was on vacation and used Margaret Brown’s debit card to buy pizza for the 4-year-old and a shovel for the burials.
Matos, 28, has been in police custody since Sept. 5, when a SWAT team cornered him in a downtown Tampa hotel. His autistic son was with him, unharmed.
The arrest ended a frantic 12-hour Amber Alert search for the boy. Police began hunting for the father-son duo on Sept. 4 when they found the four bodies and no trace of Matos and Tristan.
Police believe Matos killed the four on Aug. 28 and then lived at the home with the bodies next door for a week, the Tampa Tribune reported.
That day, Megan Brown called police during an alleged domestic altercation with Matos, but the 28-year-old fled before police arrived. Later that afternoon, neighbors spotted Matos back at the house, sweaty and out of breath, police records show.
Matos had lived in the home with the Browns since July, when he moved with them from Pennsylvania to Florida — and stayed even after Megan Brown broke up with him. Days later, when the Browns’ next-door neighbors, Ryan McCann, asked where Megan and her parents were, Matos told him the three had taken a trip to West Virginia.
Meanwhile, Matos sold six of the family’s dogs through Craigslist.com listings, earning $50 for each pup the family had bred. He used Margret Brown’s debit card to buy a shovel from Walmart — which he likely used to bury his victim’s bodies near the house, police said. He also used the card to order Papa John’s.
Police visited the house on Sept. 4 after a worried friend couldn’t get in touch with any of the Browns. When officers saw birds circling the air, they discovered the maggot-covered, decomposing bodies.
Matos and Tristan checked into the Floridan Palace Hotel early on Sept. 5 with plans to take a bus to the Florida Keys later that day. Police arrested Matos before he ever made it to the bus station.
Matos was originally held on $200,000 bail for the Aug, 28 domestic attack on Megan Brown. For the new murder charges, he’s being held without bond.
