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A long-running family feud in Bradford, Pennsylvania, ended in the death of 42-year-old Melvin Bizzarro on the morning of January 16, 2015. Bizzarro was shot in the chest and killed in the parking lot of Togi’s Family Restaurant, a business he had once co-owned with his estranged wife.
Authorities arrested 62-year-old Stephen Stidd, Bizzarro’s father-in-law, at the scene after Stidd’s wife called 911. Investigators reported finding a bullet with the name MEL carved into it in Stidd’s .38 caliber handgun; Stidd was charged with criminal homicide. The shooting followed years of acrimony between the men, including a 2005 incident in which Bizzarro was convicted of assaulting Stidd at the same restaurant. Stidd’s defense argued he acted in self-defense, saying Bizzarro was trespassing on restaurant property under a marital settlement agreement.
The case went to trial and, after just over 50 minutes of jury deliberation in November 2017, Stephen Stidd was found not guilty of all charges and acquitted in Bizzarro’s death.
Did anyone in Bradford know more about the dispute between these families and the events that led up to that January morning?