From the outset, police believed the home invasion in Brooklyn that resulted in the death of a 91-year-old man, was an inside job — a plot hatched by someone who knew the victims — someone they trusted — someone who betrayed that trust and is now charged with murder.
More details have emerged about 45-year-old Suzette Troutman, who for two years shopped and kept house for the elderly couple.
Now police say she was looking to benefit her own well-being by hatching the plot to rob 91-year-old Waldiman Thompson and his 100-year-old wife, Ethline.
According to police, Troutman sat in a getaway car with a 3-year-old child in front of the couples Decatur Street home while her nephew and another man tied them up while they rummaged through their brownstone looking for large sums of money they reportedly kept there.
Mrs. Thompson broke from her bond and called police while the heartless thieves made off with a lockbox containing $5,000. Her husband, still tied to a chair, slumped over and succumbed to a heart attack.
Within days, police arrested Troutman’s 27-year-old nephew, Dwayne Blackwood, who was charged with murder, assault and burglary.
A third person, seen in a surveillance photo carrying a lock box with the loot, is still being sought by police.
Police claim to have video of Troutman dropping off her nephew and another man near the Thompson home, and later picking them up and driving to her nephew’s home where they’re seen splitting the loot. Cellphone records reportedly place Blackwood at the scene of the crime.
Authorities say they have evidence that Troutman orchestrated the diabolical scheme. She has been charged with murder, assault and burglary.
Neither the lock box nor the cash that was stolen have been recovered.
Waldiman Thompson was remembered at his funeral last week as a kind , loving man who was well liked by his neighbors.
Suzette Troutman has been charged with murder, assault and burglary. Her lawyer professes her innocence. “None of its true,” he declares, insisting, “the NYPD makes stuff up.”
A $10,000 reward is being offered for the arrest and conviction of the third suspect still being sought. As for Thompson’s widow, she says despite what happened, she has forgiveness in her heart for the heartless thieves responsible for her husbands death.
