FBI captures armored car suspect Konias in Florida

Authorities predicted Ken Konias Jr. would brag about the money. They hoped publicity from an eight-week national manhunt would produce a tip about his whereabouts.

Both things led FBI agents early Tuesday to kick in the door at a nondescript boarding house in Florida, where they found the fugitive security guard accused of killing his co-worker and making off with $2.3 million from an armored car heist in Pittsburgh.

"Now we go backward. Where was he, where did he stay? Who did he talk to? These are all things we are trying to find out. We have a lot of questions," Michael Rodriguez, special agent in charge of the FBI's Pittsburgh office, said when announcing the arrest in Pompano Beach, Fla.

"Speculation is someone along the way he talked to Googled his name, because they obviously knew to call Pittsburgh police," Rodriguez said. He declined to identify the tipster, who called police at 9 p.m. Monday.

U.S. Attorney David Hickton said it's too soon to say whether anyone will get the $100,000 reward that Konias' former employer, Garda Cash Logistics, offered for information leading to his capture and conviction.

Police found $1.3 million of the missing money in the house where they arrested Konias and at a storage facility, Rodriguez said. They also found two guns, including a Garda-issued pistol that is believed to be the murder weapon.

The search for the Dravosburg man began Feb. 28, when police found Michael Haines, 31, of East McKeesport shot in the head in the back of a Garda truck in the Strip District. Police said the two men made several cash pickups and deliveries that day, including a stop at Rivers Casino on the North Shore.

"I can't talk right now," Konias' father, Kenneth Konias Sr., said Monday. He referred comment to his attorney, Charles LoPresti.

"The parents are both relieved and anxious," said LoPresti, who gave officers his phone number to pass along to Ken Konias. "They're relieved that their son is safe and everyone else is safe. They're anxious to have an opportunity to speak with their son."

The Tribune-Review could not reach Haines' family.

"They're happy this matter will be brought before the courts and justice can be done," said John Bacharach, their attorney.

Konias waived his right to a hearing in a Fort Lauderdale courtroom, and U.S. marshals will bring him to Pittsburgh from Broward County Jail, where he was awaiting transport.

Investigators said Konias befriended people in Florida, including a woman he told about the crime. It is not clear whether she contacted police, or whether a segment that aired last month on "America's Most Wanted" helped lead to his capture.

Authorities received tips from across the country but this was the first from that area. They're trying to determine whether anyone helped him and should face charges, Rodriguez said. Investigators don't know how long Konias was in Florida, or what connection he had to the home where they found him. He has no family in Florida, Rodriguez said.

Investigators believe Konias drove there, but they haven't found his Ford Explorer. They don't know how he spent the missing money, or whether Konias spent time in gay or bisexual communities, as authorities theorized before his capture.

Rodriguez said Konias bragged about the crime. That didn't surprise Andrew Scott, a police consultant and former police chief in nearby Boca Raton who monitored the case.

"He just didn't seem to be that bright, relative to keeping his mouth shut," Scott said.

Konias wouldn't stand out in Pompano Beach, Scott said. "We have a town of tourists, and the bottom line is that he probably mixed in very well."

Before the heist, Konias lived with his parents, Kenneth and Renee, who told police they found about $250,000 under a car in their driveway shortly after the crime. Police said they found $24,000 at the grave of Ken Konias' great-grandmother at St. Mary Magdalene Cemetery in Munhall.

The Koniases made a public plea for their son to surrender during a March 21 appearance at LoPresti's office.

Garda, which has a headquarters a few miles from Pompano Beach, extended "sincere appreciation to law enforcement and all involved in the investigative process leading to the arrest of the suspect," spokesman Joe Gavaghan said. He declined to answer questions. "We are continuing to provide our full cooperation."

Police and Garda employees discovered Haines' body in the cargo area of the truck while it idled on 31st Street. Konias admitted the killing in a phone call to a friend, whom he asked to go with him and questioned about extradition laws, police said.

Pittsburgh police charged Konias with homicide, robbery and theft. Federal authorities charged him with robbery and a gun violation under the Hobbs Act, which prohibits robbery or extortion affecting interstate commerce.

Hickton and Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. said they will decide how to prosecute Konias once he returns.

"We will proceed in a manner which keeps the best interests of the victim's family in mind," Hickton said. "His capture is a great development."