Konias admits slaying

Ken Konias Jr. told investigators that he fatally shot Michael Haines in their Garda Cash Logistics armored car because his co-worker tried to thwart a plan to steal millions of dollars from their employer, a prosecutor said on Wednesday.

Konias "may have said something and Michael Haines drew his weapon while Konias was in the process of the robbery and then kicked the weapon out of his hand," District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. said the day after authorities captured Konias in Florida.

Zappala said some of Konias' statement does not line up with evidence. Police found the body of Haines, 31, of East McKeesport with a gunshot in the back of the head in the rear of the armored car on Feb. 28. The prosecutor does not believe Haines was involved in the $2.3 million robbery.

"I think the reality is that Haines never had a chance," said Zappala, whom investigators briefed on Konias' statement.

"If in fact that is what happened, it would unquestionably be Mike's personality to attempt to stop what was going on," said Ann Haines of Forest Hills, the victim's mother. "Mike had a very strong moral code. He took his job seriously."

Konias, 22, of Dravosburg spent eight weeks on the run before a federal fugitive task force acting on a tip found him hiding in a rundown house in Pompano Beach, Fla. They recovered about $1.3 million of the missing money, some in the home in which Konias was hiding and some in a nearby storage facility, as well as two pistols. One of the guns was Konias' security guard service weapon that police said was used to kill Haines.

Reached at the family's Dravosburg home, his mother, Renee Konias, said she was not aware of any confession and referred comment to the family's attorney, Charles LoPresti.

"I don't really want to say anything until I sit down and talk with him when he gets to Pittsburgh and talk to his parents again," said LoPresti. "If (Zappala) has that information, that's certainly more than I have."

Konias is awaiting his return to Pittsburgh in a federal detention facility in Miami, said U.S. Marshal's Agent Barry Golden.

"This is not the conclusion," Ann Haines said. "There are many days to come. It is a start. It is better than having him out there and not knowing where he is."

Konias was driving the armored vehicle on the day of the killing. Haines' roommate Joe Krsul said the victim told him on the night before that he did not want to work with Konias.

"Nobody wanted to work with him. It's sad because of all the hindsight stuff," said Krsul, 32, of East McKeesport.

Police believe Haines died outside the Home Depot store in Ross. That shows Konias was not thinking clearly from the get-go, said Andrew Scott, a former police chief in Boca Raton, Fla., who provides police consulting.

"Obviously, it wasn't a well-thought-out concept," Scott said. "He didn't have to kill the guy to steal the money."

Pittsburgh police Detectives J.R. Smith and Peg Sherwood were scheduled to fly to Florida last night to interview Konias and anyone who interacted with him, said city police Lt. Daniel Herrmann.

"We have a lot of questions. Did he plan this in advance? Did he try to get his security guard partner to go along with the heist of the armored truck, and when he wouldn't agree, is that when he killed him?" Herrmann said. "He had to have labored, running away with all that money. How did he get to Florida? There are a lot of things we need to find answers to."