Florida Seniors Shocked at Jewish Couple Murder
Residents of a gated senior community in Broward County are stunned at the senseless murder of a retired Toronto snowbird couple who married four years ago.
The Toronto Star reported that David Pichosky, 71, and his 66-year-old wife Rochelle Wise, an Orthodox Jewish couple, were found dead at their winter home north of Miami. Yeruchum Kopelman of Miami’s chevrah kaddish told Hamodia that the bodies were released by the medical examiner’s office yesterday for a levayah at their shul in Toronto today.
Like thousands of his fellow Canadians, Mr. Pichosky, an accountant, has been going to Florida for the winter for more than 20 years. He purchased a two-story condo in the 1980s, and continued the tradition following his wife’s death in 2006, and his subsequent remarriage to Ms. Wise in 2008.
Concern grew on Thursday, when neighbors noticed that the daily newspaper sat untouched on their doorstep, the couple did not show up for lunch with friends and the phone rang unanswered. A concerned family member asked a neighbor with a spare key to check up on them.
At about 6:20 p.m., the neighbor opened the door and found their bodies. Local police have deemed their deaths a double homicide.
Jeanne Beker, a columnist for the Star whose daughters attended Crestwood Valley Day Camp, where Ms. Wise was director, said that Ms. Wise was “good vibes, personified.”
“She touched the lives of so many families, and really provided such a supportive, loving, happy place for kids,” Beker said. “She seemed to always look on the sunny side, and just had such a zest for life.”
Captain Sonia Quinones, of the Hallandale Beach Police Department, said the cause of death and the motive is under investigation.
“I’m very afraid,” said France Chouinard, a Canadian who was a neighbor of the couple in Florida during the winter months. She said that the murders have shocked the senior community, who were instructed not to leave their homes.
The couple, who lived in Toronto’s Jewish area, davened at the Shaarei Shamayim shul. The levayah is scheduled to take place there today.
This article appeared in print on page 1 of edition of Hamodia.
To Read The Full Story
Are you already a subscriber?
Click "Sign In" to log in!
Become a Web Subscriber
Click “Subscribe” below to begin the process of becoming a new subscriber.
Become a Print + Web Subscriber
Click “Subscribe” below to begin the process of becoming a new subscriber.
Renew Print + Web Subscription
Click “Renew Subscription” below to begin the process of renewing your subscription.
