Duct tape, cleaning supplies bought with murdered judge's credit card

A suitcase containing maggots and bloody clothing, and records of credit card purchases of duct tape, garbage bags and a mop are among evidence police in Florida have against a former Macomb County district judge's son, who's accused of murdering his father, according to an affidavit released Wednesday.

The remains of James (Skip) Scandirito, 74, were found buried about 4 feet deep at an abandoned Florida golf club last week, near an area where his son was seen by Boca Raton Police entering the golf course earlier the same day.

James A. Scandirito Jr., 49, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his father, a former 41B District Court judge who resigned after a scandal in 2000 and who once served as a Macomb County commissioner. The elder Scandirito’s remains were found April 4 at the former Ocean Breeze Golf Cub, three days after his son reported him missing, Boca Raton Police have said.

The younger Scandirito is being held without bond in Alachua County Jail in Gainesville, Fla., after he was stopped by sheriff’s deputies while driving northbound on I-75 in that county on Monday. He is to be extradited to Palm Beach County, possibly as early as this week.

Police report that before the remains were found, the son was seen entering the golf course with a small bag and leaving with a suitcase, and in a different set of clothing, according to the probable cause affidavit. He also was seen in a wooded area carrying a suitcase and disposing of it in a trash bin.

“The suitcase, along with a smaller suitcase (inside the larger), was retrieved and contained bloody clothing, maggots and the smell of decomposing remains,” according to the affidavit.

Near the site where the father's remains were recovered, a police dive team found a shovel in a small pond about 20 feet from shore.

Macomb County officials who knew the elder Scandirito told the Free Press that he was stabbed. Dr. Michael Bell, Palm Beach County’s chief medical examiner, told the Free Press on Wednesday that he could not release the cause and manner of death or any information related to the death because “it’s still under active police investigation.”

The police affidavit states that the elder Scandirito was last known to be alive about 12:47 p.m. March 28.

Police investigators also looked into cell phone records from March 28-31, which indicated that the elder Scandirito’s cell phone was tracked in the area where his remains were found, as well as his son’s apartment in Ft. Lauderdale, and at his own home in Boca Raton. But the elder Scandirito’s phone was not located on or within the remains, the suitcases, his residence or his vehicle, the affidavit states.

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From this time forward, the affidavit states, the younger Scandirito made “suspicious purchases” using cash and his father’s credit card, including a hand cart, cleaning supplies, duct tape, garbage bags and a mop. Police noted that the elder Scandirito was the sole authorized user of that credit card account.

A search April 3 of the elder Scandirito’s home found the presence of blood drops, including a hand cart that was consistent with one the younger Scandirito previously told police he had purchased, according to the affidavit. It states that the elder Scandirito’s weekly medication container was found on the kitchen counter, and that based upon the medication present, the last medications taken were the morning of March 28.

Since police searched his father’s residence April 3, the younger Scandirito hadn’t tried to contact anyone at Boca Raton Police or family or friends of his father, according to the affidavit. On April 4, he withdrew $1,400 in money from a bank account in his name — the vast majority of money in the account, it states.

The younger Scandirito “left the area, changed his cellular phone number and attached a stolen FL license plate to the same Toyota Prius he was observed utilizing during surveillance. All of this in an attempt to thwart efforts from law enforcement to ascertain his whereabouts,” according to the affidavit.

Police said he also made several attempts to withdraw about $9,500 from a beneficiary account under his father’s name by using forged documents, but was unable to retrieve the money, according to the affidavit.

A review of the elder Scandirito’s finances show he has an approximate financial worth of $800,000, the affidavit states. It also states that the younger Scandirito is the sole beneficiary of many of these accounts.

The elder Scandirito was known in Macomb County for decades, having served as a county commissioner for several years before becoming district court judge serving Mt. Clemens and Clinton and Harrison townships starting in 1991.

In 2000, he resigned days before the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission planned to conduct a hearing on allegations that he offered five Macomb County women leniency in return for sexual favors, the Free Press reported. In his resignation letter, he cited that he and his family were relocating to Florida. His wife died last year.

Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter.