ICYMI: 35-Year-Old Murder Focus Of Renewed Interest

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — It’s been just over 35 years since Brinks armored transport employee and Tampa resident Joseph Warner was gunned down at Tyrone Square Mall. The death of the father of five has not been forgotten by the St. Petersburg Police Department. Its recently launched cold case squad on Friday announced new developments in the case that was once featured on “America’s Most Wanted.”

Police say Brinks has stepped forward to offer a $10,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest in Warner’s death. The squad also announced “DNA developments” that have moved the case forward, but did not elaborate.

The robbery scheme that ultimately led to Warner’s death was rather elaborate, police say. It was pulled off on Jan. 23, 1982, shortly after 3 p.m. Police say two men dressed as “Miami Elevator” repairmen entered the mall that day and pretended to work on elevators at Robinson’s department store.

The phony repairmen, however, were waiting for the Brinks armed truck to make its scheduled pickup. Police say Warner was the employee who got out of the truck to retrieve Robinson's deposit bag.

The routine pickup took a deadly turn when Warner attempted to leave the store. Police say the two "repairmen" met him at the door and confronted him. Warner was shot once during that confrontation and died from his injury.

“He was a 22-year military veteran who had worked for Brinks for seven years,” the police department wrote in an email to media. “Warner left behind a wife and five school-aged boys.”

After getting the deposit bag and killing Warner, police say the two men took off in a van that had been reported stolen from Orlando. The men dumped the van at the Jungle Prada Boat Ramp and took off on the water in a rented boat. That boat had been rented by the suspects using a fraudulent Canadian license, police said.

“Ironically, they used the identity of a Canadian beat cop,” Friday’s email pointed out.

After getting on the boat, the thieves quickly realized the bag they had killed for had no money inside, “only non-negotiable checks,” police said. The bag was tossed overboard near Madeira Beach Elementary. The two then proceeded to dump the rented boat near the Clearwater Causeway.

The case has received attention over the years, including being featured on “America’s Most Wanted.” Detectives say the two suspects are white males. At the time the murder was committed, one of the men was said to be in his late 20s and the other in his 40s. They are now estimated to be about 50 and 70, respectively.

“One witness described them as ‘handsome,’” police said. “While investigators pursued several suspects over the years, none panned out.”

The cold case unit is hoping the new DNA evidence and Brinks’ offer of a $10,000 reward for information will result in leads that do pan out to bring Warner's killers to justice 35 years later.

Anyone with information about this cold case is asked to call the police department at 727-893-7780 or text SPPD + a tip to TIP411.

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