Pharmacy Victim's Uncle to Laffer: 'You're a Coward for What You Did'

The judge had warned against "emotional outbursts" in the arraignment room moments before suspected pharmacy killer David Laffer walked through a side-door, but four days after his niece was in cold blood, Jim Fegel simply couldn’t hold back.

“You’re a coward for what you did to these families,” Fegel, the uncle of slain Jaime Taccetta, shouted at the 33-year-old Medford man as he was led out of the Central Islip courtroom Thursday morning after pleading not guilty to murder. 

Fegel and Taccetta’s brother, Daniel Taccetta, sat four rows deep in the packed room and spent more than two hours glancing down at photos of Jaime before the man accused of taking her life and three others on Sunday was escorted before the bench of District Court Judge Toni Bean.

Laffer, Wednesday at his Medford home, wore a gray t-shirt and black shorts into the courtroom. His attorney, Mary Elizabeth Abbate, entered the not guilty plea.

Prosecutors, however, believe they have a rock solid case against Laffer, citing video surveillance of the murders, a fingerprint of Laffer’s found on a piece of paper on the pharmacy floor and .45-caliber pistol recovered from the Laffer home that Assistant District Attorney John Collins said was “consistent” with the weapon police believe was used in the killings. 

Collins called the Father’s Day slayings of two pharmacy employees and two customers during a robbery “the most cold-blooded robbery-homicide in Suffolk County history.”

Laffer, according to Collins, met no resistance at the pharmacy.

“He simply shot first” after a brief conversation with pharmacist Raymond Ferguson, Collins said of Laffer. 

Laffer shot Ferguson once, then pumped two bullets into 17-year-old employee Jennifer Mejia before unloading twice more into Ferguson, Collins said. 

With his sights then set on filling a backpack with painkillers from behind the pharmacy counter, Laffer “ambushed” two customers - Bryon Sheffield and Taccetta - who had entered the store, shooting them in the back of the head.

“He simply executed them,” Collins said. 

Abbate, Laffer’s attorney, asked the court to take note of his injuries—including two black eyes and bruises to his nose and forehead. Laffer is also charged with resisting arrest. 

“That rendition by Mr. Collins is his view of what he thinks happened,” Abbate said shortly before the judge denied her request for “a reasonable amount of bail.”

Laffer is due back in court on June 28.

Laffer’s wife, Melinda Brady, who has reportedly said Laffer robbed the pharmacy because she was ill, was also due to be arraigned Thursday, but that has been delayed as the 29-year-old is currently being treated at St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center for undisclosed reasons. 

Brady is charged with with third degree robbery and obstructing governmental administration.

Michael Sorrentino contributed to this story.