FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Detectives consider Daniel Santo Dovi to be a person of interest in two murders in Lauderdale Beach, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department announced on Wednesday afternoon.
Detective Ali Adamson, a spokeswoman for the department, said the “close proximity” of two crime scenes and evidence that is still being processed turned the focus on Dovi.
The crime scene at 3054 N. Ocean Blvd. is where two men were stabbed to death, and 2613 Center Ave. is where Dovi threatened to kill a man.
“Some of the items that are contributing to us concluding that he is a person of interest include multiple edge weapons and clothes that appear to be freshly washed inside of his vehicle," Adamson said.
The men stabbed to death are in their 40s, but police have not released their identities.
Adamson said detectives are still looking at the weapons that were in Dovi’s car and waiting for the results of DNA evidence. She is asking anyone in Lauderdale Beach who has surveillance cameras to check for evidence that could help detectives.
Dovi appeared in Broward County court on Wednesday morning. The Pennsylvania resident was arrested after the Tuesday chase on I-95 ended with a Florida Highway Patrol trooper’s maneuver and a rollover crash.
Dovi, 64, was in a white Jeep Wrangler when the chase began in Lauderdale Beach just as detectives were investigating the deaths near Dovi’s alleged illegal campsite.
Dovi was diagnosed with Schizophrenia and he has been on disability for the last eight years, his brother Anthony Dovi told Broward Judge Corey Cawthon.
Virtual bond court appearance of Daniel DoviAssault suspect Daniel Dovi has not taken his medication for schizophrenia for a year, his brother told a judge in a virtual courtroom yesterday. Here is extended video of Dovi's bond court appearance. Fort Lauderdale Police are trying to figure out if he's involved with a deadly double stabbing of two men in their 40s at the beach on Tuesday.
Posted by Madeleine Wright on Thursday, June 11, 2020
“He is very peaceful,” Anthony Dovi said, adding his brother has been struggling with their mother’s death in 2018, and he has been off his medication for about a year.
Prosecutor Eric Linder said Michael Jones disagreed. Jones called 911 after he found Dovi in his property. He said Dovi pushed him, threatened to kill him, crashed into his Porsche and his partner’s golf cart and fled. Jones said he later learned from officers Dovi was armed with two hunting knives.
“He is in great fear for his safety and well being,” Linder said.
Daniel Santo Dovi is facing two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of criminal mischief, fleeing and eluding law enforcement officers and battery. Cawthon set his bond at $97,000.
Adamson said anyone with information or surveillance video should call Fort Lauderdale detectives at 954-828-5344 or Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.