Hammersmith Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 I don't know if this is getting much press in your neck of the woods, but two Oklahoma City men have been arrested for last week's murder of a Fargo dentist. The story started odd and keeps getting stranger by the day. The dentist, Philip Gattuso, was beaten to death with a hammer in his Fargo home, leaving his 3 year old daughter an orphan. Tragedy seemed to follow Gattuso. His first wife was severely disabled after suffering an aneurysm shortly after the birth of their second child. The injury left her institutionalized; unable to care for herself or others. Moving to Oklahoma City for work, he met his second wife working as a waitress in a restaurant. They married and then moved to Fargo in 2003 to take over the practice of a local dentist who had recently died. They had a daughter in 2006, and, in 2007, his second wife went in to have a heart valve repaired. Complications severely damaged her heart, and she was fitted with an artificial heart to keep her alive. She died 18 months later while still waiting for a heart transplant. In the last year, Gattuso threw himself into caring for his daughter, even buying a 10 year old Porsche Boxster so he could drive her around with the top down. Last Monday, Gattuso was found dead; his home ransacked and his Boxster missing. Murders are rare up here in Fargo; we generally get less than one a year. In fact, I think this is only the third in over five years. The brutal nature of the crime, and the orphaned daughter, has made it big news all week. Police started looking for the missing Boxster and spread the word around the area. Witnesses reported seeing a Boxster on a trailer being towed by a Chevy pickup. Another witness later reported seeing the rig at a rest stop on the ND/SD border. Surveillance video from the rest stop gave police the license plate number of the trailer and, after contacting Oklahoma authorities, they found out it was rented by an Oklahoma City man. The man was arrested Saturday morning by Oklahoma City police after an arrest warrant was issued by Cass County(Fargo's county). Now things take a turn for the bizarre. After seeing a photo of the accused murderer, Michael Nakvinda, one of the victim's relatives recognizes him as the handyman of Gattuso's father-in-law. Under police questioning, Nakvinda confirms that he was hired to kill Gattuso by Gene Kirkpatrick, the father of Gattuso's second wife, for $3,000. Interviews with different family members seem to indicate that Kirkpatrick was unhappy with the way Gattuso was raising his grandchild and decided to have him killed so she would be returned to Oklahoma to be raised. Once happy to let the Kirkpatrick family take care of the child, Gattuso's brother is now preparing to have papers filed to have her removed from their care and from Oklahoma. Cass County has asked Oklahoma for extradition of both suspects. Nakvinda did not object, but Kirkpatrick apparently plans to fight it. Between the time I started typing this post and now, it has been revealed that Kirkpatrick used a video camera on his last trip to Fargo to record images to help Nakvinda commit the murder and that the payment was $3,000 up-front and another $10,000 later. The only small positive out of this whole mess is the speed in which the killers appear to have been caught. Of course the greatest victim is likely the 3 year old daughter who has not yet been told her father is dead and will probably soon be in the middle of a terrible tug-of-war between two families. Early word is that she will not be allowed to attend her father's funeral by the Kirkpatricks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 That is tragic as well as bizarre.....TheEagleman once dated an ORU gal from OKC.....it was one and done....and maybe that was a good thing..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 About all I can say about that is, WOW! I bet that one makes it's way to one of the crime shows. Knowing that the Kirkpatricks had something to do with the murder of the father it's surprising that they would have any say in what happens with the little girl. How old was Gattuso, and where was he originally from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 What a incredibly sad and strange story. Prayers of protection for that young boy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammersmith Posted November 4, 2009 Author Share Posted November 4, 2009 About all I can say about that is, WOW! I bet that one makes it's way to one of the crime shows. Knowing that the Kirkpatricks had something to do with the murder of the father it's surprising that they would have any say in what happens with the little girl. How old was Gattuso, and where was he originally from? While Gattuso's second wife was being kept alive by the artificial heart, she was staying with her family in OKC. That caused Kennedy(the daughter) to have a chance to get close to her aunt's family. Since Gattuso is from originally from New Orleans, his brother was not immediately able to come to Fargo to take custody of Kennedy. With the pre-existing relationship between Kennedy and her aunt(and the involvement of the grandfather not yet known), Gattuso's brother did not object to having Kennedy stay with the Williams family(the aunt's). With the new information coming out, Gattuso's brother is now asking the North Dakota courts to remove Kennedy from the Williams' custody. Gattuso was 49 years old at the time of his death. He also had two grown sons from his first marriage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Thanks, man. What a story . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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