Police: Man confesses to killing 83-year-old Fayette resident found shot dead in his car

A purported real estate business associate confessed to killing an 83-year-old Fayette County man found shot to death in his car Saturday morning, state police said.

According to the criminal complaint, Norman F. Pennington, 65, of Republic, Fayette County, told state troopers he killed Anthony Dicenzo Sr. of Brownsville on Friday. He told officers that he shot Dicenzo in self-defense and threw the gun he used into Dunlap Creek.

Pennington was charged Wednesday with criminal homicide, prohibited possession of a firearm and tampering with evidence. He was arraigned before District Judge Nathan Henning and denied bail. He is being held in Fayette County Prison.

After Dicenzo was reported missing early Saturday, state police found him dead about 10:20 a.m., covered with a tarp in the back seat of his white Cadillac, which was parked in a gravel pull-off along Riffle Hollow Road in German Township. Dicenzo had a gunshot wound to his head. An autopsy report revealed two bullets were lodged in his head.

Blood was found on the front driver’s side seat of the Cadillac and a .38 caliber shell casing was found on the floor. A black garbage bag and blanket covered the driver’s seat. A note with a phone number and the name “Norman” written on it was found in the car’s cup holder.

Pennington told police that he had known Dicenzo for 35 years and that he received “a couple hundred bucks” from Dicenzo on a few occasions in exchange for finding real estate properties. Pennington said large amounts of money were never exchanged.

Pennington told police he and Dicenzo were scheduled April 11 to look at a property that Dicenzo wanted to purchase to house a trailer park. The property owner did not show up, Pennington said.

Dicenzo’s wife, Constance , told police her husband was in the process of purchasing The Village Lounge and a separate 5-acre plot. She overheard a phone call between her husband and Pennington last week in which her husband said, “If I don’t sign papers on Thursday, then I want my money back. I am the only one that put money into this.”

She told police her husband kept $30,000 to $40,000 in one of their kitchen drawers. When he went missing, she could not find the money in their home.

Donald Guerrieri, owner of The Village Lounge, said Dicenzo inquired about purchasing the bar in December. Pennington also asked about purchasing the property separately on multiple occasions. The two made separate offers on the property, he said — Pennington $70,000 and Dicenzo $75,000.

Pennington’s wife, Donna , told police her husband went to work Friday morning and returned home between 11 a.m. and noon. He went in and out of the residence several times. The last time he left, she noticed a white vehicle she had not seen before driving down her road.

Later that day, Pennington called his wife and asked her to meet him at the intersection of Filbert Orient and Bunker Hill roads, she told police. He was driving the white vehicle she had seen earlier, Donna Pennington told police.

He asked her to follow him as he drove the car to a gravel pull-off on Riffle Hollow Road. Donna Pennington told police her husband parked the vehicle there and she drove him home. She said her husband left the car parked in the same manner as Dicenzo’s car was found Sunday.

A preliminary hearing for Norman Pennington is set for April 29.