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WESTPORT, Conn. (UPDATE 5 p.m.) Andrew Robert Levene, the man suspected of killing Westport resident and jeweler Yekutiel Zeevi, was found dead in a Spanish prison, three days after he was arrested, The Associated Press reported.
American officials were notified Thursday of Levene's death, the U.S. Embassy in Madrid said in a statement, the AP reports.
Earlier Thursday, The Hartford Courant reported that Levene committed suicide. However, the embassy did not specify how Levene died, but said Spanish authorities were investigating his death.
Though it is unclear how Levene died, Westport First Selectman Gordon Joseloff described his death as a suicide Thursday afternoon.
The suicide of the man accused in the Westport murder is a tragedy for all concerned," Joseloff said in a statement. Not only has the suspect taken the life of a beloved Westport resident and caused immeasurable pain to the Zeevi family and friends here, he has now inflicted the same pain on his own family, also innocents in this tragedy. It is a cowardly confirmation of his guilt.
Westport Police Chief Dale Call could not confirm or deny the report that Levene's death was a suicide, nor could he comment on it. Thomas Carson, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorneys Office also could not confirm the report. Were still waiting on more information, Carson said. If there comes a time when we can, we will.
As The Daily Westport has reported, Levene, 41, was arrested Monday in Spain on federal murder, robbery and firearms charges for the Dec. 8 shooting and robbery at Zeevi's Post Road East business, Y.Z. Jewelry Manufacturing. Investigators have said they used a cellphone to track Levene before his arrest.
The death of the accused murder suspect by his own hands will not diminish the extraordinary efforts demonstrated by Westport police, state and federal authorities, and Spanish police in tracking him down, Joseloff said in his statement.
Hours and hours of police work culminating in the arrest should serve as a warning to anyone thinking of committing a similar heinous crime that they will be caught no matter how difficult and distant the trail.
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