CANANDAIGUA — Through a tip from the public, Ontario County Sheriff David Cirencione said investigators were able to find the suspect they believed killed a Farmington man who was found in Room 118 at America’s Best Value Inn in the town of Geneva Saturday afternoon.
Julius Ware IV, 29, was charged Sunday with second-degree murder after first being identified by authorities as a “person of interest” in the death of Emmanuel Richelieu, 37, of Farmington.
However, Cirencione said at a news conference at the sheriff’s office Monday afternoon that his investigators continue to gather more information on the circumstances leading up to Richelieu’s death.
Richelieu was reported missing by his brother on Friday after he was unable to contact him. Richelieu and his brother had moved to Ontario County within the past two years, Cirencione said.
Cirencione — who was flanked at the news conference by District Attorney Jason MacBride — said that on Wednesday night, someone dropped Richelieu off at America’s Best Value Inn at 473 Routes 5&20; that person is being sought as part of the continuing probe into Richelieu’s death.
The sheriff said Ware allegedly used a weapon to kill Richelieu, who suffered what investigators described as “multiple traumatic injuries.” Cirencione would not go into detail as to what weapon or weapons were used. He noted that there “was a sign of struggle.”
On Tuesday afternoon, the sheriff’s office announced that the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office determined Richelieu suffered “multiple sharp-force injuries.”
Cirencione added that they also don’t know what relationship Richelieu or Ware may have had, nor what brought the victim to the hotel. Those are questions investigators continue to probe, he said.
Ware was arraigned in Ontario County CAP Court Monday morning and taken to the Ontario County Jail without bail, pending further court action in Geneva Town Court. He is scheduled to appear in court Friday at noon for a preliminary hearing.
MacBride said the case eventually will be heard by a grand jury.
After getting the missing-person report Friday, it didn’t take deputies long to suspect foul play, said Cirencione, explaining that most missing-person cases are solved within hours and almost never with such endings.
He credited his deputies and investigators with concluding quickly that something was amiss with the disappearance of Richelieu, especially when his phone was found near the Geneva hotel.
With a piece of Richelieu’s clothing, a K9 unit was able to track his body to Room 118, where Richelieu was found dead. He was taken to the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s office for an autopsy.
Cirencione said Room 118 was Ware’s residence. The sheriff’s office said he was placed there by state parole. He was released April 9 after serving an eight-year sentence for armed robbery in Geneva in 2018.
In response to a question about state parole and the county’s Department of Social Services placing people at hotels such as America’s Best Value Inn and Patty’s Lodge in Hopewell — the latter was the place where Sam Nordquist died after being physically and sexually assaulted, resulting in seven being charged in that case — Cirencione noted there is a severe shortage of housing in the county and that Ware “spent a substantial sentence (eight years) for his crime.”
MacBride said people should not condemn these hotels, adding that most of the people living there are not criminals. And, he added that many of those living at America’s Best Value Inn provided important information in the homicide investigation.
As for the city residence where police found Ware, there are no charges at this point for those living there, Cirencione said. However, the sheriff said if evidence indicates those harboring him knew he was sought in a homicide, they will be held accountable.
“Our investigation leads us to believe (Ware) was trying to hide,” Cirencione added.
The sheriff once again commended the work of all those involved in the search and eventual homicide investigation that he described as non-stop until Ware’s arrest Sunday.
“Everybody’s exhausted,” he said, adding that the investigation is far from over.