LATEST: Accused murderer arrives in Fargo; initial court appearance Friday morning
Forum staff reportsForum staff reports , INFORUMPublished: 11/05/2009
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| Philip Gattuso plays with his daughter, Kennedy. Special to The Forum | |
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 | Gattuso with loved ones |
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| Philip Gattuso |
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| Gene Carl Kirkpatrick |
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| Michael Allen Nakvinda |
 | Kirkpatrick said to have cased home |
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| Fight brews over Gattuso’s daughter |
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| GRANDFATHER ARRESTED; CHILD CUSTODY MOTIVE FOR MURDER? |
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| New details emerge about killing, how police tracked suspect |
The man accused of murdering Philip Gattuso arrived in Fargo shortly after 6 p.m. tonight and was booked into the Cass County Jail on charges related to the crime.Michael Allen Nakvinda will make his first appearance in Cass County Court at 9 a.m. Friday. Custody of Nakvinda, 41, of Oklahoma City was transferred early Thursday from the Oklahoma County Jail to the Cass County sheriff’s office.Nakvinda faces charges of murder, robbery, burglary and theft in the Oct. 26 homicide of Gattuso, who was found dead in his south Fargo condominium after he didn’t pick up his daughter from day care.Nakvinda waived extradition to North Dakota during a hearing in his home state.Court papers say Gene Kirkpatrick, father-in-law to Gattuso and grandfather to 3-year-old Kennedy Gattuso, hired Nakvinda to kill the 49-year-old Fargo man, apparently because he was upset with how Philip Gattuso was raising the child.Philip Gattuso’s late wife, Valerie, was Kirkpatrick’s daughter. She died in March.
