Murdered Bloomfield Business Owner Dealt With "Lots of Cash"

As police continue to investigate the shooting death of Verona resident Joseph G. Rossi, at least one long-time acquaintance is wondering whether his cash business may have been a motive for a robbery that led to his death.

Rossi, 58, a businessman in Bloomfield, was shot to death Friday night and his body was found inside his Floyd Avenue business, Phoenix Amusement Company, that provided game machines to businesses in New Jersey.

However, police have not released additional details about the homicide except to say the death of Rossi, a father of two, remains under investigation.

Convenience store owner Koshy Varghese, who works next door to Phoenix Amusements, said an employee named Nelson found Rossi’s body and ran into Varghese’s shop to call the police.

“[Nelson] saw him lying there in a lot of blood.  He was shot in the back of the head,” said Varghese.  “[Nelson] was shaking.  He was so upset he could barely make the call."

Varghese said he never heard gunshots or saw anything suspicious that day.  Though Rossi’s body was found “at around 1:00,” he believes he may have been shot in the early morning.

“I’ve known him for nine years,” he said, mentioning that Rossi divorced a couple of years ago and recently lost his mother.  “He came in here with his kids, whenever they needed something. The kids came for sandwiches and drinks. The [older] one worked with him.”

A friend of Rossi’s, who declined to be identified, said Rossi dealt with a lot of cash inside his business and speculated whether robbery could have been the motivation that led to his shooting death.

Rossi’s job involved setting up electronic games in bars and stores, and collecting cash from the machines on a regular basis.

But Rossi’s friend said he is concerned that the dangers associated with Rossi’s business may have contributed to his death.

"He was operating machines in a lot of unsavory neighborhoods,” the man said. “[Rossi] was a small-time route operator.  There’s a lot of stuff that goes along with that, primarily the fact that [operators like him] are carrying a lot of cash.”

The man said Rossi would routinely split cash proceeds between himself and the game machine owners, so at the end of the day, Rossi could be carrying "thousands of dollars, easily" in cash.  He would then bring the money back to his shop. 

“By the end of the day [route operators] have lots of cash on them. They go back to the shop and count the money.  They generally go alone on their routes to collect the money so if you're going into bars in Irvington, Newark and Jersey City, it’s a roll of the dice [that something could happen],” the man said.

He also said Rossi always kept the door to his business locked and that visitors would have to call ahead for Rossi to unlock the door.

Varghese insists that the neighborhood is generally safe, but admits that “all the people on La France have video cameras,” referring to the intersection of Floyd and La France Avenues, where the two stores are located.  He said after the shooting the police confiscated the videotapes for review.

Varghese said he has never known there to be any trouble at the  Phoenix Amusement Company.

Meantime, at Rossi’s home in Verona, a boat and a car sat in the driveway on Saturday, while the mail remained untouched in the mailbox.