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Officers suspect Florida collector in shooting
Michigan
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A Florida man who allegedly lost $4.3 million worth of rare coins when his rental car was stolen in Callaway County is now suspected of attempted murder after allegedly shooting an acquaintance 13 times.
Albert Guilder of Plantation, Fla., stayed at the Kingdom City Days Inn last September. He was reportedly traveling to Blue Springs, and he left two leather suitcases in the trunk with 771 rare coins inside.
Guilder told investigators he didn’t take them into his room because it was raining. The gray Chevy Impala disappeared overnight and was recovered near a radio transmission tower in Mexico, Mo. The coins were gone.
Now Guilder is in some legal trouble of his own after being arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
According to Tony Avello, a spokesman for the Coconut Creek, Fla., police department, officers were contacted at about 3 a.m. March 23 with a report that someone had been shot. When they arrived, 29-year-old victim Zilvinas Kuliusas told them that "Al" shot him. Kuliusas had been shot 13 times.
Avello said a police investigation determined that both men were riding in a vehicle driven by Guilder when the alleged shooting took place. After Kuliusas fled, the police spokesman said, Guilder allegedly struck him with the vehicle.
Avello said the two had argued about a woman the victim lived with, although the relationship was platonic. The victim survived the attack.
The woman, Avello said, told police she had an off-and-on relationship with Guilder for nine years and that he had allegedly provided her with heroin and cocaine for the past year-and-a-half in exchange for occasional sex.
Guilder’s attorney could not be reached for comment, but Avello said Guilder claimed he was acting in self defense. "But the circumstances leading to that self-defense" claim "do not play out," the spokesman said.
As for the coins, Avello said the Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into their disappearance. Jeff Lanza, a spokesman for the FBI in Kansas City, confirmed that the investigation is ongoing.
The shooting might spark further legal trouble for Guilder. Philip Toman, a detective with the police department in Plantation, said that department is now taking another look at the death of Guilder’s wife in 1995. Toman said the woman died at a swimming pool at the couple’s residence.
"It’s been ruled an accidental death in ’95," the detective said, "but in light of him doing the shooting in Coconut Creek," the department "decided just to look it over again."
Investigators in Callaway County said the coins Guilder lost last fall included an 1892-S Morgan silver dollar valued at $60,000; a 1921-S Walking Liberty half-dollar valued at $30,000; and a 1918 Walking Liberty valued at $25,000.
Last October, the AIG Private Client Group, a subsidiary of New York-based American International Group Inc., offered a $100,000 reward for the safe return of the coins. AIG was the insurer in the case.
Albert Guilder of Plantation, Fla., stayed at the Kingdom City Days Inn last September. He was reportedly traveling to Blue Springs, and he left two leather suitcases in the trunk with 771 rare coins inside.
Guilder told investigators he didn’t take them into his room because it was raining. The gray Chevy Impala disappeared overnight and was recovered near a radio transmission tower in Mexico, Mo. The coins were gone.
Now Guilder is in some legal trouble of his own after being arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
According to Tony Avello, a spokesman for the Coconut Creek, Fla., police department, officers were contacted at about 3 a.m. March 23 with a report that someone had been shot. When they arrived, 29-year-old victim Zilvinas Kuliusas told them that "Al" shot him. Kuliusas had been shot 13 times.
Avello said a police investigation determined that both men were riding in a vehicle driven by Guilder when the alleged shooting took place. After Kuliusas fled, the police spokesman said, Guilder allegedly struck him with the vehicle.
Avello said the two had argued about a woman the victim lived with, although the relationship was platonic. The victim survived the attack.
The woman, Avello said, told police she had an off-and-on relationship with Guilder for nine years and that he had allegedly provided her with heroin and cocaine for the past year-and-a-half in exchange for occasional sex.
Guilder’s attorney could not be reached for comment, but Avello said Guilder claimed he was acting in self defense. "But the circumstances leading to that self-defense" claim "do not play out," the spokesman said.
As for the coins, Avello said the Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into their disappearance. Jeff Lanza, a spokesman for the FBI in Kansas City, confirmed that the investigation is ongoing.
The shooting might spark further legal trouble for Guilder. Philip Toman, a detective with the police department in Plantation, said that department is now taking another look at the death of Guilder’s wife in 1995. Toman said the woman died at a swimming pool at the couple’s residence.
"It’s been ruled an accidental death in ’95," the detective said, "but in light of him doing the shooting in Coconut Creek," the department "decided just to look it over again."
Investigators in Callaway County said the coins Guilder lost last fall included an 1892-S Morgan silver dollar valued at $60,000; a 1921-S Walking Liberty half-dollar valued at $30,000; and a 1918 Walking Liberty valued at $25,000.
Last October, the AIG Private Client Group, a subsidiary of New York-based American International Group Inc., offered a $100,000 reward for the safe return of the coins. AIG was the insurer in the case.
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