REUTERS/Rebecca Cook
- A man confessed to shooting a postal worker and former neighbor who he thought poisoned his family, according to court documents.
- An affidavit states Eric Kortz told investigators he killed his former neighbor, Louis Vignone, while he was on his mail route.
- Neighbors described Kortz to local news outlets as "obsessed," and said Vignone had moved away from the neighborhood to "start fresh."
A Pennsylvania man confessed to fatally shooting a USPS worker who he believed was trying to poison his family when they were previously neighbors, according to court documents.
Erik Kortz followed his former neighbor, Louis Vignone, on his mail route on Thursday through Collier Township, according to an affidavit filed in federal court in the Western District of Pennsylvania.
When Kortz found Vignone in his mail truck, he pulled his van in front to stop Vignone, then got out and shot the postal worker, the affidavit says.
Kortz told investigators that he dropped his firearm at the scene and drove straight to a local police department to turn himself in, according to the affidavit.
Vignone suffered several gunshot wounds, including one to the head, and was pronounced dead at the scene, the affidavit states. Investigators say they found a firearm and seven spent shell casings in a yard near Vignone's USPS vehicle.
Kortz was charged with murder of an employee of the United States and use of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence. He's expected to appear in court on October 12 for a detention hearing.
According to the affidavit, Kortz told investigators he "went to put some bullets" in Vignone because he believed that his former neighbor had poisoned him and his family with cyanide.
A former neighbor of Vignone's and Kortz's told KDKA that Kortz was "odd and beyond obsessed" with the postal worker when they were neighbors. Kortz lived with his brother across the street from Vignone, his wife, and their three kids, according to the report.
Another former neighbor told KDKA that Vignone had moved his family to Moon Township in 2018 to "get a fresh start." A third former neighbor told the news station that months before the shooting, Kortz told people "something big" was going to happen and that the whole city would know about it.