Episode 74 | BELOVED TOY STORE BOSS KILLED BY TRUSTED EMPLOYEE

In the early hours of June 29th 2013, store manager Larry Wells, 35, was working in his Toys R US office while his co-workers stocked merchandise. Someone in disguise entered his office with the intent to steal cash from the safe. Larry wound up stabbed to death. The investigation took months as authorities wrestled with the question: Who would want to hurt the well-liked boss and father-to-be who fostered a family-like atmosphere among the store’s employees? Listen on to find out! ★Enjoy!

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SOURCES for this podcast
https://www.wbfo.org/crime/2014-07-24/grucza-sentenced-to-25-years-for-toys-r-us-murder

https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/violent-bizarre-behavior-of-accused

https://www.oxygen.com/murdered-by-morning/crime-news/larry-wells-murder-toys-r-us-bern

https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/toys-r-us-killer-also-admits-steali

https://www.inquisitr.com/3489991/bernard-bernie-grucza-unraveled-toys-r-us-executive-w

#toysrus #murder #truecrime #podcast #truestory #homicide #homicideinc #crime #investigative #killer #horror #truecrimepodcast #truecrimecommunity 

Transcript

The Toy R Us Killer 

Throughout our working lives, we have all had a boss whom we’ve absolutely despised, the worst boss in the world. Sure they were awful, but did they ever attempt to murder you? Probably not. So perhaps they’re not all that bad. Our story today covers the tragic death of beloved Toys R Us employee Larry Wells who was tragically murdered by his boss. 

Our story begins on June 29, 2013, in Hamburg, New York inside the local Toys R Us store. It was in the early hours of the morning, sometime between 1 and 5 am. Larry Wells, who was the store manager and had been for around seven years now, was inside his small office in the back of the building. Being the loyal and hard worker that he was, Larry had arrived early in the morning to offload his truck. The night had been still as he began removing boxes of stock from his truck. It was peaceful compared to the hustle and bustle of the store during the day. While unpacking the merchandise Larry heard someone enter the room, he turned around and was confused at whom he saw. He hadn’t expected anyone else to be in his office at this time of the morning, especially a Mr Bernard T Grucza, his boss and regional manager.

Startled and weary, Larry asked him ‘Bernie? What are you doing here?” It hadn’t escaped Larry’s notice that Grucza was acting strange, his face was pale and sweaty, his eyes darted around the room and his body seemed tense, ready to pounce.

In the distance, another store employee who had been in another storeroom unloading merchandise heard a faint ringing in the background. The store alarm. She ignored it for a moment, waiting for it to go off. It didn’t. Annoyed she picked up the radio and tried to call Larry to turn it off. No answer. She rang again. No answer. Thinking it was odd that Larry wasn’t answering, and the alarm kept ringing, she hurried down the corridor and burst into the small room. Her terrified scream pierced through the corridors. Larry lay on the floor in a pool of blood, his chest covered in multiple oozing stab wounds. Dropping to her knees she pulled out her cell phone from her back pocket and dialed 911. But it was too late, by the time paramedics had taken him to the hospital he had bled out. Larry Wells was dead, and the police had no clue who had done it. 

When the police had arrived at the scene of the crime they began searching for any clue as to whom may have done it. What they didn’t know at the time was that their killer was standing outside in the parking lot. He hadn’t left the crime scene, he probably figured he would hide in plain sight. Genius really. The next day regional manager Bernie Grucza had arrived to work and spent most of the day consoling distraught co-workers. Seven days later he had even attended the funeral of Well’s, where he offered his condolences for their loss. When the family did finally find out who the killer was, they were outraged that he had the audacity to attend the funeral. It felt like a giant slap to their faces. The police began to build a timeline and a basic theory on what happened that night, thanks to security footage and DNA evidence.  

The DNA evidence was collected from the blood splatter, a 2007 University of Florida Gators cap lying on the floor, and the DVR, which was unplugged, meaning someone had to have messed with it. They were hoping for the killer. Next, they needed to review the store’s security footage and the person they needed was the store’s loss prevention expert. I’m sure you can guess who that was. Yup, a Mr Bernard Grucza. 

The security footage showed a man, clearly in disguise, entering the store at 4:24 a.m. Detectives believed the suspect understood the store’s layout — and security — well, based on the way he confidently zig-zagged around aisles and managed to avoid spending long amounts of time in front of the security cameras. At 4:32 a.m., investigators saw that the figure entered Wells’ office, they also saw that the figure was carrying a knife in his hand as he entered. 

At 4:39 a.m., the footage cut out — likely from the power on the DVR being pulled, courtesy of the killer himself. They were at a dead end and investigators were frustrated. So, they turned their focus on the DNA results. Curiously they had not a single match and all employees and staff at the store had been swabbed. Well all but one. Bernard Grucza. The regional manager, the loss prevention expert. The man who had been so eager to gather people to be tested and yet had so far managed to avoid being tested himself. He was supposedly too busy to be tested. But police had had enough, they cornered him inside his father’s home on August 14, 2013, and got their DNA test.

Their answer arrived 100 days after Larry’s murder. It was a match. DNA evidence from the baseball hat left at the scene led to Grucza's arrest. 

Finally. 

Police immediately charged and arrested him. Grucza maintained his innocence, as most perps do. His exact words. “Whatever, guys. Great. I didn’t do it.” Pretty chill for someone who has just been arrested for murder. 

When word had gotten out that Grucza was the killer, people were shocked. Especially Well’s wife, Jill, she couldn’t believe that the man who had hired her husband had in the end been his killer. Larry Wells was so loved by everyone. A man who was considered a father to many. Now dead. 

As investigations into Grucza were underway the details of his not-so-perfect life began to emerge and all the pieces of this unsolved puzzle fell into place. It turns out that things weren’t so great at home for ole Bernie, he had been living a champagne lifestyle on a beer budget. When investigators searched Grucza’s home they found a huge stockpile of electronic goods and toys like video game consoles. He had been stealing merchandise from the store and was reselling them online in stores like eBay, his role as loss prevention expert came in real handy. 

Now let’s stop and take a moment to observe the irony in that, shall we? The very dude hired to prevent loss of store goods was the same person who was stealing the store goods! He admitted in court that he had stolen more than $200,000 worth of cash and merchandise from the Toys R Us store over the period he had worked there. Police also learned that he had stolen from multiple branches across the state, using his position in power as an alibi to be there. And some of these additional thefts happened after the murder of Wells; he certainly was brazened. And no one had even noticed. Grucza admitted that the night he had arrived at the Toys R Us, his intention was to make off with cash stashed in the safe, but was startled to see Larry Wells there. He hadn’t however answered the question as to why he entered the store carrying a knife.. 

Let’s dig a little deeper as to the impetus for so much theft. In 2009 Grucza had filed for bankruptcy, his salary he was earning as a manager at the store could no longer cover his expenses. These lavish expenses included brand new top-of-the-range cars like a Cadillac Escalade, a beautiful 3,750-square-foot, $450,000 house, and a glitzy in-ground pool. The home was filled with luxury furniture and a massive hanging chandelier. They were truly living the “American Dream”. This dream didn’t come cheap however, his debts reached a total of 1.2 million. In court Grucza explained that his wife had breast cancer and they desperately needed money for medical reasons. Um hmm. Sure it wasn’t for breast implants?

On top of the medical expenses, they had to pay taxes for the additional 8 properties they owned, it was all adding up. Meanwhile, his wife was earning $500-a-month from an “Internet sales business”. With this in mind, the courts had looked at demanding compensation from Bernie’s old lady Heather, for the cash and goods. However, in the end, they decided to drop charges against Heather. 

Bernie’s attorneys elaborated, that at the time their client committed this offense, he was trying to get money to support his family. He hadn’t anticipated encountering Larry Wells. The death was the result of an unfortunate encounter in an enclosed space. Umm Hmmm… an unfortunate encounter in an enclosed space with a deadly weapon and an intent to murder. How can these lawyers live with themselves!?

He continued: Bernie knew Larry Wells. Larry Wells was a friend of his. He had no desire to see Larry Wells harmed. But when police investigated further, they realized that shortly after declaring bankruptcy, Grucza had received a large lump sum of money from a relative, more than enough to pay off his debts. So why was he wanting more money? Was beloved Larry Wells killed over greed? Let’s continue.

Now this is where it gets interesting. In court, Grucza’s attorney stated that Grucza and Wells were friends when Well’s wife Jill, insists they were not. They just worked together. Although they had worked together for many years, Jill explained that Larry knew Grucza was cheating on his wife and would often bring his new, younger girlfriend to the store. Larry Wells was a family man and devoted father to his children and pregnant wife. 

The deeper they dug into who Bernard Grucza was, the more disturbing he became. In 1997 Grucza graduated from Canisius College, with a degree in, believe it or not, criminalistics and criminal science of all subjects. This man is certainly full of surprises. From the outside, it looked like Heather and Bernard were a happily married couple, but police had been called out on a couple of occasions for domestic disturbances. But the tipping point that led to Bernie spinning wildly out of control and led up to the death of Larry Wells began on June 8th. 

That night Heather and Bernie had gotten into a rather heated argument, neighbors recall hearing the two yelling at each other. Suddenly in the middle of their argument he grabbed a hold of her and pushed her to the floor. Grucza then ran up the stairs to the master bedroom and fired his 9 mm Beretta out of the back window. When Heather heard the shot, she immediately ran upstairs to see if he was okay and found him lying face down on the floor, as if he had shot himself. He hadn’t, when she rolled him over, he spoke, 'I wanted to see if you still loved me.” The guy was a nutjob.

She’d had it. Heather called the sheriff’s office and Grucza was arrested on charges of criminal possession of a weapon and harassment. It was then that she filed a restraining order against him, and he was forced to move out of the house. Turns out he wasn’t the friendly neighbor the rest of the street thought he was. 

It didn’t take long for Gruzca to start talking. When he arrived at the police station, he confessed to illegally purchasing a gun. He admitted to lying to the agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives when they had asked him about the gun, telling them the gun had been destroyed. It hadn’t, the gun and bullets were found buried in the back garden of the Grucza’s property. While this case was pending the need for more cash was pressing and Grucza hatched his sinister Toys R Us robbery. Which would ultimtely seal his and Larry Wells’ fates. 

When they threw the DNA evidence in the Larry Wells murder at him, Grucza went for a plea deal on all charges, including admitting to stabbing Larry Wells to death. As a result, he was given the harshest sentence possible for first-degree manslaughter, 25 years in state jail plus 12-18 months of federal jail time. Grucza admitted that he had entered the store that June morning with the intention of robbing the safe, but prosecutors didn’t have enough evidence to prove an intent to murder which could have resulted in a much more serious charge of murder one, and a potential death penalty. The plea also spared Larry Wells' family from the difficulties of enduring a lengthy trial. Giving them peace of mind that justice has been served. 

Larry’s wife  Jill said one small silver lining was that Larry had already chosen the name of their unborn daughter, Paityn. She just wishes that her daughter would have been able to see her father, even once. 

While this story does end on a sad note, justice was served for the Well’s family and the next time you complain about how mean your boss is, remember they could be worse. They could be killers!