Morris County investigators describe a man seen in a surveillance video as person of interest and someone who they want to question in connection with a two year old murder at the Kenvil Diner in Roxbury Township.
"It's a person who is seen in the vicinity of the Kenvil Diner on the date of this incident and we're trying to identify who this person is," assistant prosecutor Matthew Troiano said.
The diner owner, Chafic Ezzeddine, was known to his family and friends as Steve. By all accounts, he worked hard to build his business until he was found murdered in the back of his diner two years ago on Tuesday. He was 70.
"Somebody probably saw something that maybe they don't think is important, but maybe important to us," Lt. Steven Wilson of the Major Crimes Unit said.
"As long as they're getting something and keep moving along, that's all that matters to us," Saied Ezzeddine said.
Saied is one of Steve's three sons. He is hopeful that someone might recognize one man who police say has a Caribbean accent, seen in the area around the time of the murder, or the second man who has been described as a person of interest.
"We worked on enhancing that video to a point where we believe it could be of help to the public in recognizing this individual," Lt. Wilson said.
The Ezzeddine family has set up this website and is offering a $25,000 dollar reward for any information leading to an arrest and conviction.
"We wanted to have a place to centralize all the information of the family, the reward, the investigation and, hopefully, spur some information," Ezzeddine said.
On the site, the family shares the story of their beloved patriarch who emigrated from Lebanon in the 1970's, and who worked hard to build his diner business.
You can see more on the family's website at www.kenvildiner.com.
"We think that the person may have ties to Elizabeth, New Jersey and possibly Brooklyn, New York, so we are trying to get it out to the public so they can assist in identify him," Troiano said.
If you have any information that would be helpful to investigators please contact the Morris County Prosecutor's Office at 973-285-6150 , the Roxbury Township Police Department at 973-448-2049, or the Morris County Sheriff's Crime Stopper Program at 973-267-2255. Or visit http://www.morriscrimestoppers.org.
