3 charged in robbery, beating death of 70-year-old Milwaukee man found inside a burning duplex

Three people have been charged in the death of 70-year-old Robert A. Piotrowski, whose body was found July 3 tied up inside a burning home on Milwaukee's south side.

Ladarius Boyce, 22, and Quincy Qualls and Ebone Spencer, both 24, face felony murder charges in the killing. 

According to the criminal complaint:

Spencer said Piotrowski had given her money before and she suggested robbing him at his home. 

Spencer and Boyce were in a relationship, while Qualls was Spencer's friend.

"This is sweet. We got this," she said.

The three tied up Piotrowski on his bed, covered his head with a sheet and when he moaned, Boyce punched him repeatedly.

Then, they stole his debit card and car and set the duplex on fire when they returned a day later.  

Boyce said he checked to see if Piotrowski was still alive, but could not find a pulse. He said Spencer found lighter fluid under the sink and poured it on the blanket covering him. Boyce said he used matches to light the blanket on fire. 

The medical examiner's office determined Piotrowski died from positional asphyxia — he struggled to breathe while he was tied up — and blunt force injuries. He did not have soot in his lungs, meaning he was dead before the fire was set, the investigator found.

Boyce and Qualls drove away in the Monte Carlo they had driven to the house, while Spencer drove Piotrowski's SUV and parked it in front of her apartment complex in Watertown.

Piotrowski's debit card was used at a variety of locations on July 2 and July 3. One of those transactions occurred at a store in Watertown about 6:15 p.m. July 2. The video showed a man and woman using the card to buy a flat-screen TV.

Spencer told police after buying the TV that she and Boyce went home but couldn't sleep "out of worry."

Spencer said they returned to Piotrowski's house and found him deceased in the position they had left him in. She thought if they started a fire, the police would find Piotrowski, so that's when she got the lighter fluid and Boyce struck the match.

Boyce told detectives he had hoped to get $1,000 out of the robbery.

In addition to the felony murder charges, Boyce and Spencer are charged with arson and mutilating a corpse, both as a party to the crime.

All three defendants are due back in court Aug. 1 for a preliminary hearing.