Ex-con charged in Christmas Day CVS robbery that left clerk fatally stabbed

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. — Eddy Cine Jr., a 23-year-old aspiring computer technician, volunteered to cover for a co-worker on Christmas Day for his job as a CVS clerk in Lindenhurst, New York.

An armed robber stabbed him to death minutes before the end of his shift, at around 7 p.m., Suffolk County police said.

Now his suspected killer, a 43-year-old ex-con named John Pilaccio, of Lindenhurst, is facing a charge of first-degree murder — a more serious charge than suspected assassin Luigi Mangione in New York City.