More details have been released about the fatal shooting of an Omaha realtor.
Douglas County Sheriff deputies say they believe they have recovered the gun used in the shooting death of Michael “Mickey” Sodoro. Investigators say 70 year old Sodoro had planned to meet with a client, 43 year old Ross Lorello, of Papillion, they say Lorello was going to rent a house at 193rd & W streets from Sodoro.
An arrest affidavit shows that on December 28th, Sodoro was supposed to collect the deposit and first month’s rent from Lorello. When no one could reach Sodoro last week, his son contacted law enforcement. The next day, deputies found Mickey Sodoro in the garage “inside a crawl space, covered by loose carpeting remnants.”
According to court documents, a forensics team found blood in an upstairs bathtub, blood smear on the stair railing, and blood on the dining room carpet. A witness placed a vehicle belonging to Lorello’s fiance in the driveway of the home where Sodoro’s body was found. According to the arrest affidavit, video surveillance confirms Lorello was driving the black Ford Edge the evening Mickey Sodoro went missing.
When being interviewed, Ross Lorello told investigators that he signed the leasing paperwork, provided the $9,700 in cash, and eventually left the house and locked up. He said Mickey Sodoro had left to meet someone else and that the victim had left his pickup parked with the engine running.
Investigators say a palm print found on the bathtub’s edge, partially contained in blood, were linked to Lorello. A 22LR handgun revolver was also found in the trunk of the Ford Edge that Lorello was allegedly driving, wrapped in a towel. Investigators wrote in the affidavit that the revolver had “five loaded rounds and one fired casing” that were removed from the weapon.
Lorello is currently in the Douglas County Jail on a first-degree murder charge. Investigators allege he shot Sodoro once in the back of the head.
(Photo by Douglas County Sheriff's Office)