Stolen Art Supplies at Midtown Store Break Open 2024 Soho Art Dealer Murder Case
A homeless convicted sex offender suspected of killing an eccentric Soho art dealer in 2024 was apprehended over the weekend when police officers recognized his name in departmental databases during a shoplifting investigation at a Midtown Manhattan retail store, according to law enforcement authorities. Larry Powlis, 60, was taken into custody on Sunday afternoon following a reported retail theft at a TJ Maxx location near West 57th Street. Police and sources said Powlis attempted to steal approximately $25 in art supplies around 1:10 p.m. When questioned by responding officers, the suspect initially provided a false identity under the name Larry Davis. However, fingerprint verification conducted through law enforcement systems exposed his true identity and flagged an active alert linking him to an unsolved homicide.
On Monday, Powlis was formally charged with the murder of Egizio Panetti, a 67-year-old art dealer and decorator who was found dead in September 2024. Investigators stated that Powlis was awaiting arraignment at Manhattan Criminal Court following the charges.
The investigation dates back to September 24, 2024, when Panetti was discovered dead inside his upscale Spring Street residence near West Broadway. According to police sources, a neighbor checked on the art dealer during a routine wellness check after Panetti failed to answer a phone call.
Friends and acquaintances remembered Panetti as a flamboyant, cape-wearing figure, affectionately characterizing him as “the real Auntie Mame” in reference to Rosalind Russell’s iconic title role in the 1958 classic film. Loved ones described him as a fabulous, one-of-a-kind personality who was legally blind and battling cancer at the time of his death.
Investigators established that Powlis and Panetti had first crossed paths on the street in Greenwich Village in September 2024 while Panetti was out to dinner with a friend. According to authorities, the two men eventually visited a nearby automated teller machine before traveling together to Panetti’s Spring Street apartment. Law enforcement sources stated that surveillance footage captured Powlis leaving the victim’s residence later wearing a different outfit than the one he had worn when the two men originally met.
Police sources indicated that detectives had identified Powlis as a person of interest early in the investigation but waited for definitive forensic results, including crucial DNA evidence and an official cause-of-death ruling from the city Medical Examiner’s Office. Authorities received the necessary evidence to formally designate Powlis as a suspect on September 3, entering the flag into NYPD computer systems that ultimately alerted officers during Sunday’s shoplift arrest.
According to law enforcement records, Powlis has a prior sex offense conviction in the state of Texas.
