Friday, April 9, 2010

Neighbor: Armed robber forced Nova instructor to ATM, then killed him, set house ablaze

Who would want to kill scientist Joseph Morrissey, who enjoyed an international reputation for his pioneering research into the use of radio frequency waves in cancer treatment?

That's the question friends and colleagues were asking late Tuesday after Morrissey, 46, an assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences at Nova Southeastern University, was fatally shot during what police say was a home invasion robbery.

Morrissey was "very well-liked," said Andres Malave, dean of NSU's College of Pharmacy.

Just after midnight Monday, an intruder burst into his Plantation home, bound him and his wife, and set fire to the house in the 600 block of NW 75th Terrace, according to police.

A neighbor told WFOR-Ch. 4 that during the ordeal the robber also abducted the couple, took them to a nearby bank and forced them to make a cash withdrawal.

Morrissey's wife Linda, 48, and the couple's young son, who was asleep at the time, later escaped from the house and were not injured.

[ ... ]

Morrissey earned bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of South Florida and a PhD from Stanford University. He came to Florida in 1993 to work for the Goodwin Institute for Cancer Research in Plantation.

"He was so energetic. He enjoyed his life and his work," said Claire Thuning-Roberson, the founder and former director of the institute.

At NSU, Morrissey did research in the use of electromagnetic energy to enhance the effectiveness of cancer medications, the university said.

He recently brought in grants worth $100,000 to fund his work at NSU and was just back from delivering a keynote address at a conference in Australia.

"We lost a great individual, a great scientist, and someone who was to [help] move this college into the future," said Malave. "He was a key faculty member."

For 12 years he worked as a senior scientist at Motorola in Plantation.

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