Judge throws out charges against Philadelphia man for 2013 fatal home invasion in Bucks County

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Murder and rape charges against a Philadelphia man were thrown out by a judge at a preliminary hearing in Doylestown on Monday.

Thomas Delgado, 51, was charged earlier this year in a 2013 home invasion in Hilltown Township that turned deadly.

Prosecutors said he was one of two men who broke into a home on Swartley Road, stabbed and killed 48-year-old Joseph Canazaro, tied up his son and girlfriend, and then stole a truck.

Canazaro’s girlfriend told police the man who fit Delgado’s description raped her.

Delgado was tied to the case in 2019, when investigators found a mask in the stolen truck six-and-a-half years later. DNA tests on the mask hit Delgado as a potential match.

However, his DNA did not match that found on the rape kit.

As a result, prosecutors threw out the rape charge against Delgado and Magisterial District Judge Regina Armitage threw out the murder, kidnapping, theft and other charges against him.

When asked if they would refile charges, Prosecutor Christopher Rees said his team would “look at every option we have.”

“I don't think we've made a decision yet, but clearly we do believe the right person was arrested,” he said. “The presence of a mask matching the mask described by the victim in the vehicle stolen from the crime scene, with the DNA on that mask to us, proved it was this man who committed those crimes.”

Delgado was also suspected after phone records showed a number of calls between him and Canazaro in the months leading up to the murder.

His defense argued he worked for Canazaro and that the mask and phone calls are not enough to tie him to the crime.