Celebration, Florida:
As if the Thanksgiving murder were not enough to ruin things in this subdivision that Disney designed. Now, tanks and SWAT teams?
Here in a community built 14 years ago by the Walt Disney Company as the happiest subdivision on earth -- and which, to be fair, has been largely free from urban strife -- two major crimes in the span of less than a week have made even the fake snow that blankets the town square every evening hour on the hour seem a little less cheery.
Late into Thursday night, sheriff's deputies barricaded several blocks in this neo-traditional town of 10,000 people and miles of white rail fencing, trying to talk a despondent and possibly armed man out of his home.
Earlier, the schoolhouse near the town square was locked down. Buzzing helicopters interrupted horse-and-carriage rides. Even the holiday cocktail party at the golf course was canceled.
But the situation, which a sheriff's deputy described as a domestic dispute involving a father who had lost a job and his marriage, was not even the worst of it in Celebration.
Sometime over Thanksgiving weekend, Matteo Patrick Giovanditto, 58, was murdered, the Osceola County Sheriff's Office said. It was the first murder in Celebration history. Concerned neighbors who had not heard from him went into his first-floor condo, one block from the artificial ice rink on the town square. He was on the floor covered with a blanket, according to the police.
Officers later located his black Corvette in a nearby town, but have yet to make an arrest. Residents were assured that there was nothing to fear.
"They've got some really substantial leads," said a sheriff's spokeswoman, Twis Lizasuain. "We haven't disclosed what we found, but it was a big break in the case to find the vehicle."
Mr. Giovanditto, who was from Massachusetts, moved to Florida in the 1980s to teach, his cousin, Theresa Troiano, said from Tewksbury, Mass.
"He was a wonderful young man from a big New England family," she said. "We hope there is swift justice."
Mr. Giovanditto moved to Celebration in 2004. He lived with his Chihuahua, Lucy, neighbors said. His house was a popular destination for trick-or-treaters, and he frequently weighed in on the Front Porch, a kind of Facebook for Celebration residents.
"He was a good guy online," said Alex Morton, the publisher of the monthly Celebration Independent and one of the first people to buy a house when the subdivision opened in 1996.
"This town is all corporate executives and golden parachuters," said Mr. Morton, who was holding up the printing of his paper until he had more news on the murder and, now, the standoff happening a few blocks from his tiny newspaper office.
The killing of Mr. Giovanditto was a crack in the facade of this community, a 10-minute drive from Disney World, that was just too hard to ignore -- especially with the standoff coming right on its heels.
"It's like Manhattan!" said Vince Cassaro. He ought to know. The former Connecticut resident worked in New York City before moving his family here 12 years ago.
Had residents ever seen a SWAT team in town before?
"Maybe for the Boy Scouts when they do a display, but that's about it," said Jeffry Ewing, a resident who had to stop work on a house renovation that was within the police perimeter.
Of course, there have been other indications here that the ride might be over. Smaller crimes are not unheard of. In 1998, a robber who said he had a gun threatened a family and robbed them in their home. It was the town's first reported violent crime.
The economy has taken some of the shine from the streets, too. On Thanksgiving Day, the movie theater, which proudly showed its share of Disney films, went out of business. And there is no one who has not been hoping that home prices stop dropping. At their peak, homes sold for an average of $1 million. Now, they might go for half that.
Glenn Williams, who was watching the sheriff's deputies block the roads, said the price of his house had fallen to about $360,000 now from $825,000 two years ago.
Like others, he was sad for the families involved in the standoff and the murder.
"But I'm surprised it's been this long before something happened," Mr. Williams said.
For visitors who come to both gawk and admire the famously perfect community, the murder only added to the narrative.
Beth Guskay drove in from Lakeland, Fla., Thursday with her daughter and granddaughter to shop and hit a favorite sushi restaurant.
"I call it the 'Stepford Wives' community. As soon as you drive in, it's creepy," she said. "I think it's for people who don't think anything bad is ever going to happen to them."
It is not that, so much, residents said. Bad things happen everywhere.
Still, a murder and a standoff in the same week are a little much.
"It's a crack in the foundation, let's put it that way," said Jim Zimmer, who with his wife of 25 years maintains a house both in Celebration and Atlanta.
He made a case for downplaying the murder, even as he watched a sheriff's deputy with a rifle shoo a woman trying to get to her car back into her home.
"For our own property values," he said, "we need the illusion."