Tough times confront day-care wife

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

Neighbors were shocked and saddened by the Jan. 2 shooting death of a Holmesburg father of five, allegedly by his wife inside the Frankford Avenue child day-care facility that they planned to open this month.
But authorities say, and criminal records show, that trouble had been brewing for some time for Anthony and Karen Grauber, of the 8000 block of Rowland Ave.
Investigators are still gathering all of the pieces to this puzzling crime, including whether another man, a recent robbery case and even arson may be connected to the fatal shooting.
Karen Grauber was arrested at the scene of the shooting, the first floor of an office building at 7425 Frankford Ave., and charged with murder, but it wasn’t her first brush with the law in the last month.
On Dec. 11, criminal records show, she and another area man were arrested at the Strawbridge’s store at 2300 Cottman Ave. after they allegedly tried to steal some jewelry and then attacked store security guards when caught with the goods — a ring, a pair of earrings and a watch valued at $142.
Grauber and William Weiss, 37, of the 8700 block of Marsden St., were charged with robbery, conspiracy, assault, possessing an instrument of crime and theft.
A female security guard at the store told police that security cameras picked up Grauber and Weiss as they pocketed the merchandise and attempted to leave the store without paying for it shortly after 10 p.m.
When guards escorted the pair into an office to wait for police to arrive, Grauber allegedly went into a tirade, pushing and punching the guard before throwing a chair through a wall and breaking a pair of radios.
Grauber and Weiss are still scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing in the case on Jan. 23.
Under the name Karen O’Neill, Grauber has an undisclosed juvenile criminal history. Grauber was photographed by Philadelphia police at that time. Weiss, meanwhile, has an adult criminal record that includes narcotics convictions.
The Northeast Times was unable to locate Weiss for comment. Karen Grauber remains in jail following her murder arrest. Her preliminary hearing on that charge was scheduled for Jan. 11.
The Graubers were having problems at their two existing day-care centers, too. The centers operated under the name Tic-Tots, at 2816 Cottman Ave., and in St. Anne’s School at Cedar and Tucker streets.
On Oct. 21, police responded to a report of an attempted arson at the Cottman Avenue day-care location. A manager of the center had arrived at about 6 a.m. to discover that someone had drenched a carpet in the finished basement in gasoline and apparently attempted to ignite it, said Capt. Jack McGinnis, commander of Northeast Detectives. Spent matches were found near the carpet.
There were no signs of forced entry into the basement, which was in active use by the day-care facility.
Firefighters removed the carpet from the building. It is unknown if the facility eventually reopened. No one has been charged in the crime.
Detectives in the police department’s East Division are investigating another possible arson at the Cedar Street location around the same time, police sources said.
The day-care facility had leased the space from St. Anne’s Parish for about 18 months. The Rev. Joseph Brandt, pastor of the parish, told the Times he is unaware of any fires involving the day-care facility, which closed early this week at the direction of the Grauber family, he said.
Tic-Tots had been licensed by the state Department of Public Welfare for "at least a couple of years," according to a department official. Previously, the two facilities operated with "full" licenses, said Ralph Guerrero, a DPW licensing representative for Philadelphia. They were permitted to serve 48 and 46 children, respectively.
As of Dec. 12, however, both facilities operated under "provisional" licenses. That means they were not in full compliance with each of more than 300 requirements mandated by the state for day-care facilities.
Carpeting is one of the requirements, Guerrero said.
A provisional license can last for six months and gives a center time to meet all requirements. Generally, a provisional license won’t be issued if more than a couple of requirements are not met.
Local DPW officials are "closely monitoring" the Tic-Tots situation, Guerrero said, although they cannot revoke the business’ license until the owner has been found guilty of criminal activity.
Police homicide investigators have not said what may have been the immediate motive for the shooting or whether anyone other than the husband and wife were present at the time. Anthony Grauber was 38.
The couple were preparing the new Frankford Avenue facility — which was not yet licensed — for its grand opening later in the month, authorities have said.
Police were called to the center at 11:58 p.m. and found Anthony Grauber lying on the first floor with a wound to the chest. They arrested his wife and recovered a gun at the scene.
According to Marge Carey, office manager for the Philadelphia Association of Retail Druggists, located on the second floor of the building, the Graubers had talked of opening their center this week. Carey spoke to Karen Grauber in the days before the shooting.
"She asked if she could come in and talk with me. She hoped we didn’t have any problems with the day care," Carey said. "I said I’m sure there wouldn’t be any problems."
The couple seemed enthusiastic about the expansion of their child-care business. Karen Grauber liked the idea of having a new office on-site, while Anthony Grauber — a contractor, according to neighbors — worked on the renovations and ran out to get coffee for the both of them.
"They were excited about painting and everything," Carey said. "He was interviewing help on (Dec. 28). She said, ‘I’m going to have my own office.’"
Carey said the couple often worked on the place at night while contractors came and left periodically in the daytime.
Neighbor Frank Dabundo said he was friendly with the couple, who had five children ages 5 to 17. They all attended or currently attend St. Dominic’s School. The oldest girl attends St. Hubert High School.
Dabundo had heard from a family friend that the couple were having problems, but he never witnessed it personally. Instead, he viewed them as a welcome addition to the neighborhood.
In about a decade there, the couple fixed up the house and it became a gathering spot for neighborhood youths, with a pool and playground set in the back yard.
"He did most of the work himself and she seemed pretty nice, too, and all of that," said Dabundo, who would give the couple vegetables from his garden and plow their sidewalk with his snowblower.
Another neighbor, Charles Halata, said the couple seemed to have a lot of friends and visitors, including many at night. "There were a lot of people going in and out of there day and night," Halata said.
He claims that police visited the home twice last summer. The officers and couple ended up "outside talking for a long time," Halata said.
The only time Dabundo saw police at the home was when the Graubers were on vacation and their alarm went off, he said.
Halata called himself "the most surprised person in the world" when he learned of Anthony Grauber’s shooting death and his wife’s arrest on a murder charge. ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com