Dell's Maraschino Cherries owner Arthur Mondella reportedly committed suicide in his family's third-generation Brooklyn plant on Tuesday prior to New York authorities discovering his undercover weed operation.
The 57-year-old father of three (two adult daughters from a first marriage and toddler from his second) screamed "Take care of my kids!” to his sister after locking himself in a bathroom of the factory, followed by a gunshot to the head NY Daily News reported.
Investigators initially went to the plant in a ploy to catch his company polluting nearby waters with cherry waste and syrup, sources said, but smelled a faint hint of weed when they were on the premises. Daily News reported that upon questioning Mondella for five hours, authorities came across flimsy shelving that was attached to the wall by magnets.
