Slain Theater Manager A `Really Neat Kid' -- Man, 20, Had Been Working Double Shifts At Factoria Cinemas

BELLEVUE - A 20-year-old theater manager shot to death at the Factoria Cinemas had been working overtime to prepare for cancer treatments, his mother said.

Michael Joseph Fidecaro of Tukwila died of a gunshot wound to the head, according to the King County Medical Examiner's Office.

The body of Fidecaro, the theater complex's relief manager, was found on the stairway to the office by a janitor just before dawn yesterday.

Police Detective Lt. Ed Mott this morning said Fidecaro was shot at close range sometime after 2 a.m. The last employees, who left the theater at that time, said he was planning to leave shortly after.

Mott said there are no leads but added that money was taken from the premises.

Fidecaro had worked at the theater for four years, most recently as relief manager. He had been working double shifts to make up for the wages he expected to lose next week when he was to undergo chemotherapy for cancer, said his mother, Cheryl McHugh of Des Moines.

McHugh and other relatives tried to page Fidecaro when he failed to return home from work yesterday.

"He was a really, really neat kid, never a bit of trouble," McHugh said. "Everybody liked him."

Theater employees were informed of the shooting as they arrived for work early yesterday afternoon and later held an informal gathering for Fidecaro. The theater was closed as police continued their investigation.

Moviegoers who found the doors locked and yellow crime tape stretched across the entrance were given passes to future shows.

Employees would not talk to reporters, referring questions to the Toronto headquarters of the 185-theater Cineplex Odeon chain, where a spokeswoman said the company had received little information from police about the circumstances of the killing.

"It's a very unfortunate incident," Marci Davies said.

Violence at movie theaters is rare, Davies said. "I've been in the company eight years, and this is the second situation like this." In the other case, an employee was killed during a robbery attempt after a Chicago theater had closed for the night.

The slaying was the third in Bellevue this year.

The Factoria movie complex was the scene of another incident in May 1982, when a patron fatally shot John Bartol, 27, and his brother Mark, 19, during an argument in the parking lot.

James V. Smith, convicted of second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter, was sentenced to life plus 10 years in prison.

Research assistance for this article was provided by Stephen L Selter of The Seattle Times library.