Disney's Stepford-style town loses its sheen with two violent deaths

Craig Foushee, 52, barricaded himself in his home for more than 14 hours, and shot at deputies several times. None were injured.

When police entered the home they found him dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

A picture-perfect community created by Disney in central Florida had just reported the first homicide in its 14-year existence.

Residents in Celebration, five miles south of Walt Disney World, woke up to the sight of yellow crime-scene tape wrapped around an apartment near the Christmas-decorated downtown, where Bing Crosby croons from hidden speakers.

The 58-year-old who lived alone with his chihuahua had been killed over the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

The community's famous friendliness is what brought investigators to Matteo Giovanditto's body: neighbours had not seen him for days, so they filed a missing person report, then went into his home a day later and found him.

Celebration is an anomaly in Florida. The entire place is reminiscent of a quaint New England village. For some it is like something out of The Truman Show or The Stepford Wives, a skewed articial vision of suburban America, while others hold it up as a model of small-town living.

One resident recently joked it would not feel right until someone stole a bike – now it has two violent deaths.