Sixth Judicial Circuit, Pinellas County, Case #80-192

• Sentencing Judge: The Honorable Robert Beach
• Resentencing Judge: The Honorable Robert Beach
• Attorneys, Trial: Paul Scherer & John Thor White – Assistant Public Defenders
• Attorney, Resentencing: Larry Hoffman, Esq.
• Attorney, Direct Appeal: Philip J. Padovano, Esq.
• Attorney, Direct Appeal, Resentencing: Steven Bright, Esq. & Clive Stafford Smith, Esq.
• Attorney, Collateral Appeals: Robert Norgard – Private

Date of Offense: 01/02/80
Date of Sentence: 09/03/80
Date of Resentence: 04/11/90

Circumstances of Offense:

• On the morning of 01/03/80, St. Petersburg police responded to a call that the nude body of an unidentified woman had been found in the mud flats of Tampa Bay. There was evidence that the woman had been dragged from a grassy area on shore into the water at high tide. An examination of the body revealed severe lacerations on the head and rectum, and bruising on the throat. Medical examiners determined that drowning was ultimately the cause of death. Additionally, there was an adequate amount of acid phosphotase found in the woman’s rectum to suggest the presence of semen. The lacerations in her rectum were determined to be cause by the insertion of a large object.

• Unable to identify the body of the woman, St. Petersburg police turned to the public for help. An anonymous caller gave police of the license plate number of Robert Waterhouse and suggested that they should investigate him. The body of the woman was identified as Deborah Kammerer by her neighbors, Yohan Wenz and Carol Byers. Wenz and Byers reported that on the evening of 01/02/80 they accompanied Kammerer to the ABC Lounge. They later left the lounge, while Kammerer stayed behind. Kyoe Ginn, a bartender at the ABC Lounge, testified that he saw Kammerer talking to Robert Waterhouse and that the two left the lounge together around 1:00 a.m.

• On the evening of 01/07/80, Robert Waterhouse was asked to go to the police station voluntarily for questioning. Waterhouse told the investigators that he did not know the victim and did not leave the bar with a woman. Waterhouse was permitted to leave the police station, but his car was impounded with a search warrant. A search of his car revealed bloodstains and a luminol test showed that more blood had been wiped up. The blood found in the car was consistent with the blood type of Kammerer and inconsistent with the blood type of Waterhouse. Additionally, investigators found strands of hair that were similar in characteristic to the samples taken from Kammerer. There were also fibers in the car that matched fibers from the Kammerer’s coat and pants.

• Waterhouse was arrested on 01/09/80 for the murder of Deborah Kammerer. During a subsequent interrogation, Waterhouse was shown a picture of Kammerer and admitted that he did, in fact, know her.

Additional Information:

• In 1966, Robert Waterhouse was indicted on charges of First-Degree Murder and Burglary in New York. He was charged with breaking into a home and killing 77-year-old Ella Carter. Waterhouse pled guilty to Second-Degree Murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment. He was on lifetime parole at the time of the Kammerer murder.

Sixth Judicial Circuit, Pinellas County, Case #92-17438

• Sentencing Judge: The Honorable Susan F. Schaeffer
• Trial Attorney: Frederic S. Zinober, Esq. & Robert A. Santa Lucia, Esq.
• Attorney, Direct Appeal: Paul Helm – Assistant Public Defender
• Attorney, Collateral Appeals: Gary Printy – Registry
• Date of Offense: 06/01/89
• Date of Sentence: 11/04/94

Circumstances of Offense:

• Oba Chandler was convicted and sentenced to death for the murders of Joan Rogers and her two daughters, Michelle and Christe, on 06/01/89.

• Joan Rogers and her daughters were vacationing in Tampa from Ohio and checked into their hotel on 06/01/89. Housekeeping staff noticed that their room remained uninhabited for over week, at which point, they contacted the manager, who then contacted police. Upon investigation, the Rogers’ car was found abandoned beside a boat ramp off the Courtney Campbell Causeway. Inside the car they found a brochure with directions on it, parts of which were written in Oba Chandler’s handwriting. Chandler’s fingerprints were also lifted from the brochure.

• The bodies of all three women were found tied and weighted in Tampa Bay on 06/04/89. Each woman was naked from the waist down, arms and legs bound, and a cinder block was tied by a rope around their necks. Medical examiners determined the cause of death of all three women to be asphyxiation from the ropes around their necks, or from drowning.

• Investigation revealed similarities between the Rogers’ murders and the rape of a woman in a nearby area. From information given by Judy Blair, the victim of the rape, a composite drawing was made of the suspect and printed in the local paper, along with the stories of the two crimes. After seeing the article, Chandler fled the area and stayed with relatives. He admitted to them that the police were searching for him in connection with the rape/murder investigation.

• At trial, Judy Blair testified that when she first met Chandler he offered to take her on a sunset cruise on his boat. Not fearing for her safety in the least, Blair accompanied Chandler on a ride through Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. While at sea, Chandler raped Blair. Blair testified that she believed he would have killed her had it not been for the fact that a friend was waiting for her back at the dock. The State used this incident to hypothesize how Chandler lured the Rogers family with the offer of a cruise on his boat before he killed them. Chandler was not arrested or charged with the murders until September 1992.

Eleventh Judicial Circuit, Dade County, Case #78-5281

• Sentencing Judge, Trial I: The Honorable Ellen J. Morphonios
• Sentencing Judge, Trial II: The Honorable James R. Jorgenson
• Sentencing Judge, Resentencing: The Honorable Norman S. Gerstein
• Attorneys, Trial I: David Goodhart & Vance Carr
• Attorneys, Trial II: Elliot Scherker & Leonard Rosenbaum – Assistant Public Defenders
• Attorneys, Resentencing: Michael Zelman & Elliot Scherker – Assistant Public Defenders
• Attorneys, Direct Appeal I: Elliot Scherker & Karen Gottlieb – Assistant Public Defenders
• Attorney, Direct Appeal II: Michael Zelman – Assistant Public Defender
• Attorneys, Direct Appeal, Resentencing: Louis Jepeway & Michael Mello
• Attorney, Collateral Appeals: Suzanne Myers – CCRC-S

Date of Offense: 04/02/78
Date of Sentencing, Trial I: 05/10/78
Date of Sentencing, Trial II: 08/04/81
Date of Resentencing: 03/16/88

Circumstances of Offense:

Manuel Valle was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Officer Louis Pena of the Coral Gables Police Department.

Officer Gary Spell, who was at the scene, recalled the following events at trial: On 04/02/78, Officer Louis Pena pulled over Manuel Valle and his codefendant, Felix Ruiz, for a traffic violation. Upon arriving at the scene, Officer Spell observed Valle sitting in the patrol car with Officer Pena. When Officer Pena initiated a registration check on the stolen car that Valle was driving, Valle exited the patrol car and walked back over to his own vehicle. Valle retrieved a gun from his car, returned to the patrol car, and fired one shot at Officer Pena, killing him. Valle then turned and fired two shots at Officer Spell before fleeing the scene. Valle was apprehended two days later in Deerfield Beach.

Codefendant Information:

• Felix Ruiz was charged as an accessory after the fact and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment on 06/20/78.

Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, Brevard County Case #00-44691

• Sentencing Judge: The Honorable Tonya Rainwater
• Attorney, Trial:  J. Randall Moore – 18th Circuit, Public Defender
• Attorney, Direct Appeal: Christopher S. Quarles – 7th Circuit, Public Defender
• Attorney, Collateral Appeals: TBA

Date of Offense: 12/14/00

Date of Sentence: 03/07/06

Circumstances of Offense:

On 12/19/00, the bodies of Rufus Johnson, 69, and his wife, Kyoko Johnson, 62, were found in their home in Melbourne, Florida.  During the autopsies, the medical examiner found an unsigned extortion note in the shirt pocket of Kyoko Johnson. The note claimed that an unnamed employer hired the author to murder Rufus Johnson for $5,000.  The note outlined a plan for Mr. Johnson to retrieve funds from his bank while the author held Kyoko Johnson hostage.  If Rufus Johnson did not return in one hour, she would be killed.  The note confessed that the author did not want to hurt Rufus Johnson because of Johnson’s help in trying to save the life of the author’s brother.  This information led investigators to Anthony Welch whose brother, Ricky, had committed suicide years before.  Rufus Johnson had helped Anthony perform CPR.

Welch was arrested on 12/21/00 and confessed the same day to both murders and to stealing property from the Johnsons’ home.

Trial Summary:

01/09/01          Indicted as follows:

Count I:           First-Degree Murder (Kyoko Johnson)

Count II:         First-Degree Murder (Rufus Johnson)

Count III:        Robbery with a Deadly Weapon

Count IV:        Trafficking Stolen Property

Count V:         Grand Theft Motor Vehicle

01/07/05          Defendant entered guilty plea; court proceeds to penalty phase.

11/21/05          Jury recommended death by a vote of 12-0.

03/07/06          Sentenced as follows:

Count I:           First-Degree Murder (Kyoko Johnson) – Death

Count II:         First-Degree Murder (Rufus Johnson) – Death

Count III:        Robbery with a Deadly Weapon – Life

Count IV:        Trafficking Stolen Property – 15 Years

Count V:         Grand Theft Motor Vehicle – 5 Years

18th Judicial Circuit, Seminole County Case # 06-CF-4522A

• Sentencing Judge: The Honorable Donna L. McIntosh
• Attorney, Trial: Timothy Caudill and Kevin Proulx – Public Defender’s Office
• Attorney, Direct Appeal: Timothy Caudill – Public Defender’s Office
• Attorney, Collateral Appeals:  TBA

Date of Offense: 09/22/06
Date of Sentence: 01/28/09

Circumstances of Offense:

William and Patricia Silvia were married for four years, until their separation in 2006. Patricia and her two children from a previous marriage moved in with her mother and stepfather, Betty and Patrick Woodard, in Winter Park, Florida. William made several unannounced visits at night to speak to Patricia, but he was refused each time.

William became homeless after his separation from Patricia, which led him to sleep in his car or rent motel rooms. Silvia was fired from his job on 09/22/06. Later that day, he purchased a pump-action, 12-gauge Mossberg 500 shotgun and ammunition and rented a local motel room.

The Woodards were having a cookout that evening. Patricia, her children, parents, sister, brother, and other friends were there. William arrived at the home around 9:00 p.m., with the shotgun in his truck. He asked to speak to Patricia in hopes of reconciling with her. They had a brief conversation outside, and Patricia returned inside the house. William walked back to his truck to retrieve the shotgun and fired two shots in the air while walking back to the Woodward’s house. Patricia’s uncle, sister, and daughter were all in the carport at the time. Her uncle fell to the ground between two vehicles, and her sister returned to the house. As Patricia’s daughter was trying to head inside to the house to find her brother, William pointed the gun at her from one foot away. Patricia and Betty were in the kitchen, which was connected to the carport. Betty opened the door to the carport and was shot in the face. Patricia was shot in the head while she got ice out of the refrigerator. When Patrick heard gunshots, he came out of the bedroom to check on everyone. He found Patricia lying in front of the refrigerator and Betty outside the door to the carport, on the floor, and covering her face. William was at the end of the carport with the gun in his hand, pointing it at Patrick and pumping it.

Patricia died at the scene of the crime due to numerous pellet gunshot wounds to her head, according to the medical examiner. Betty was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center and was considered to be in “grim” condition due to the blood loss and massive facial and head trauma. She survived the shooting. William was arrested in the early morning of 09/23/06 in the parking lot of the motel where he had rented a room. He was transported to the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, and on the way he confessed to shooting Patricia. Police officers searched William’s motel room and found a shotgun, shotgun shells, weapons manuals, and empty beer bottles. The shotgun shells were the same as the ones found at the crime scene, and a firearms analyst concluded that shells found at the crime scene were also fired from the shotgun found in William’s motel room.

Trial Summary:

10/24/06          Indicted as follows:

• Count I:           First-Degree Murder (Patricia Silvia)
• Count II:         Attempted First-Degree Murder (Betty Woodard)

06/06/08          Jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts of the indictment
07/21/08          Jury recommended death by a vote of 11-1
01/28/09          Sentenced as follows:

• Count I:           First-Degree Murder – Death (Patricia Silvia)
• Count II:         Attempted First-Degree Murder – Life in Prison (Betty Woodard)

First Judicial Circuit, Escambia County Case # 03-05683-CF

• Sentencing Judge: The Honorable Terry D. Terrell
• Attorney, Trial: Jerry T. Allred – Public Defender
• Attorney, Direct Appeal: David A. Davis – Assistant Public Defender

Date of Offense:  12/19/2001
Date of Sentence:   02/12/2009

Circumstances of Offense:

On February 12, 2009, Willie James Hodges was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Patricia Belanger.  On December 19, 2001, Hodges entered Belanger’s home, fatally stabbed and bludgeoned her, and then fled through a window.

The body was found by several of Belanger’s relatives.  Stanley Clinton Taylor, testified that when he and his family arrived at Belanger’s home, her front door was closed and locked.  Debra Taylor, Belanger’s daughter, used her key to unlock the door, but after the door was unlocked, it would not open.  After walking around to the back of the house, Stanley returned to the front door and found it completely closed and again locked. Stanley unlocked the door again, but, this time, his stepson said he saw someone moving inside the house and, at about the same moment, he heard glass break.  Stanley was finally able to enter the house through the door and moved the chair that was blocking it.  Once the door was open, Stanley saw Belanger lying face down in the dining room.  Her jacket was wrapped around her head and her pants were pulled down around her legs.

Debra testified that, as she heard the glass breaking, she saw a man run from the house and “hurtle” the fence in Belanger’s yard.  He wore a blue and gray jacket, a black hood that was like a ski mask, and dungaree-style jeans.

Stanley and Joe called 911.  An officer with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office (ECSO), was dispatched to Belanger’s home.  After he was told that a man was seen fleeing from the house, he called for a K-9 unit.  Another officer and his canine partner arrived 15 minutes later. They then started to track the suspect from the east side of the residence where a window was broken. The officer followed the canine partner over fences, and found white socks on them.  Then, the officer followed his dog through a swampy area, a clay pit, a wooded area, and an open field.  On the way, the officer found a shoe and footprints. As they returned to the Belanger’s home, the officer found another shoe and a “Member’s Only” jacket.

Several law enforcement officers testified about the crime scene at the home.  When the officers arrived, Belanger was lying face down in the dining room.  A claw hammer and a brown leather braided belt were found near the body.  A bedroom window on the right side of the house was broken, and a knife and several photographs were on the ground outside the window.  The knife had a black plastic handle, while the knives in Belanger’s kitchen had only wooden handles.  In the room where the window was broken, a drawer was found that was filled with crew-style white socks similar to socks found by the K-9 officer.

The Chief Medical Examiner found two lacerations on Belanger’s head and fractures to her skull under the lacerations.  The examiner opined that the head injuries were consistent with having been inflicted by a hammer and also consistent with the hammer in question.  He also testified about an incise wound that was four and three-quarter inches in length and a stab wound to Belanger’s neck, which had cut into her jugular vein.  He opined that the neck wounds were the correct shape and depth to have been caused by the steak knife in evidence. The examiner concluded that the manner of death was homicide and the cause of death was related to the wounds inflicted by the hammer and the knife.

Various witnesses connected Hodges to the jacket, shoes, belt, knife, and photographs found in and near Belanger’s home.

Several analysts testified about the DNA testing of physical evidence collected from the Belanger crime scene.  The DNA profile developed from the blood on one of the socks found by the K-9 officer was the same as Hodge’s known DNA profile on all thirteen markers, and partial DNA profiles developed from the other sock were also consistent with Hodges’ known DNA profile.  Dr Martin Tracy, professor of biological sciences at Florida International University in Miami, testified that the chances of the DNA (on one of the socks) belonging to someone else was one in 990 quadrillion.

In addition to evidence about the Belanger homicide, the State introduced evidence of a collateral homicide pursuant to Williams v. State, 110 So. 2d 654 (Fla. 1959). Additionally, two witnesses (one was a cellmate in the Escambia County Jail) testified that Hodges confessed to them that he had committed two murders.

On March 7, 2008, a jury found Hodges guilty of first-degree murder by general verdict.  The trial court then conducted a penalty phase from March 17 to March 20, 2008.

On March 20, 2008, by a vote of ten to two, the jury recommended a death sentence.

Story Here.

• Sentencing Judge: The Honorable Brian D. Lambert
• Attorney, Trial: Candace A. Hawthorne – Private
• Attorney, Direct Appeal: Christopher J. Anderson – Private
• Attorney, Collateral Appeals: TBA

Date of Offense: 07/21/06
Date of Sentence: 05/05/08

Circumstances of Offense:

Sheila Miller was living with her parents, James and Diana Miller, in The Villages, a gated retirement community in Marion County, Florida. She was recovering from an automobile accident. On 07/21/06, Renaldo McGirth, who was one of Sheila’s acquaintances, Jarrord Roberts, and Theodore Houston, Jr. visited Sheila at her parents’ home. James had seen the three men enter the house, but he went to take a shower before his haircut appointment. After they spent some time talking in the living room, Sheila, McGirth, and Houston went to Sheila’s room. Roberts stayed in the living room with Diana. While in Sheila’s bedroom, McGirth pointed a gun at her and ordered Houston to tape her mouth and bind her wrists with duct tape. Diana was asked to come into Sheila’s bedroom, where McGirth pushed her onto the bed and asked for all of her money. She replied that she only had $70 in the house. McGirth believed she had more because she lived in The Villages. When Diana went to retrieve the money, McGirth shot her in the chest. Diana informed McGirth that he shot her in the heart and asked for him to call 911, but he ignored her.

Roberts took the Millers’ wallets and car keys and gave them to McGirth. After James finished his shower, he was taken to Sheila’s bedroom. He was forced to the ground and had his head pinned to the floor by one of the men’s foot. The men then took Diana into the computer room. They used the Miller’s credit cards and identification information coerced from Diana to attempt to purchase cell phones online, but they were unable to complete the purchases. Diana crawled back to Sheila’s bedroom several minutes later.

McGirth and Houston took Sheila from the house, and Roberts placed her in the Millers’ van. McGirth and Houston returned to the house where McGirth shot James and Diana in the backs of their heads. According to the medical examiner, Diana died as a result of the gunshot to her head. James survived and escaped through the window to get help from a neighbor.

Meanwhile, McGirth and Roberts took Sheila to an ATM nearby. Houston followed in the car, a silver Ford, which the group used to travel to the Millers’ house. Sheila withdrew $500, gave the money to McGirth, and he divided it into thirds. They all traveled to a K-Mart in Belleview where McGirth and Sheila attempted to find a specific cell phone in the store, but without success. The men and Sheila left the Ford in the K-Mart parking lot and went to a mall in Gainesville. They tried to withdraw money from multiple ATMs and purchase items from stores, but they were not successful.

Law enforcement officers secured the scene at the Millers’ house and issued a BOLO (be on the lookout) for a red van with three black males and a possible kidnap victim. The van was spotted by a police officer at a convenience store in Ocala. McGirth went inside the store, and the officer turned on his siren and lights when he returned. McGirth pulled over and was told by one of the men in the van to “shoot the cop.” Instead, McGirth kept the van running and, when he was ordered to turn it off, he sped away. A high-speed chase ensued. McGirth gave a gun to Houston and ordered him to shoot Sheila so that she could not identify any of them. Houston did not shoot her. The van was eventually stopped with stop sticks and a PIT (Precision Immobilization Technique) maneuver that caused it to roll several times. Sheila was found in the van, and Houston was discovered attempting to pull himself from underneath the van. McGirth and Roberts managed to flee the van, but were found and taken into custody shortly after. The police found $259 in McGirth’s pocket. The money was bloody, and his fingerprints were found on two paper items from James’ wallet.

Codefendant Information:
Roberts received life in prison for robbery with a firearm, 15 years for manslaughter, and five years for attempted voluntary manslaughter. He was also charged with kidnapping with a firearm, but was acquitted of that charge.

• Sentencing Judge: The Honorable O. H. Eaton Jr.
• Attorney, Trial: Tim Caudill – Public Defender’s Office
• Attorney, Direct Appeal: Christopher Sinclair Quarles – Public Defender’s Office
• Attorney, Collateral Appeals:  (TBA)

Date of Offense: 09/24/07
Date of Sentence: 11/19/08

Circumstances of Offense:

On 08/25/07, Andrew Allred hosted a party at his home to celebrate his 21st birthday. Allred’s girlfriend, Tiffany Barwick, and his best friend, Michael Ruschak, attended the party. Barwick had been living with Allred at his family’s home for several months. Their relationship came to an abrupt end that night and Barwick demanded that Allred give her back her belongings. Allred, in response to her demand, began throwing Barwick’s belongings over the property’s fence. The police responded to a call about this incident and ordered Allred to stop, but did not arrest him. A few days later, Allred purchased a .45-caliber handgun. Due to the legal waiting period, he did not take possession of the weapon until 09/07/07. On that day, Allred used pictures of Barwick for target practice and e-mailed a photo of the bullet-riddled pictures to her.

In the days shortly before the murders, Allred learned that Ruschak and Barwick had sexual intercourse. Allred began sending threatening messages to both. He also discussed his feelings of anger with a friend, Michael Siler. In an instant message exchange, Allred commented that he needed to start killing people. On 09/23/07, the day before the murders, Allred sent numerous messages specifically threatening Ruschak’s life. He also informed Barwick that he had hacked into her computer and had tampered with many of her files, including her bank account.

On the day of the murders, Allred was fired from his job. That evening, Allred and Siler went to dinner. They talked about work and other subjects, but Siler testified that Allred was despondent and often shrugged in response to questions. The thought that Allred might be suicidal crossed Siler’s mind. On the way home from dinner, Allred stopped to buy beer but did not drink any that night. When he got home, Allred contacted Ruschak and informed him that he was coming over. He knew Barwick would be with Ruschak. Allred picked up the handgun he had recently purchased and drove his truck to Ruschak’s house. At approximately 10:00 p.m. on 09/24/07, one of Ruschak’s neighbors saw a large black truck repeatedly crashing into a white car and called 911. The neighbor then observed the driver of the truck bang on Ruschak’s front door and walk around the side of the house.

At the time of the murders, Ruschak was living in the home of his friend Eric Roberts. Ruschak and Roberts had friends over that evening to watch a popular television program. Shortly after the guests had arrived, Ruschak told everyone that Allred was coming over. Hearing this news put Barwick “in full panic mode.”  Soon after, guests in the living room heard a loud sound outside. Ruschak looked out front and saw that Allred had arrived. He quickly locked the front door just before Allred began banging on it and loudly demanding to be let in.

Unable to enter the house through the front door, Allred went to the back of the house, where the guests had assembled in the living room. After banging on the sliding glass door, Allred fired a shot into it, shattering the glass. He entered the house and said nothing. After seeing Ruschak peer around a corner, Allred walked past Roberts into the kitchen and shot Ruschak several times. At this point, Roberts grabbed Allred from behind and asked him what he was doing. After a struggle, Allred shot Roberts in the leg. Roberts escaped out the shattered back door and ran to a neighbor’s house to get help.

At this point, most of the other guests had escaped and the only individuals left in the house were Allred, Barwick and Kathryn Cochran. Barwick hid in the hall bathroom at the front of the house, while Cochran hid in the master bathroom. While standing in the bathtub, Barwick placed a 911 call. The call was cut short as Allred entered the bathroom and, without saying a word, fired multiple shots into her. Barwick collapsed in the tub and died.

Allred then left the crime scene and called 911. He reported he had killed two people and threatened to commit suicide. When Deputy Sheriff David Kohn arrived at Allred’s home, Allred was standing at the end of the driveway with his cell phone in his hand. His gun was on the ground. Allred told the officer, “I’m the guy you’re looking for.” Allred was then turned over to the Oviedo Police Department for questioning.

• Sentencing Judge: The Honorable William Thomas
• Attorney, Trial: Gary I Rosenberg – Court Appointed
• Attorney, Direct Appeal: Andrew Stanton – Public Defender
• Attorney, Collateral Appeals: TBA

Date of Offense: 04/27/02
Date of Sentence: 06/07/07

Circumstances of Offense:

Victor Caraballo was convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping, robbery, and sexual battery of Ana Maria Angel on 06/07/07. Caraballo was also convicted of the attempted first-degree murder, robbery, and kidnapping of Nelson Portobanco.

On April 27, 2002, Angel and her boyfriend Portobanco, both high school students, went on a dinner date. After dinner, the two went for a walk on Miami Beach that lasted about 30 minutes. Around 12:30 a.m. on April 28, they decided to leave the beach and go home. As Angel and Portobanco walked to their car, they were stopped at gunpoint and forced into the rear cab of a white Ford F-150 pickup truck. Victor Caraballo, Joel Lebron, Hector Caraballo, Cesar Mena, and Jesus Torres Roman were inside the truck. The group had traveled from Orlando to Miami Beach on the evening of April 27 in the rented truck. Mena was the driver and Caraballo was the front-seat passenger. Hector Caraballo, Lebron, and Roman sat in the rear cab of the truck with Angel and Portobanco. While in the truck, Angel and Portobanco were robbed of their belongings, which included Angel‘s purse, cell phone, Florida identification card, automatic teller machine (ATM) card, various items of jewelry, and Portobanco‘s wallet and cell phone. After forcing Angel to reveal her personal identification number (PIN), the robbers used her ATM card to withdraw money from an ATM and to purchase gasoline.

Thereafter, the truck entered Interstate 95 and proceeded in a northerly direction with Angel and Portobanco trapped in the rear cab. At one point, Portobanco was told to kiss Angel and then to touch her in an intimate manner. When Portobanco refused, he was pushed onto the floorboard. Angel was then brutally gang-raped by the other three occupants of the rear cab. Thereafter, Caraballo exclaimed that it was his turn, climbed into the back seat, and sexually battered Angel. After the sexual attacks ended, the truck continued traveling north and then stopped alongside the interstate. Portobanco was forced out of the truck and down an embankment. There, he was repeatedly stabbed and left for dead. One of Portobanco‘s multiple stab wounds was located extremely close to an artery.

The truck continued to travel north on the interstate for several more miles with Angel still trapped inside. When the truck stopped again, Angel was forced out of the truck and taken to a retaining wall alongside the interstate. There, Angel was forced to her knees and was shot once in the back of her head killing her instantly. After brutally stabbing Portobanco and fatally shooting Angel, the group of five headed back home to Orlando during the early morning hours of April 28. The rental truck was returned to the rental agency in Orlando that same day.

Portobanco, who did not succumb to his injuries, made his way to the side of the road and summoned help. There, a passerby stopped and emergency personnel were called. Portobanco was taken to a Miami hospital where he talked with law enforcement officers while being treated. Portobanco told the officers about the kidnapping and explained that when he last saw Angel, she was alive. After law enforcement officers obtained the numbers for both Angel‘s and Portobanco‘s cell phones, a call was traced from one of the phones to a residential telephone number at the Hawthorne Village Apartments in Orlando. The phone number was linked to Hector Caraballo.

During the morning of April 28, local and statewide law enforcement officers set up a staging area in south Orange County in the vicinity of the Hawthorne Village Apartments. Although the officers did not locate Hector Caraballo, the Hawthorne Village staff informed them that a person named Victor Caraballo was recently a tenant in the complex. Apartment staff told law enforcement that Caraballo had been evicted and that his apartment should be vacant. Law enforcement officers went to the apartment formerly rented by Caraballo and knocked on the door. Hawthorne Village staff, who accompanied the officers to the apartment, discovered that someone placed a new noncompliant lock on the apartment door. Despite multiple attempts to get the attention of anyone who might be inside, no one came to the door. Thereafter, with the consent of Hawthorne Village staff, law enforcement officers kicked in the door and entered the apartment. Once inside the apartment, they discovered that the door had been barricaded with a piece of wood and a hydraulic jack, and they discovered someone who identified himself as Victor Caraballo.

Caraballo, whose primary language is Spanish, was advised in Spanish of his Miranda rights. After indicating that he understood his rights, he signed a waiver form printed in Spanish. Caraballo acknowledged that he and four others (Hector Caraballo, Mena, Lebron, and Roman) traveled to Miami Beach the evening before and robbed a young couple. Caraballo stated that Portobanco was beaten and left at some point during the trip back to Orlando, but he claimed that Angel traveled back to Orlando with the group and that she begged to be let go throughout the trip. Caraballo admitted to having some of the items belonging to Angel and Portobanco. He showed FDLE Agent Francisco Hidalgo where various items were located in the apartment, including Portobanco‘s wallet and Angel‘s purse, cell phone, and ATM card. In an abundance of caution, Hidalgo also obtained consent from Caraballo to search the apartment and seize the items. That evening, Caraballo was taken to the Orlando FDLE office where he made another statement. Several months after the murder, Caraballo wrote a letter that contained a voluntary confession and sent it to the State Attorney‘s Office.

Codefendant Information:

Codefendant Mena was convicted of six of the seven counts and sentenced to life in prison.

Codefendant Roman was convicted of all seven counts and sentenced to life in prison. Roman was under the age of eighteen at the time of the murder.

Codefendants Lebron and Hector Caraballo are still awaiting trial.

• Sentencing Judge: The Honorable Mark H. Mahon
• Attorney, Trial: Waffa Hanania – Public Defender’s Office
• Attorney, Direct Appeal: Nada M. Carey – Public Defender’s Office
• Attorney, Collateral Appeals:  TBA

Date of Offense: 07/26/99
Date of Sentence: 12/13/07

Circumstances of Offense:

Paul Durousseau was sentenced to death after being convicted of the strangulation murder of Tyresa Mack.

On July 26, 1999, between the hours of 9:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., Mack and a friend applied for employment at various business establishments. Eyewitnesses placed Durousseau at Mack‘s Jacksonville apartment sometime between noon and 2:00 p.m. One of the eyewitnesses saw Durousseau carrying a television out of the apartment and watched as he placed it in his car. The last time anyone heard from Mack was around 1:25 p.m. that afternoon when Mack spoke with a friend on the phone. Mack did not pick her children up from daycare that day and missed a 3:00 p.m. doctor‘s appointment for her youngest child. Around 7:00 p.m. that same evening, Mack‘s sister and her stepfather went to Mack‘s apartment in an attempt to locate her. At that time, they discovered Mack‘s body, which was lying in a semi-fetal position on the bed. Her body was nude from the waist down and a white cord was wrapped around her neck. The living room television and a “X‘s and O‘s” necklace and bracelet set that Mack always wore were missing. Durousseau‘s DNA was found in Mack‘s vagina and the medical examiner concluded that Mack died from asphyxia.

Additional Information:

On June 23, 2003, Durousseau was indicted on five counts of first-degree murder for the murders of Nichole Williams, Nikia Kilpatrick, Shawanda McCallister, Jovanna Jefferson, and Surita Cohen. The similar methodology employed by the perpetrator, as well as DNA evidence from each crime scene, caused investigators to conclude that Mack was one of Durousseau‘s victims. On August 26, 2003, Durousseau was arrested for the murder of Mack. The state nolle prossed the five collateral murders.