Articles Posted in Murder

On Monday, the dilemma of who will represent convicted killer William Van Poyck, 58 in a midnight hour appeal has been awkwardly resolved by Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Charles Burton when he appointed “all” three lawyers that had dealings in Van Poyck’s case over the past 26 years. Most people involved in the 2-hour hearing considered the ruling to be bizarre to say the least.

Van Poyck was convicted of murdering Glades Correctional Institution prison guard Fred Griffis in 1987 in front of a doctor’s office located in West Palm Beach.

In the trial where he was found guilty, he was originally represented by William Lasley who was later arrested for possession of cocaine after Van Poyck’s guilty verdict was confirmed. He has since vanished from the case letting his membership in the Florida Bar expire. He claimed an insanity defense in his own case.

The deadline for motions to be filed that could save Van Poyck’s life was set for 3 p.m. this Friday. He is scheduled to be executed on June 12.

Attorney’s Jeffrey Davis & Gerald Bettman were appointed by Burton due to the fact that they both have previously represented him in his appeals that have been going on since his 1987 conviction. The Judge stated that both lawyers had the most understanding of most of the issues dealing with the case. He also appointed Tallahassee attorney Mark Olive to assist in the intricate appeals after a death warrant is signed by the Governor. Florida’s Governor Rick Scott signed the death warrant on May 3.

Both Davis & Gerald Bettman explained to the Judge that they neither had the proper time, expertise or resources to represent their appointed client properly. Davis specified that the single logical maneuver would be to petition the Florida Supreme Court to permit a stay of execution in order for all of the appointed attorneys to present the dynamic type of appeal that’s demanded by the state before an execution takes place.

He also suggested that if that scenario couldn’t be achieved, another option would be to ask the 11th Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta to intercede on the matter.

“Everyone’s willing to clear the decks and put in the time necessary but four days, that’s just not enough time.” he said.

He went on to say “Frankly, this is the kind of case that gives the death penalty a bad name.” Davis practices civil appellate law in Wisconsin, a state that doesn’t have the death penalty.
Mark Olive, the third attorney named in the last minute appeal is known as a premier death-penalty defense attorney, practicing in the state of Florida. He told the Judge that he has the “legal chops” but has no knowledge referring to Van Poyck’s situation. “It’s just a farce, frankly,” he said.
Since his original lawyer’s arrest Davis and Bettman had previously represented Van Poyck on particular issues but the two were never actually appointed to represent him before. Neither of them ever anticipated being recruited to handle this appeal. Davis, who was vacationing in France, last week, said he never received any notification that the death warrant was signed by the Governor. He also mentioned that he was never delivered an order laying out the stringent timetable for appeal by the Florida Supreme Court.

Bettman also argued that he shouldn’t be required to handle the last-minute appeal but his name appears on two of Van Poyck’s previous appeals. Davis’s name appears on the other ten.

Late last Friday, the Florida Supreme Court handed down a ruling specifying that any of the fourteen lawyers who filed appeals for Van Poyck in the past were still his lawyers. This set the stage for this week’s hearing by mandating Burton to choose which of the fourteen lawyers, counting Mr. Lasley, was most capable to handle the last-ditch effort appeal.

Martin McClain, an attorney and a death-penalty expert, who also could have been chosen at the Judge’s discretion, said that what the three attorneys are being asked to do in four days is impossible. “Crazy,” he said, outlining his view of the Judge’s appointments. “Absolutely insane.” In previous cases concerning volunteer lawyers, the Florida Supreme Court stays of execution have been granted in the effort for new lawyers to “get up to speed”, he said.

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As she arrived at her home, Megan McGlynn was just getting her one and five year old children, out of her van when shots rang out. Manatee County sheriff’s deputy Aaron Bradley aimed and fired at a vehicle that was heading directly toward him and another deputy. McGlynn quickly protected her kids by shielding them from the gunfire while she hurried to unlock her front door. She then herded her kids into the bathroom and placed them in the bathtub, keeping them away from the windows. While they were safely inside, a bullet hit Joanna Mojica, the driver of the suspect vehicle, in the head. McGlynn said that she thought the man that was eventually arrested was the driver of the car because she noticed him running to the passenger side screaming.

As it turned out, Jesse Flores, 27 was the passenger of the vehicle who she saw running yelling, “my girl, my girl, she’s dead” as she slumped over to the passenger side of the car. He was crying and cursing at the cops, as he asked why they shot her, according to McGlynn.

McGlynn was also quoted as saying “It was just like a movie, I thought it was a drive-by or a robbery. I had no idea the cops were the ones shooting.

The events unfolded around 10:20 p.m. when the deputies responded to a 911 call made by the building’s landlord who was alerted by one of McGlynn’s neighbors who told the landlord that he heard a crashing noise at the premises located in the 900 block of 66th Avenue West, in Manatee, as reported by Dave Bristow, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office.

The bullet struck the actual driver of the car, Joanna Mojica, in the head. According to a probable cause affidavit to back Flores’ arrest, he spotted the deputies heading toward them and jumped into the car yelling at Mojica to “Go, go, go!”
The officers who were on foot ordered Mojica to stop but instead she accelerated, and continued driving right at them. In what he felt was self-defense, Deputy Bradley fired his weapon at the vehicle five times, according to Dave Bristow, the sheriff’s office spokesman. McGlynn, however, said she recalled hearing at least 20 shots. Bristow said that the quantity of shots fired would be determined after officials process the car. The car crashed into a mailbox and finally came to rest in front of McGlynn’s house.

After the smoke cleared and the scene was secured, Mojica was taken to Blake Medical Center where she was pronounced dead upon arrival.

Flores was arrested at the scene and is now being held at the Manatee County jail without bond. There are multiple charges filed against him, including murder; since under Florida law an accomplice can be charged with murder if anyone dies during the commission of many crimes including burglary. He is also charged with two counts of attempted murder of law enforcement officers; and one count of burglary. In April he was sentenced to a term of two years’ probation stemming from a drug possession conviction.

The actual victim of the crime, who has decided not to be identified, told police that the robbers broke into her home through a window around the back. She said they took two of her televisions, as well as an Xbox console and some games that are played on the console.

The victim, upon arrival said there were sheriff’s vehicles all over the entire street near her house.

“I asked the newsman what was going on and he said a lady was shot in the head. A lady had no business inside my home so I knew nothing had happened to my house,” she said.

But she did say that when she walked toward her home, detectives requested to speak with her.

Spokesman Bristow said that there was a television seen protruding out of the suspect vehicle’s trunk. He went on to comment that when a search warrant is issued for the vehicle, it’s possible that more items may be recovered.

Deputy Bradley, a seven year veteran of the sheriff’s office, is now on administrative leave awaiting results of the investigation. An initial evaluation has shown that the shooting was in agreement with state law and the policies of the sheriff’s office.

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Robert Mackey, 44 was convicted of trying to cover up a crime.
The original charge against Mackey was second-degree murder. He was accused of being one of the two men who killed Lorraine Hatzakorzian, a New York woman, and then cut her into pieces; pitching her head into a canal in a section of the Everglades, almost seven years ago. Mackey still could spend up to 30 years of incarceration for being convicted of accessory after the fact when he’s sentenced on Feb. 28.

Mackey was from New York and listed his occupation as a tree trimmer. Mackey’s prior co-defendant, Paul Trucchio, 39 accepted a prison term of 30-years last year rather than take his chances with a jury that could have sent him to prison for the rest of his life if convicted.

On Monday, the jury deliberated for over two hours without being able to reach a verdict but Broward Circuit Judge Ilona Holmes told them to go back and continue their deliberations in the hopes of reaching an agreement.

After 2½ hours of further deliberations on Tuesday, the verdict came in acquitting Mackey of second-degree murder but finding him guilty of the lesser but still serious charge. As the jurors departed the courthouse they declined to answer any questions, in regard to whether they believed that Mackey was innocent of the grisly murder whatsoever or if they think he killed her somewhere other than within the boundaries of the state of Florida. They also didn’t reveal any details of their original split-decision on the second-degree murder charge.

The charges were challenging for the prosecution to establish from the onset. There were no witnesses tied to the suspect that could directly attribute the death of Lorraine Hatzakorzian directly to the defendant. He was not seen with her, nor did anyone witness him murder her. There were no witnesses that saw him cut off her head or throw it into the canal. There was nobody called that could even verify that Mackey was in the state on April 28, 2007, which was the day that severed head was discovered.

Mackey’s Defense attorney, John George argued that his client wasn’t involved in the victim’s death and an appeal is likely.

In spite of the aforesaid lack of physical evidence the jurors did hear evidence that swayed them to believe that the defendant was linked to the crime. Prosecutor Gregg Rossman exhibited that Mackey and Trucchio were both pulled over by a Volusia County police officer because the car being driven was missing its back window and had a large crack in the front windshield. The vehicle turned out to be the victim’s blue Dodge pickup and was stopped a few days after her head was recovered from the canal. A third man, Louis Caroleo, a friend of Mackey’s was also in the vehicle when it was pulled over. When called to the stand Caroleo testified that Mackey and Trucchio independently confessed to killing a woman and cutting off her head and getting rid of it. They both then prayed to a concrete alligator; that the remains of their deed would be digested before any of the proof was exposed. According to Caroleo’s testimony, this took place outside of the Port Orange motel where they were staying in the late springtime months of 2007. Additionally both men were seen scrubbing the car inside and out with bleach and acid.

In rebuttal, defense lawyer John George mentioned that the missing fragments of the story were an indication that the prosecution couldn’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mackey had anything at all to do with the crime. “For one thing”, he said, “no one established that Hatzakorzian died in Florida. No one established that Mackey was even in Florida when she died or that he was responsible for her death”.

The prosecutor then pressed the jury to depend on the legal presumption that “a murder is presumed to have been committed in the same jurisdiction where the body was found unless there is evidence to the contrary.” And the sole part of Hatzakorzian that was ever found was located in Broward County.

There were also signs that the victim’s head was tossed in the water not too long before it was found, Rossman also argued. “Blood at the scene was still bright red”, he said, “and the head itself showed no signs of being pecked at by wildlife.”

The Broward County Sheriff’s deputy who recovered the head said that he had to act hurriedly to prevent alligators that were close by to the scene from getting to it first.

Apparently, the prosecution’s case was enough to influence jurors that Mackey did indeed assist helping Trucchio cover up the crime.

About 10 members of Hatzakorzian’s family attended every day of the trial.

Related Reading, Explanation of Accessory after the Fact:: Click Here

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A Holiday, Florida man was arrested early Thursday morning after he allegedly stabbed his Father to death and then poured gasoline on the body setting it ablaze inside the master bedroom of their home located at 5617 Mosaic Drive, according to the Pasco Sheriff’s Office. Firefighters were able to contain the fire to the bedroom where it originated, according to Fox 13 News.

Baron Von Duke Vercruysse, 23 was arrested Tuesday morning after the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, accused him of” homicidal violence” in the related death of his Father, 52-year-old Rene Dominique Vercruysse.

The Tampa Bay Times reported that Sherriff’s deputies believed a dispute between the father and son led to the death.

Police discovered the elder Vercruysse’s body when they responded to the fire at approximately 10:20 p.m. on Monday night. An initial autopsy revealed that the elder Vercruysse died of “homicidal violence”, and not injuries consistent with the fire, according to Bay News 9.

Deputies specified that the younger Vercruysse confessed to the murder. He’s been charged with first-degree murder as well as arson. The Times reports that his prior rap sheet includes larceny and more than one possession of a controlled substance.

A neighbor also told The Times that he heard a sharp scream discernible from New Year’s Eve festivities Monday evening, just before authorities responded to the fire. “It was sharp,” Randal Tilton said. “It scared me.”

Bail was denied by Judge W. Lowell Bray Jr. on the murder count. A bond of $150,000 was fixed on the arson charge. Vercruysse was also assigned a public defender, although he told the Judge that he made, “two grand a month.”

Vercruysse is now being held in Land O’Lakes jail. It is reported that he claimed self-defense citing years of abuse by his Father. He said he lived in fear of doing anything wrong. He said he suffered black eyes, bloody noses, fat lips imposed by his Father.

“I didn’t mean to kill him,” Vercruysse told the Times. “I just wanted him to stop beating me.”

He said he fought back on New Year’s Eve. His account of that night is as follows:

Vercruysse said he had been at a friend’s house. When he came home to the house he shared with his father on Mosaic Drive in Holiday the arguing began over Vercruysse’s monetary issues, continued unemployment and his messy room. The argument took place in the bedroom. Then he said his father took a .38-caliber pistol from the nightstand and aimed it at him.

Vercruysse then shoved his Father and turned away. Purportedly, the elder Vercruysse then brought the butt of the gun down on his son’s head. Vercruysse said the blow brought him down to the ground where he noticed a knife with about a 3-inch blade under the bed. He said he grabbed it, stood up and faced his father, closed his eyes, and stabbed.

“All he could hear in the dark, his hand thrusting outward, was his father’s scream.” A neighbor would tell reporters later.

When questioned during the investigation his Sister, Elizabeth, described her Father as a different man from her Brother’s accusatory description. She remembers her father as being a big, jovial man with a thick Cajun accent. He called her every day and his best friend was her 9-year-old daughter. “He could be tough sometimes”, she said,” but deep down he was a mush ball.”

A date for opening arguments has not been set.

Related, (Penalties of Murder Charges):

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Ten years after the Florida Department of Children and Families was rocked by scandal that resulted in the DCF secretary leaving, its top administrator in Miami resigning and numerous employees being fired, the case again will surge to the top of the headlines. At the time, the case exposed serious failings in Florida’s child-welfare system.

The original cause of the furor was the reported April 2002 disappearance of Rilya Wilson, who was in state custody under the care of the child-welfare agency. Not only had the child gone missing but it took 15 months before anyone at the agency noticed that she was unaccounted for. The child was four years old when she apparently disappeared.

In April 2002, Geralyn Graham, 57, the foster mother, who lived with a roommate, Pamela Graham (no relation), alerted DCF that the girl had been removed from her home by a DCF social worker 15 months previously. The Department of Children and Families then acknowledged that their workers had missed more than a year of required monthly visits to Graham’s foster home. Pamela Graham claimed to be Geralyn’s sister at the time of the incident.

”Apparently the department went to do a follow-up with Graham, and she essentially told them: “Well, I don’t have her. You guys took her from me a year ago,” said Detective Lupo Jimenez of the Miami-Dade Police Department. ”That’s when we were notified. They have no idea where this child is. I’ve never seen this before.”.

Graham told officials that Rilya was last seen in January 2001, when a woman who she assumed was a representative of the DCF appeared at her home and took the child, telling her that the child needed to undergo psychological and neurological testing. She went on to say that a few days later, a second woman arrived at her house, to retrieve some of the girl’s clothes and said that Rilya would stay in the state’s custody for further testing. She then said that a few weeks later, a third individual, showed up at her home and inquired about Rilya’s siblings, who at that time were still in her custody. She mentioned that on that occurrence the person was a man.

Officials of DCF responded that they had no record of any of those events and that Rilya’s caseworker had never approved her removal from Graham’s residence.

District administrator for the Department of Children and Families in Miami, Charles Aulander, said, ”One of the requirements is that a counselor have a face-to-face visit with the child at least once per month, and I did not know that that was not going on.” He added, ”I would have hoped that we would have discovered this much sooner, but we didn’t.”
Jack Levine, president of the Center for Florida’s Children, a child advocacy group in Tallahassee, said the agency’s handling of the case was deplorable.

”I’m shocked by the apparent insufficiency of being able to track the whereabouts of a child who was assumed to be under the watchful eye of our child protection system,” Mr. Levine said. ”Those eyes that should have been watching were closed.”
Soon after the DCF scandal was realized Geralyn Graham, and her roommate Pamela Graham, 37, who at the time alleged they are sisters, were charged with stealing $14,257 worth of food stamps as well as multiple counts of fraud for continuing to collect benefits for the child long after she vanished, according the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office
Geralyn Graham was charged with seven counts of obtaining welfare, food stamps and Medicaid benefits with false identification and documents. Pamela Graham was charged with 12 counts of welfare fraud, aiding and abetting public assistance fraud and related charges all of them not associated with the case. Both women served time in jail.

The latest events
Now, a decade after, prosecutors have built what they believe to be a strong first-degree murder case against Graham. Based on information provided by jailhouse informants including Pamela Graham, and statements from former friends, it is alleged that Rilya Wilson was brutally abused by her caregiver. Prosecutors introduced a cage into evidence where they believe Rilya was placed for the purpose of punishment within Graham’s home. A witness for the prosecution said that she saw scars on Rilya’s arms and head before her disappearance. “There were scrapes on her arms. There was a gash on her head, forehead area,” family friend Laquica Tuff said speaking of Rilya’s condition at that time.

Just last week, the defense motioned for a mistrial citing that prosecutor Joshua Weintraub’s law license had been temporarily suspended due to a failure to meet continuing legal education requirements. He was reinstated Tuesday after showing the requirements were met and the mistrial was denied by Circuit Judge Marisa Tinkler-Mendez. Mendez said that previous court rulings have made clear that clerical mistakes such as Weintraub’s were never intended to be the kind of law-license suspension that could prejudice a defendant such as Graham. The judge called it a “ministerial circumstance” and stated that Weintraub had actually earned more than the necessary thirty hours of educational credits.

The star witness for the prosecution is Robin Lunceford. Lunceford was serving a life sentence, but had it reduced by 10 years when she told authorities that Graham, who she was in jail with, had confessed to killing Wilson by smothering her with a pillow. Lunceford is now scheduled for release in March 2014.

Another unnamed inmate also reported that Graham confessed to the murder.

Prosecutors also have the cooperation of Pamela Graham, although she insists she has never had any knowledge as to what happened to Rilya.

Opening arguments are set for this Monday in what now is a first-degree murder case Graham faces a life sentence if convicted and may even face the death penalty. Other charges lodged against her are kidnapping and child abuse although a body was never found.

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Winter Springs, FL
A charity poker ride organized by a motorcycle club quickly turned into tragedy in the parking lot of a Veterans of Foreign Wars lodge this past Sunday morning.

Harold Liddle and Peter Schlette were finishing their breakfast at the VFW post, awaiting the start of the charity event when other bikers, armed with guns, arrived at the scene.

After a fight broke out in the parking lot, gunfire erupted. Liddle and Schlette were killed in the melee and another member of the Warlocks, Dave Jakiela was critically injured. Jakiela died as a result of his injuries two days later. Police charged four men in the case originally with two counts of homicide and one count of attempted homicide. Police now expect to elevate the attempted homicide charge to a third count of homicide.

David “Tinman” Maloney, 52, Victor “Pancho” Amaro, 41, Robert “Willy” Eckert, 38, and Paul Smith, 47 were charged with the crimes and are being held in the Seminole County Jail without bond.

The parking lot at the VFW post #5405, located in Winter Springs, Florida about 15 miles northeast of Orlando, was taped off. A nearby senior center was evacuated after the shooting.

“This is a complete and utter shock to me that this happened,” said Joe Gault, a quartermaster with the local VFW.

At a news conference hosted by WFTV Monday afternoon, Winter Springs police definitively identified the two murdered men as Harold “Lil’ Dave” Liddle, and Peter “Hormone” Schlette. David “Dresser” Jakiela was shot in the head and was in critical condition at the Orlando Regional Medical Center at the time of the news conference.

The Police reports disclosed that it was actually the Philadelphia Warlocks motorcycle club members that set up the charity poker run and gunfire started when the unaffiliated Orlando Warlocks showed up to attend the event at the VFW on Edgemon Avenue. A poker run is an organized event where participants, usually using motorcycles, other vehicles or horses, must stop at five to seven specified checkpoints, drawing a playing card at each one. The object is to have the best poker hand at the end of the run.

Police questioned dozens of witnesses trying to discover what happened initiating the brawl. Eyewitnesses said that at least six motorcyclists appeared out of nowhere and opened fire on the other motorcyclists as they were finishing their breakfast. Some witnesses said the shootout was sparked by a dispute over turf and influence but police would only confirm that Warlocks members from both factions of the group were at the VFW at the time of the shooting.

The original Warlocks motorcycle club was founded by Tom Grub near Orlando in the late 1960s. Since its inception, numerous chapters have been added throughout the U.S and Europe. The local Warlocks website lists members who’ve died, and also displays those who have been convicted of committing crimes and are serving time behind bars.

Investigators said they recovered a total of 36 weapons from the shootout, including guns, and a variety of knives.

Lt. Doug Seely, of the Winter Springs police reported “We recovered 13 firearms and 23 edged weapons,”
WFTV correspondent Daralene Jones asked Lt. Seeley if the Philadelphia Warlocks were angry that the Orlando Warlocks showed up at the event. Seely responded “We’re trying to still to ascertain exactly who’s affiliated with what to be able to accurately have that for our case,”
Bill Farrell, a witness to the shootings commented “As they pulled into the parking lot, a huge fire, I call it a firefight [broke out] … don’t know what else to call it. At least 30-40 rounds of ammunition expended,”
Further questioning Lt. Seely; the television commentator posed the inquiry: “How worried are you that this could lead to some sort of bike war?” Seely stated: “We feel this, that happened in Winter Springs; as far as anything major than that, we’ll have to rely on larger agencies,” However, WFTV learned that police were so concerned about retaliation that Orlando Regional Medical Center was put on lockdown because that’s where one of the victims was admitted.

On Monday, when WFTV’s reporter Jeff Deal and his cameraman were trying to shoot video of the Warlocks’ Orlando headquarters, women from inside the chapter attacked the photographer and attempted to block the footage from being acquired.

The DEA and FBI are assisting Winter Springs Police with the investigation.

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The last thing Jorge Rodriguez expected to hear when he answered the phone at 9 a.m. on Tuesday morning was the words spoken by his close friend Alberto Ramos. Ramos repeatedly told his friend “I have killed my wife”. Ramos disclosed to his friend that he killed his wife in a struggle the previous evening. After digesting the grim proclamation, Rodriguez called the police to report the possible crime. When police contacted Ramos he gave them an address that proved to be bogus. Rodriguez was then able to give police a description of the building where Ramos lived which they were later able to find. Upon arrival at the premises, located in the 600 block of Antioch Avenue in the Central Beach area of Fort Lauderdale, police witnessed a bloody Ramos leaving the building. Ramos’ wife, Danitza Gomez Reyes, 36 was found dead by detectives inside the apartment in its rear bedroom. She was observed face down lying in a pool of blood surrounding her head. A number of knives were also found in the area where the victim was found.

As police approached Mr. Ramos they found him talking on his cell phone with a 911 dispatcher reporting that he did indeed kill his spouse. No motive was given by him for his action.

According to the police report, after the alleged murder, Ramos ingested 30 to 40 pills and inflicted superficial cuts to his own forearms. The report doesn’t specify if he communicated to the detectives why he chose to do this.

Ramos, 49, was ordered to be held without bond in the Broward County jail. His primary court appearance will be on Wednesday, Sept. 26th. He’s charged with first-degree murder.

Murder charges can be punishable by up to life in prison depending upon their degree and in cases involving premeditation and heinous atrocious and cruel acts can be punishable by death. If you’ve been charged with a murder of any degree, it is essential that you understand the charges brought against you. It is also vital that you are represented by an attorney that thoroughly knows and understands the laws relating to murder charges and is vastly experienced in providing aggressive representation.

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