Daytona True Crime

When I was in college, my best friend was murdered. He was found by a fisherman, dismembered, within several trash bags on the Tomoka River. During the preceding months, he had severed contact with all of our friends. No one had seen much of him. Word was that he began dating an older woman. She was probably in her late 40s at that time, our peers in their late 20s. My friend was 27 when he died. During the investigation, the police had very little evidence to go on. In typical fashion, they began to question all of my friend’s acquaintances. Accusations were made that really had no merit, and when this new girlfriend was mentioned we were told “she’s not a suspect at this time”. We held a memorial for our friend, he was loved by so many. He never did anything to deserve this gruesome fate. He gave so many of us laughter and friendship beyond compare. As the weeks and months rolled by, his case gained no real momentum. No additional clues or suspects presented themselves, and eventually it became stagnant. The months turned into years, those who loved him began to lose hope of justice or even closure for our friend, as his killer still remained a mystery. Then a breakthrough. A serial killer with a similar profile to our friend’s murderer was caught in Georgia, found guilty, and placed on death row. Our local police had found their man, and were able to charge him with the murder of our friend. Ultimately, this man was put to death for his crimes, and everyone who loved our friend was granted some solace. 

Flash forward to almost a decade later. A man’s limbs were found in a fernery miles west of Daytona Beach, his torso was later found within his own home. When the news was put to print, it was revealed that the man had been dating the very same woman whom my friend was dating, all those years ago. We were shocked. Everyone named her during questioning, no one else but her had even seen our friend for weeks or months before his murder. This time however, she was a suspect in this latest killing, even the papers mentioned her by name. The police watched her closely as they built their case, not the same police as before; Ormond Beach PD handled our friend’s case, now the Daytona Beach PD were pressing charges. After a few months of evidence gathering, she was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.  She has been in jail for over a year now, her trial continually pushed back. Attempts have been made to attach our friend’s cold case onto this one, without much success, but we remain hopeful that true and righteous justice will be served.

-LB