Jr. killed 4 family members

[Guest guest]

" Doctors told jurors was on and off of anti-psychotic and

anti-depressant medications in the years prior to the killings. Some of the

medicine included Lithium, Paxil and Zoloft. "

http://www.bradenton.com/690/v-print/story/122947.html

Posted on Thu, Aug. 16, 2007

jury to reconvene

By NATALIE NEYSA ALUND

nalund@...

After nine hours of deliberation Wednesday, jurors in the Jr.

murder case asked a judge shortly before midnight to allow them to return to

court today to consider the fate of the former Myakka man on trial for his life

in the brutal beating deaths of four family members Thanksgiving Day, 2005.

The jurors were escorted to a hotel for the overnight stay. They were prohibited

from any contact with televisions or radios to avoid coverage of the case.

Alcohol use is prohibited, Circuit Judge Moreland said.

They are expected to return at 10 a.m. today.

Deliberations started about 2:45 p.m., after prosecution and defense attorneys

wound up a morning of closing arguments in which prosecutors tried to paint the

22-year-old as a cold-blooded killer who knew exactly what he was doing when he

beat his parents, younger brother and grandmother to death in their Myakka City

mobile home.

The defense is claiming he was insane at the time and not responsible for his

actions.

During his closing, prosecutor Art Brown told jurors 's sanity - and

guilt - were proven by the confessions he gave investigators and the remorse he

showed for the deaths. A forensic reconstruction of the killings showed

, 20 at the time, made sure his victims were alone as he beat them to

death, one by one before beating them to death, Brown argued.

During the trial, a medical examiner testified the victims were repeatedly

struck in the head with a heavy pipe. At least two blows to each were enough to

kill.

" It was all part of a well-executed plan of attack, " Brown said.

Brown gave the following account of the killings, based on 's

confession and other testimony and evidence in the case:

The killing spree began in the room of Jr.'s 11-year-old brother,

.

While playing an Xbox video game with his brother, Brown said, took a

metal pipe, struck him on the head and pushed the boy out a window.

He then entered his grandmother's room with the pipe wrapped in a towel, and

asked her to bend down and retrieve an item from a dresser. While she was bent

over, he struck and killed her, then shut the door to hide the crime.

Next, he called his father out of a bedroom into the living room to play an Xbox

game. As his dad played, told him he was going to get a cigarette.

Instead, he grabbed the pipe, attacked his father and took his life.

The final attack occurred as his mother sat in front of a computer in the master

bedroom playing online poker. After he killed her, he went outside to where his

brother's body lay, " finished the job " then dragged that body back in the house.

" He had free will at the time he was doing these acts, " Brown said.

After the slayings, made efforts to cover up the crimes, Brown said.

Those efforts included putting sheets on the doors and windows and dragging the

chair his father sat in out of the living room so it was out of sight from

anyone looking in a window.

He covered the bodies with various bedding materials including comforters and

blankets, Brown said.

He added that when 's other grandmother, Sandy Stringer, called asking

for his mother the night after the killings, told her she couldn't

come to the phone because she was in the shower.

, investigators said, slept in his parents' bed after the killings,

then the next day pawned an Xbox, a flat-screen TV and numerous DVDs for $377.

Throughout the weekend, witnesses said, discussed suicide. During her

closing statement, lead defense attorney Carolyn Schlemmer said had

tried unsuccessfully to a overdose on Xanax.

The bodies were found by Stringer on Nov. 27, 2005 - three days after the

slayings.

's defense team contended their was divorced from reality when he

committed the killings.

A psychiatrist on the stand referred to as " the perfect storm. "

's attorney Carolyn Schlemmer said he is a man with extensive mental

problems that extend back to the third grade.

Plagued with mental problems, was not taken seriously by anyone,

especially his family, she said.

" He was spiraling downward, getting worse, and it culminated in the tragic

events of Nov. 24, 2005, " Schlemmer said.

's problems before the killings included difficulty in school,

self-mutilation and multiple suicide attempts, according to the defense.

Doctors told jurors was on and off of anti-psychotic and

anti-depressant medications in the years prior to the killings. Some of the

medicine included Lithium, Paxil and Zoloft.

Doctors, according to testimony, diagnosed him with major depression and

borderline personality disorder, which can include symptoms of self-harm and

suicide gestures.

In 2001, was arrested after a suicide plot involving four Lakewood

Ranch High School students, including himself. He was arrested for having a

firearm that was supposed to be used for the suicides. was to be the

first person shot.

The state did not file additional charges against , because they found

he was mentally unstable and needed professional help, Schlemmer had told the

jury.

© 2007 Bradenton.com and wire service sources. .

http://www.bradenton.com

[Guest guest]

" Doctors told jurors was on and off of anti-psychotic and

anti-depressant medications in the years prior to the killings. Some of the

medicine included Lithium, Paxil and Zoloft. "

http://www.bradenton.com/690/v-print/story/122947.html

Posted on Thu, Aug. 16, 2007

jury to reconvene

By NATALIE NEYSA ALUND

nalund@...

After nine hours of deliberation Wednesday, jurors in the Jr.

murder case asked a judge shortly before midnight to allow them to return to

court today to consider the fate of the former Myakka man on trial for his life

in the brutal beating deaths of four family members Thanksgiving Day, 2005.

The jurors were escorted to a hotel for the overnight stay. They were prohibited

from any contact with televisions or radios to avoid coverage of the case.

Alcohol use is prohibited, Circuit Judge Moreland said.

They are expected to return at 10 a.m. today.

Deliberations started about 2:45 p.m., after prosecution and defense attorneys

wound up a morning of closing arguments in which prosecutors tried to paint the

22-year-old as a cold-blooded killer who knew exactly what he was doing when he

beat his parents, younger brother and grandmother to death in their Myakka City

mobile home.

The defense is claiming he was insane at the time and not responsible for his

actions.

During his closing, prosecutor Art Brown told jurors 's sanity - and

guilt - were proven by the confessions he gave investigators and the remorse he

showed for the deaths. A forensic reconstruction of the killings showed

, 20 at the time, made sure his victims were alone as he beat them to

death, one by one before beating them to death, Brown argued.

During the trial, a medical examiner testified the victims were repeatedly

struck in the head with a heavy pipe. At least two blows to each were enough to

kill.

" It was all part of a well-executed plan of attack, " Brown said.

Brown gave the following account of the killings, based on 's

confession and other testimony and evidence in the case:

The killing spree began in the room of Jr.'s 11-year-old brother,

.

While playing an Xbox video game with his brother, Brown said, took a

metal pipe, struck him on the head and pushed the boy out a window.

He then entered his grandmother's room with the pipe wrapped in a towel, and

asked her to bend down and retrieve an item from a dresser. While she was bent

over, he struck and killed her, then shut the door to hide the crime.

Next, he called his father out of a bedroom into the living room to play an Xbox

game. As his dad played, told him he was going to get a cigarette.

Instead, he grabbed the pipe, attacked his father and took his life.

The final attack occurred as his mother sat in front of a computer in the master

bedroom playing online poker. After he killed her, he went outside to where his

brother's body lay, " finished the job " then dragged that body back in the house.

" He had free will at the time he was doing these acts, " Brown said.

After the slayings, made efforts to cover up the crimes, Brown said.

Those efforts included putting sheets on the doors and windows and dragging the

chair his father sat in out of the living room so it was out of sight from

anyone looking in a window.

He covered the bodies with various bedding materials including comforters and

blankets, Brown said.

He added that when 's other grandmother, Sandy Stringer, called asking

for his mother the night after the killings, told her she couldn't

come to the phone because she was in the shower.

, investigators said, slept in his parents' bed after the killings,

then the next day pawned an Xbox, a flat-screen TV and numerous DVDs for $377.

Throughout the weekend, witnesses said, discussed suicide. During her

closing statement, lead defense attorney Carolyn Schlemmer said had

tried unsuccessfully to a overdose on Xanax.

The bodies were found by Stringer on Nov. 27, 2005 - three days after the

slayings.

's defense team contended their was divorced from reality when he

committed the killings.

A psychiatrist on the stand referred to as " the perfect storm. "

's attorney Carolyn Schlemmer said he is a man with extensive mental

problems that extend back to the third grade.

Plagued with mental problems, was not taken seriously by anyone,

especially his family, she said.

" He was spiraling downward, getting worse, and it culminated in the tragic

events of Nov. 24, 2005, " Schlemmer said.

's problems before the killings included difficulty in school,

self-mutilation and multiple suicide attempts, according to the defense.

Doctors told jurors was on and off of anti-psychotic and

anti-depressant medications in the years prior to the killings. Some of the

medicine included Lithium, Paxil and Zoloft.

Doctors, according to testimony, diagnosed him with major depression and

borderline personality disorder, which can include symptoms of self-harm and

suicide gestures.

In 2001, was arrested after a suicide plot involving four Lakewood

Ranch High School students, including himself. He was arrested for having a

firearm that was supposed to be used for the suicides. was to be the

first person shot.

The state did not file additional charges against , because they found

he was mentally unstable and needed professional help, Schlemmer had told the

jury.

© 2007 Bradenton.com and wire service sources. .

http://www.bradenton.com

[Guest guest]

" Doctors told jurors was on and off of anti-psychotic and

anti-depressant medications in the years prior to the killings. Some of the

medicine included Lithium, Paxil and Zoloft. "

http://www.bradenton.com/690/v-print/story/122947.html

Posted on Thu, Aug. 16, 2007

jury to reconvene

By NATALIE NEYSA ALUND

nalund@...

After nine hours of deliberation Wednesday, jurors in the Jr.

murder case asked a judge shortly before midnight to allow them to return to

court today to consider the fate of the former Myakka man on trial for his life

in the brutal beating deaths of four family members Thanksgiving Day, 2005.

The jurors were escorted to a hotel for the overnight stay. They were prohibited

from any contact with televisions or radios to avoid coverage of the case.

Alcohol use is prohibited, Circuit Judge Moreland said.

They are expected to return at 10 a.m. today.

Deliberations started about 2:45 p.m., after prosecution and defense attorneys

wound up a morning of closing arguments in which prosecutors tried to paint the

22-year-old as a cold-blooded killer who knew exactly what he was doing when he

beat his parents, younger brother and grandmother to death in their Myakka City

mobile home.

The defense is claiming he was insane at the time and not responsible for his

actions.

During his closing, prosecutor Art Brown told jurors 's sanity - and

guilt - were proven by the confessions he gave investigators and the remorse he

showed for the deaths. A forensic reconstruction of the killings showed

, 20 at the time, made sure his victims were alone as he beat them to

death, one by one before beating them to death, Brown argued.

During the trial, a medical examiner testified the victims were repeatedly

struck in the head with a heavy pipe. At least two blows to each were enough to

kill.

" It was all part of a well-executed plan of attack, " Brown said.

Brown gave the following account of the killings, based on 's

confession and other testimony and evidence in the case:

The killing spree began in the room of Jr.'s 11-year-old brother,

.

While playing an Xbox video game with his brother, Brown said, took a

metal pipe, struck him on the head and pushed the boy out a window.

He then entered his grandmother's room with the pipe wrapped in a towel, and

asked her to bend down and retrieve an item from a dresser. While she was bent

over, he struck and killed her, then shut the door to hide the crime.

Next, he called his father out of a bedroom into the living room to play an Xbox

game. As his dad played, told him he was going to get a cigarette.

Instead, he grabbed the pipe, attacked his father and took his life.

The final attack occurred as his mother sat in front of a computer in the master

bedroom playing online poker. After he killed her, he went outside to where his

brother's body lay, " finished the job " then dragged that body back in the house.

" He had free will at the time he was doing these acts, " Brown said.

After the slayings, made efforts to cover up the crimes, Brown said.

Those efforts included putting sheets on the doors and windows and dragging the

chair his father sat in out of the living room so it was out of sight from

anyone looking in a window.

He covered the bodies with various bedding materials including comforters and

blankets, Brown said.

He added that when 's other grandmother, Sandy Stringer, called asking

for his mother the night after the killings, told her she couldn't

come to the phone because she was in the shower.

, investigators said, slept in his parents' bed after the killings,

then the next day pawned an Xbox, a flat-screen TV and numerous DVDs for $377.

Throughout the weekend, witnesses said, discussed suicide. During her

closing statement, lead defense attorney Carolyn Schlemmer said had

tried unsuccessfully to a overdose on Xanax.

The bodies were found by Stringer on Nov. 27, 2005 - three days after the

slayings.

's defense team contended their was divorced from reality when he

committed the killings.

A psychiatrist on the stand referred to as " the perfect storm. "

's attorney Carolyn Schlemmer said he is a man with extensive mental

problems that extend back to the third grade.

Plagued with mental problems, was not taken seriously by anyone,

especially his family, she said.

" He was spiraling downward, getting worse, and it culminated in the tragic

events of Nov. 24, 2005, " Schlemmer said.

's problems before the killings included difficulty in school,

self-mutilation and multiple suicide attempts, according to the defense.

Doctors told jurors was on and off of anti-psychotic and

anti-depressant medications in the years prior to the killings. Some of the

medicine included Lithium, Paxil and Zoloft.

Doctors, according to testimony, diagnosed him with major depression and

borderline personality disorder, which can include symptoms of self-harm and

suicide gestures.

In 2001, was arrested after a suicide plot involving four Lakewood

Ranch High School students, including himself. He was arrested for having a

firearm that was supposed to be used for the suicides. was to be the

first person shot.

The state did not file additional charges against , because they found

he was mentally unstable and needed professional help, Schlemmer had told the

jury.

© 2007 Bradenton.com and wire service sources. .

http://www.bradenton.com

[Guest guest]

" Doctors told jurors was on and off of anti-psychotic and

anti-depressant medications in the years prior to the killings. Some of the

medicine included Lithium, Paxil and Zoloft. "

http://www.bradenton.com/690/v-print/story/122947.html

Posted on Thu, Aug. 16, 2007

jury to reconvene

By NATALIE NEYSA ALUND

nalund@...

After nine hours of deliberation Wednesday, jurors in the Jr.

murder case asked a judge shortly before midnight to allow them to return to

court today to consider the fate of the former Myakka man on trial for his life

in the brutal beating deaths of four family members Thanksgiving Day, 2005.

The jurors were escorted to a hotel for the overnight stay. They were prohibited

from any contact with televisions or radios to avoid coverage of the case.

Alcohol use is prohibited, Circuit Judge Moreland said.

They are expected to return at 10 a.m. today.

Deliberations started about 2:45 p.m., after prosecution and defense attorneys

wound up a morning of closing arguments in which prosecutors tried to paint the

22-year-old as a cold-blooded killer who knew exactly what he was doing when he

beat his parents, younger brother and grandmother to death in their Myakka City

mobile home.

The defense is claiming he was insane at the time and not responsible for his

actions.

During his closing, prosecutor Art Brown told jurors 's sanity - and

guilt - were proven by the confessions he gave investigators and the remorse he

showed for the deaths. A forensic reconstruction of the killings showed

, 20 at the time, made sure his victims were alone as he beat them to

death, one by one before beating them to death, Brown argued.

During the trial, a medical examiner testified the victims were repeatedly

struck in the head with a heavy pipe. At least two blows to each were enough to

kill.

" It was all part of a well-executed plan of attack, " Brown said.

Brown gave the following account of the killings, based on 's

confession and other testimony and evidence in the case:

The killing spree began in the room of Jr.'s 11-year-old brother,

.

While playing an Xbox video game with his brother, Brown said, took a

metal pipe, struck him on the head and pushed the boy out a window.

He then entered his grandmother's room with the pipe wrapped in a towel, and

asked her to bend down and retrieve an item from a dresser. While she was bent

over, he struck and killed her, then shut the door to hide the crime.

Next, he called his father out of a bedroom into the living room to play an Xbox

game. As his dad played, told him he was going to get a cigarette.

Instead, he grabbed the pipe, attacked his father and took his life.

The final attack occurred as his mother sat in front of a computer in the master

bedroom playing online poker. After he killed her, he went outside to where his

brother's body lay, " finished the job " then dragged that body back in the house.

" He had free will at the time he was doing these acts, " Brown said.

After the slayings, made efforts to cover up the crimes, Brown said.

Those efforts included putting sheets on the doors and windows and dragging the

chair his father sat in out of the living room so it was out of sight from

anyone looking in a window.

He covered the bodies with various bedding materials including comforters and

blankets, Brown said.

He added that when 's other grandmother, Sandy Stringer, called asking

for his mother the night after the killings, told her she couldn't

come to the phone because she was in the shower.

, investigators said, slept in his parents' bed after the killings,

then the next day pawned an Xbox, a flat-screen TV and numerous DVDs for $377.

Throughout the weekend, witnesses said, discussed suicide. During her

closing statement, lead defense attorney Carolyn Schlemmer said had

tried unsuccessfully to a overdose on Xanax.

The bodies were found by Stringer on Nov. 27, 2005 - three days after the

slayings.

's defense team contended their was divorced from reality when he

committed the killings.

A psychiatrist on the stand referred to as " the perfect storm. "

's attorney Carolyn Schlemmer said he is a man with extensive mental

problems that extend back to the third grade.

Plagued with mental problems, was not taken seriously by anyone,

especially his family, she said.

" He was spiraling downward, getting worse, and it culminated in the tragic

events of Nov. 24, 2005, " Schlemmer said.

's problems before the killings included difficulty in school,

self-mutilation and multiple suicide attempts, according to the defense.

Doctors told jurors was on and off of anti-psychotic and

anti-depressant medications in the years prior to the killings. Some of the

medicine included Lithium, Paxil and Zoloft.

Doctors, according to testimony, diagnosed him with major depression and

borderline personality disorder, which can include symptoms of self-harm and

suicide gestures.

In 2001, was arrested after a suicide plot involving four Lakewood

Ranch High School students, including himself. He was arrested for having a

firearm that was supposed to be used for the suicides. was to be the

first person shot.

The state did not file additional charges against , because they found

he was mentally unstable and needed professional help, Schlemmer had told the

jury.

© 2007 Bradenton.com and wire service sources. .

http://www.bradenton.com