Accused ringleader's boot matches prints at scene of 6 slayi

Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 12:14 am

Accused ringleader's boot matches prints at scene of 6 slayings

(09.30.05) â€” Investigators say shoe prints in a Deltona house where six friends were beaten to death with a baseball bat matched a blood-stained boot belonging to a man accused of orchestrating the attacks. According to Florida Department of Law Enforcement reports released Thursday, Troy Victorino owned a size 12, suede "Lugz" boot. Investigators say that boot matched the tread, dimension and shape of impressions found on a pay stub, a playing card, a bed sheet and the front door of the Deltona house. The boot was recovered from Victorino's home, where he was arrested a day after the victims were found bludgeoned. Authorities say Victorino and three accomplices allegedly killed the six friends because he thought one of the victims kept his X-box video game system when he was kicked out of the house. Victorino has denied involvement in the slayings.

Accused ringleader's boot matches prints at scene of 6 slayings

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 7:33 pm

Deltona Mass Murder Trial Could Be Delayed Up To A Year

POSTED: 4:33 pm EDT September 30, 2005
UPDATED: 4:35 pm EDT September 30, 2005

DELTONA, Fla. -- The four suspects accused in the brutal Deltona beatings over an X-Box and some clothes could now have separate trials. Six victims, ages 18 to 34, were beaten and then stabbed to death last year.
The four suspects were all supposed to go to trial together in January, but that could change.

The man's name is Frederick Grimes. The state dropped him from their witness list earlier. Now the defense wants him. His testimony, however small, could delay this trial for months, even a year.

Grimes, a convicted felon, is threatening to tear the Deltona mass murder trial apart. Grimes is in prison for attempted robbery. He's the client of Jeff Dees, who is also the lawyer for Michael Salas. Salas and three others are charged with beating six people to death in a Deltona home a year ago.

If lawyers insist of brining Grimes to the stand, Dees may have to step down. If Grimes goes to the stand, Dees may have to testify as well. His testimony could be used against his own client and that can't happen. Dees would have to step down first.

No one wants Dees to leave. If he does, a new lawyer would have to pick up Salas' case. That could delay the trial for months.

Worse yet, it could force all four suspects to be tried separately. That could last a year.

Dees said Grimes had become hostile towards him since this issue came up and much more interested in becoming part of the case. One motivation could be, if Grimes comes to the stand, he could try to cut a deal with the state attorney for a reduced sentence.

Grimes is serving 20 years for attempted robbery. The judge will take up the issue again and talk about possibly separating the four suspects in mid-October.

http://www.wftv.com/news/5042974/detail.html

Posted: Sat Jul 29, 2006 9:40 am

July 28, 2006

Families of Deltona murder victims describe loss to jury
By PATRICIO G. BALONA
Staff Writer

ST. AUGUSTINE -- Bill Belanger knew it would not be easy to tell a jury in the Deltona mass murder trial Thursday how his daughter's brutal murder impacted him, so he sought her help.

N-J | David Massey
Patricia Gleason, mother of Jonathan Gleason, leaves the witness stand after reading her victim impact statement to the jury Thursday.
On his way to Florida from New Hampshire, he stopped at the Washington, D.C., hotel where he last saw his daughter, Erin, alive two Julys ago. He had had dinner with his 22-year-old daughter and her boyfriend the night before. She had asked her father to knock on her hotel room door when he left in the morning. But he never did.

He stood in front of the same door recently and knocked.

"I felt a surge of energy and calmness come over me. I knew everything would be all right," Bill Belanger said. "I finally got to say goodbye to her."

The father's elemental emotion contrasted with the high-tech presentation put on Thursday by convicted murderer Troy Victorino's defense attorneys, who brought in a PET Scan specialist. The specialist showed green, blue and red images of Victorino's brain, which he said demonstrated damage to the frontal lobe.

Testimony began in the trial's penalty phase Thursday morning when prosecutors presented photographs of the victims, along with the families' impact statements as they urged the jury to consider recommending the death penalty for ringleader Victorino, 29, Jerone Hunter, 20, and Michael Salas, 20. The same jurors on Tuesday declared each of the men guilty of six counts of first-degree premeditated murder and first-degree felony murder. The men broke into 3106 Telford Lane in Deltona on Aug. 6, 2004, and massacred four men, two women and a dog with bats and knives.

With renewed energy, Bill Belanger took the stand Thursday.

"There were no strangers in Erin's world, only potential friends," Bill Belanger said. "Erin's brutal murder was the worst horror that I or any other member of my family could have imagined. My entire family suffers daily under the agony of this senseless tragedy.

"The pain of her burial was made more intense by the horrible manner of her death," Belanger said. "Due to the vicious and cowardly attack and her resulting dismemberment and disfigurement, we were not even given the opportunity to view her body in death."

Salas' defense attorney, Jeffrey Dees, objected to the word "cowardly" and the judge asked that it be stricken from the record.

Families of the five other victims -- Roberto "Tito" Gonzalez, 28, Michelle Nathan, 19, Jonathan Gleason, 17, Anthony Vega, 34, and Erin's boyfriend, Francisco "Flaco" Ayo-Roman, 30 -- also shared emotional stories about the pain they still endure over the loss of their loved ones.

"To describe the loss of Roberto "Tito" Manuel Gonzalez is to describe the loss of sunshine," a sobbing Tina Gonzalez said, adding that it seems like an eternity since the dreadful day she learned her son was one of the victims found inside the bloody home. "My last kiss was placed on a cold casket as I held to every ounce of strength as I laid him to rest."

Prosecutors said aggravating factors supporting the death penalty include Victorino's eight felony convictions and the fact that he was on probation for aggravated assault at the time of the murders; that the murders were committed during a burglary; that the murders were committed with the purpose of avoiding or preventing arrest by eliminating witnesses; and that each murder was heinous, atrocious and cruel.

Dr. Joseph Wu, the expert who testified about Victorino's brain, said his test of Victorino's frontal lobe showed it is abnormal and could lead to the inability to control his extreme rage. The specialist told the jury Victorino's damaged brain is consistent with mental problems he has had throughout his life.

"This can result in an impediment to regulate aggression," Wu said.

Victorino's defense attorneys said Wu's testimony is relevant because it shows the part of Victorino's brain that controls impulses and behavior is damaged.

"We respect the jury's decision but what we are doing now is showing them Mr. Victorino's mental situation," defense attorney Michael Nielsen said.

patricio.balona@news-jrnl.com

About the Case

WHAT: On Aug. 6, 2004, six people were found brutally murdered inside a Deltona home.

VICTIMS: Killed in the attack were Erin Belanger, 22; Francisco "Flaco" Ayo-Roman, 30; Anthony Vega, 34; Roberto "Tito" Gonzalez, 28; Michelle Ann Nathan, 19; Jonathan Gleason, 17, and a pet dachshund named George.

WHY: Authorities say tensions escalated days earlier when Belanger found Troy Victorino, 29, was squatting in her grandmother's house across town. Belanger called authorities and removed his belongings. Acting in revenge, Victorino orchestrated the killings, investigators say, with the help of three other men -- Robert Cannon, Michael Salas, and Jerone Hunter, all 20.

THE TRIAL: Cannon pleaded guilty to the killings to avoid the death penalty and was expected to testify against the others. But he refused, saying he was not guilty and he shouldn't have agreed to the deal. The other three were found guilty of first-degree murder and other charges.

NEXT: Victorinos' attorneys will have two more experts testify today at the St. Johns County Courthouse in St. Augustine on how they say his damaged brain affected his behavior and produced mental health problems. Also expected to testify today are Victorino's two brothers, sister and mother.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD03072806.htm