ORLANDO, FL (ORANGE COUNTY) - According to an online news report posted on clickorlando.com, the Orange County Sheriff's Office published a press statement last Wednesday stating that investigators had found the suspected killer who is alleged to be responsible for a 2016 murder. The suspect has been arrested and charged with the murder of a 64-year-old man about four and a half years ago.
The man's body was discovered wrapped in a tarp back in December of 2016. The Orange County Sheriff's Office records stated that the woman's body seemed to have been dragged from front of his car, which had been parked in the driveway at the victim's home along Terrell Road in Mount Dora by the border of Orange-Lake County.
Law enforcement investigators stated that there was a lot of the victim's blood on his body, and there was a large lawn ornament that was covered in the victim's blood. The victim was also missing his cellphone and several of his rings.
A medical examiner deemed that the victim's death was a homicide, claiming the victim died due to blunt head trauma, criminal justice court records noted.
Evidence collected at the crime scene revealed that the victim was bludgeoned to death as the victim was returning to his home, investigators stated. After the victim noticed a broken window, Orange County Sheriff's deputies believe the victim interrupted a burglary in progress at his home. However, law enforcement authorities stated that there was no evidence that a burglar had actually been inside the victim's home.
According to an Orange County Sheriff's Office report, the victim's automobile was also ransacked, and the victim's gun was missing from the car's inner compartment. Also, detectives found a bloodied Florida State University sweater near the victim's fence.
Neighbors informed law enforcement officers that a man jumped the fence when he triggered the victim's house alarm just before Orange County Sheriff's deputies arrived. Eyewitnesses helped investigators draw a composite sketch of the suspect, which was kept with Orange County Sheriff's Office records as deputies continued to investigate the murder case for several years.
Investigators also discovered that a burglary had happened less than a mile away from the victim's home only a few days before the homicide. That is where fingerprints were collected and connecting the suspect to that burglar case.
Orange County Sheriff's Office deputies issued an arrest warrant for the suspect in connection with the other burglary. The suspect was taken into police custody on January 29, 2021.
After the detectives received numerous tips reporting that a man named "Peewee" was also involved in the victim's death and that the suspect discarded his sweater as he tried to away, Orange County Sheriff's deputies then questioned the suspect about the burglary at the victim's home.
Court records showed that the suspect admitted to killing the victim back in 2016 at the victim's residence on Terrell Road. The suspect also stated that he is known as Peewee in the community.
The defendant is facing a new criminal charge of second-degree murder. He is currently being held in the Orange County Jail without bond.