April 2021 | Page 5 of 99 | My Crime Library

Konstantinos Fotopoulos Florida Death Row

Konstantinos Fotopoulos was sentenced to death by the State of Florida for the murders of Kevin Ramsey and Bryan Chase. According to court documents Konstantinos Fotopoulos was having an affair with Deidre Hunt. Kevin Ramsey would become the first victim to prevent him from blackmailing him over counterfeiting activities that Konstantinos Fotopoulos was involved in. The second murder was suppose to be his own wife in order to collect a large insurance payment. Konstantinos Fotopoulos would hire Brian Chase to do the job however when Chase shot Lisa Fotopoulos in the head she did not die and Brian Chase was then shot multiple times by Konstantinos to make it look like a robbery gone bad. Brian Chase would die. Konstantinos Fotopoulos would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. Deidre Hunt was initially sentenced to death however her sentence would later be commuted to life in prison

Florida Death Row Inmate List

Konstantinos Fotopoulos 2021 Information

DC Number:	616550
Name:	FOTOPOULOS, KONSTANTIN O
Race:	WHITE
Sex:	MALE
Birth Date:	07/26/1959
Initial Receipt Date:	11/01/1990
Current Facility:	UNION C.I.
Current Custody:	MAXIMUM
Current Release Date:	DEATH SENTENCE

Konstantinos Fotopoulos More News

The mastermind behind one of Central Florida’s most bizarre and sensational murder plots has lost a bid to get off death row.

On Thursday, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta overturned the ruling of an Orlando federal judge who offered Konstantinos “Kosta” Fotopoulos a chance to be resentenced for the 1989 scheme to kill his wife.

Fotopoulos, former owner of a Daytona Beach pool hall, whose plot left two teenagers dead, has few remaining avenues to get his death sentence overturned, said State Attorney John Tanner, who prosecuted the original trial.

“Bottom line: He’s still on death row and this eliminates one more legal hurdle to his execution,” Tanner said. “We’re certainly pleased with the federal decision.”

James L. Driscoll Jr., Fotopoulos’ attorney, said he was disappointed and that he may ask the appeals court to rehear the case or petition the U.S. Supreme Court to review it.

“We’ll consider all our options,” said Driscoll, of Capital Collateral Regional Counsel, the state-funded office that handles death-penalty appeals.

In 1989, Fotopoulos orchestrated an elaborate plan to kill his then-wife, Lisa, for $700,000 in life insurance, according to court evidence.

First, he videotaped his former lover, Deidre Hunt, as she tied 19-year-old Kevin Ramsey to a tree and shot him to death. That tape became his leverage to convince Hunt to hire 18-year-old Bryan Chase to kill Lisa Fotopoulos during a staged burglary at her home. Chase shot the wife in the head as she lay in bed. Kosta Fotopoulos then shot and killed Chase.

The wife, who has since remarried, survived but still has a bullet in her head.

Last year, U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell ruled in Orlando that the death sentence against Kosta Fotopoulos was unfair because prosecutors had presented two starkly different versions of Hunt’s role in the plot.

The appeals court ruled that presenting the different theories at Fotopoulos’ trial could have detracted from Fotopoulos’ defense. The judges determined that the former defense attorney had made a strategic decision, rather than performed incompetently, when he did not dwell on the different theories. The Florida Supreme Court had come to the same conclusion in its opinion on the case.

Deidre Hunt 2021 Information

DC Number:	161918
Name:	HUNT, DEIDRE M
Race:	WHITE
Sex:	FEMALE
Birth Date:	02/09/1969
Initial Receipt Date:	09/13/1990
Current Facility:	LOWELL ANNEX
Current Custody:	CLOSE
Current Release Date:	SENTENCED TO LIFE

Ronald Heath Florida Death Row

Ronald Heath was sentenced to death by the State of Florida for the murder of Michael Sheridan. According to court documents Ronald Heath, who had already spent time in prison for another murder, and his brother Kenneth Heath would rob and murder Michael Sheridan. Ronald Heath would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Florida Death Row Inmate List

Ronald Heath 2021 Information

DC Number:	065145
Name:	HEATH, RONALD P
Race:	WHITE
Sex:	MALE
Birth Date:	07/06/1961
Initial Receipt Date:	12/17/1990
Current Facility:	UNION C.I.
Current Custody:	MAXIMUM
Current Release Date:	DEATH SENTENCE

Ronald Heath More News

Heath and his younger brother, Kenneth, drove to Gainesville to visit some of Heath’s friends. On May 24, 1989, the brothers went to the Purple Porpoise Lounge in Gainesville where two of Heath’s friends worked as waitresses. Sometime during the evening the brothers struck up a conversation with Sheridan, a traveling salesman who had come to the lounge for drinks and dinner. Sheridan bought the brothers a drink and inquired if they ever got high or had any marijuana. Heath suggested to Kenneth that they take Sheridan somewhere and rob him; Kenneth agreed. The trio left the bar in Kenneth’s vehicle, which Heath drove to an isolated area of Alachua County. After parking on a dirt road, all three got out of the car and smoked marijuana. Heath made the hand motion of a pistol and asked Kenneth, “Did you get it?” Kenneth retrieved a small-caliber handgun from under the car seat, pointed it at Sheridan, and told him that he was being robbed. Sheridan balked at giving the brothers anything. Heath told Kenneth to shoot Sheridan. When Sheridan lunged at Kenneth, Kenneth shot him in the chest. Sheridan sat down, saying “it hurt.” As Sheridan began to remove his possessions, Heath kicked him and stabbed him in the neck with a hunting knife. Heath attempted to slit Sheridan’s throat, but was unable to complete the task with the dull knife and could only saw at Sheridan’s neck. Heath then instructed Kenneth to kill Sheridan with the gun, and Kenneth shot him twice in the head. The brothers moved the body further into the woods. After returning to the Purple Porpoise, the brothers took Sheridan’s rental car to a remote area, removed some items, and burned the car.

The next day the brothers used Sheridan’s credit cards to purchase clothes, shoes, and other items at a Gainesville mall․ The brothers returned to Jacksonville and tossed the handgun into the St. John’s River. The handgun was never recovered. Heath eventually returned to the trailer which he shared with Powell [his girlfriend] in Georgia.

A medical examiner was dispatched to the scene of the murder on May 30, 1989, to examine the body, which was in a moderately advanced state of decomposition. The examiner estimated that death had occurred three to ten days earlier and that death was caused by multiple gunshot wounds and a sharp force injury to the neck.

Several weeks after the murder, Heath was arrested at his trailer for using the stolen credit cards. Powell granted the officers permission to search the trailer and her car. The officers discovered some of the clothes purchased in Gainesville and Sheridan’s watch.

Both brothers were indicted for the first-degree murder and armed robbery of Sheridan․ Kenneth entered into a plea agreement wherein he pled guilty to the charges and agreed to testify about Sheridan’s murder. Kenneth was sentenced to life imprisonment without eligibility for parole for twenty-five years for the murder conviction.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/fl-supreme-court/1450212.html

Jesse Guardado Florida Death Row

Jesse Guardado was sentenced to death by the State of Florida for the murder of Jackie Malone. According to court documents Jackie Malone was trying to help Jesse Guardado who was recently released from prison however he would repay her kindness by murdering the woman during a robbery. Jesse Guardado would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.

Florida Death Row Inmate List

Jesse Guardado 2021 Information

An ex-convict has been sentenced to death for the robbery-murder of a community and political activist who had tried to help him get back on his feet after he was paroled.

A defiant Jesse Guardado refused to stand Thursday as Circuit Judge Kelvin Wells sentenced him for the stabbing and beating death of 75-year-old Jackie T. Malone at her home in this Florida Panhandle city.

“When do I get a chance to say something?” Guardado yelled, but the judge refused to let him speak.

Wells also sentenced Guardado to 30 years in prison for armed robbery. A prosecutor said he killed the woman in September 2004 for her money so he could buy crack cocaine.

Guardado, 43, confessed and pleaded guilty to first-degree murder last year. A jury last month unanimously recommended the death penalty.

Wells recounted how the victim had fought for her life while Guardado beat her with a metal rod and, when she wouldn’t die, stabbed her with a kitchen knife and slashed her throat. A stab wound to the heart was the fatal blow.

Malone, a real estate broker-contractor, befriended Guardado when he was paroled in January 2003 after serving time for four armed robberies in Orange County. She rented a house to him and lent him money.

She did volunteer work with several organizations, was a guardian ad litem for abused and neglected children, and a member of the Walton County Democratic Executive Committee.

Guardado also was sentenced in February to 40 years in prison for attempting to rob a DeFuniak Springs grocery employee just hours before the murder.

https://www.heraldtribune.com/article/LK/20051015/News/605240312/SH

Gary Lawrence Florida Death Row

Gary Lawrence was sentenced to death by the State of Florida for the murder of Michael Finken. According to court documents Gary Lawrence was jealous of his ex wife’s new boyfriend so he would break into the home and murder Michael Finkin. Gary Lawrence would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Florida Death Row Inmate List

Gary Lawrence 2021 Information

DC Number:	039763
Name:	LAWRENCE, GARY
Race:	WHITE
Sex:	MALE
Birth Date:	06/29/1957
Initial Receipt Date:	02/21/1991
Current Facility:	UNION C.I.
Current Custody:	MAXIMUM
Current Release Date:	DEATH SENTENCE

Gary Lawrence More News

Shortly after Gary and Brenda Lawrence were married, they separated, and another man, Michael Finken, moved in with Brenda and her two daughters, Stephanie and Kimberly Pitts, and Stephanie’s friend, Rachel Matin. On the day of the murder, July 28, 1994, Gary and Michael drove Brenda to work and then drank beer at a friend’s house. Later, Gary and Michael picked Brenda up and the three returned to the friend’s house where they drank more beer. After the three returned to Brenda’s apartment, Gary and Michael argued and Gary hit Michael when he learned that Michael had been sleeping with Brenda. Gary and Michael seemed to resolve their differences, and Michael fell asleep on the couch. Gary and Brenda conversed, and Brenda went through the house collecting weapons-including a pipe and a baseball bat. Gary and Brenda told Kimberly and Rachel that they were “going to knock off Mike.” Gary told Kimberly to “stay in your bedroom no matter what you hear.”

The trial court described what happened after Gary and Brenda spoke to the girls:

Thereafter, the two girls heard what they described as a pounding sound. At one point, Rachel Matin stated that she heard the victim say, “stop it, if you stop, I’ll leave.” She stated that she heard that statement several times. Kimberly Pitts stated she heard the victim say “please don’t hit me, I’m already bleeding.” The victim’s pleas, however, were met with more pounding. Once the pounding stopped, the girls were required to assist in the clean up and described to the jury what they observed. Kimberly stated that much of the victim’s right side of his face was missing and his chin was knocked over to his ear. Rachel Matin stated that there was no skin left on the victim’s face and part of his nose was missing. Apparently the victim was still alive. Kimberly observed her mother coming out of the kitchen area with what appeared to be a dagger and then, although not seeing the dagger in her hand at the time, observed her mother make a stabbing motion toward the victim with something in her hand.

It was at that time when Brenda Lawrence requested that the girls obtain the assistance of Chris Wetherbee. Upon his entrance into the home, Chris Wetherbee observed the victim’s head being caved in, blood all over, the victim’s eyeball protruding approximately three inches and a mop handle shoved into the victim’s throat. Wetherbee asked Gary Lawrence, “what’s going on?” At which time the Defendant responded by pulling out the mop handle and kicking the victim and making the statement “this is what’s going on.” Immediately after removing the mop handle from the victim’s throat, Wetherbee heard the victim give approximately three or four ragged breaths at which time the victim thereafter stopped breathing and apparently expired. The Defendant, Gary Lawrence, told Wetherbee that he had beat him with a pipe until it bent and then beat him with a baseball bat.

Chris Wetherbee summarized the victim’s state: “And [he] looked like something off of one of the real good horror movies.” Gary and Brenda then removed a small amount of money from Michael’s pockets, wrapped the body in a shower curtain and placed the body in Michael’s car, and Gary drove to a secluded area where he set the body afire. When Gary returned home, he and Brenda danced.

Gary Lawrence was arrested later that evening driving Michael’s car and subsequently confessed, admitting that he had beaten Michael because Michael had been sleeping with Brenda. Lawrence was charged with first-degree murder, robbery, grand theft of a motor vehicle, and conspiracy to commit murder. At trial, the medical examiner testified as follows: Michael died of blunt trauma and possible asphyxia; Michael was alive when the mop handle was thrust down his throat; Michael’s blood alcohol level was very high; and one or more of the blows to Michael’s head could have caused loss of consciousness. Lawrence was convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, auto theft, and petty theft.

During the penalty phase, Lawrence presented testimony of a brother, a psychologist, and a psychiatrist. The court followed the jury’s nine-to-three vote and imposed a sentence of death

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/fl-supreme-court/1379290.html

Ronald Clark Florida Death Row

Ronald Clark was sentenced to death by the State of Florida for the murder of Ronald Willis. According to court documents Ronald Clark and John Hatch were picked up hitchhiking by Ronald Willis and the two made a plan to steal the truck. Once Ronald Willis stepped out of the vehicle he was shot multiple times by Ronald Clark. Ronald Clark was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Florida Death Row Inmate List

Ronald Clark 2021 Information

DC Number:	812974
Name:	CLARK, RONALD
Race:	WHITE
Sex:	MALE
Birth Date:	04/20/1968
Initial Receipt Date:	02/22/1991
Current Facility:	UNION C.I.
Current Custody:	MAXIMUM
Current Release Date:	DEATH SENTENCE

Ronald Clark More News

On the afternoon of January 13, 1990 two teenagers walking down a dirt road in rural Duval County found a crowbar, some broken false teeth, a bloody shirt, and some blank checks, with the name Ronald Willis printed on them, that also had blood on them. One of the boys returned home and told his mother what they had found, and she called the sheriff’s office. Also on the 13th Willis’ mother called his ex-wife to see if she knew of Willis’ whereabouts. The ex-wife did not, and she and her sister began driving around looking for him. They found Willis’ truck at a motel, parked near it, and started calling his name. A small child was in the truck, and a man identifying himself as the child’s father removed the child and pointed out Ronald Clark and John Hatch as the people who had been driving the truck. The ex-wife took the keys and locked the truck while her sister went to telephone the police. Clark approached the ex-wife, grabbed her, and tried to take the keys. When she kicked him, he ran away. The sister ran after Clark and noticed that he was wearing Willis’ cowboy boots. Clark and Hatch ran off before the police arrived. They had been identified, however, and the police arrested Hatch in Nassau County on January 20, 1990.

Hatch described the events of January 12 to 13 as follows. When he arrived home after work on January 12, Clark was at his house. They decided to hitchhike to Jacksonville to shoot pool. Along the way they shot at signs and beer bottles with a pistol Hatch had stolen from a house he had been remodeling. Willis stopped to give them a ride, and, during the ride, Clark whispered to Hatch that he was going to steal the truck. When Hatch asked Willis to stop the truck, both he and Clark got out of the truck, and Clark, who had the stolen pistol, shot Willis seven or eight times. Clark shoved Willis’ body to the center of the seat, Hatch got in the passenger’s seat, and Clark drove to a more secluded area. Clark pulled Willis’ body from the truck, during which Willis’ shirt came off. Clark then took Willis’ wallet and boots and pushed his body into a ditch. Clark and Hatch went to a restaurant and to Hatch’s ex-wife’s apartment complex, but later returned to where they had left the body. Taking the body with them, they went to Clark’s father’s house and got a rope and several cinder blocks. They then drove to the Nassau County Sound Bridge, tied the blocks to the body, and dumped it into the water. After driving around some more, they went to an acquaintance’s house to buy drugs. The acquaintance went with them to the motel where Willis’ ex-wife and her sister found the truck. Hatch and Clark left the state, eventually winding up in South Carolina. Hatch returned to Nassau County, where he was arrested. South Carolina authorities arrested Clark on February 7, 1990 and returned him to Florida.

The state indicted Clark for first-degree murder and armed robbery and tried him on those charges in January 1991. Hatch, in exchange for a twenty-five-year sentence, testified against Clark. Clark testified on his own behalf that Hatch killed Willis. The jury convicted Clark of armed robbery and felony murder. During the penalty phase, Clark refused to allow his attorney to present any mitigating evidence. The jury recommended that Clark be sentenced to death. On February 20 both sides argued their views on sentencing with defense counsel arguing that Clark should be sentenced to life imprisonment rather than death. The court disagreed, however, and sentenced Clark to death two days later.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/fl-supreme-court/1520090.html