May 2021 | Page 12 of 26 | My Crime Library

Derrick Smith Florida Death Row

Derrick Smith was sentenced to death by the State of Florida for the robbery murder of Jeffery Songer. According to court documents Derrick Smith and an accomplice called for a taxi. The taxi which was driven by Jeffery Songer and the two men got in and shortly after the driver was fatally shot and robbed. Derrick Smith would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Florida Death Row Inmate List

Derrick Smith 2021 Information

DC Number:	490606
Name:	SMITH, DERRICK T
Race:	BLACK
Sex:	MALE
Birth Date:	08/07/1962
Initial Receipt Date:	12/02/1983
Current Facility:	UNION C.I.
Current Custody:	MAXIMUM
Current Release Date:	DEATH SENTENCE

Derrick Smith More News

Derrick Tyrone Smith was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Jeffery Songer. On March 21, 1983, Derrick Smith and Derrick Johnson carried out a robbery which they had previously planned. Following their plan, Smith called for a cab from a St. Petersburg restaurant payphone. A cab driver, Jeffery Songer, picked up the two men who requested to be taken to a nearby residential area. After becoming suspicious, Songer radioed an emergency code to his dispatch. His dispatch called the police and also sent another cab driver to answer Songer’s distress call. The police and other cab driver found Songer lying about 70 feet from the car, dead from a gunshot wound to the back. A witness was able to identify Smith and Johnson. He testified to seeing Smith shoot Songer in the back when he tried to run from the taxicab. Another witness testified at trial to Smith robbing him and his wife in their motel room at gunpoint with a firearm similar to the one used to kill Songer.

Smith pled guilty to those charges and received a life sentence. The firearm used to kill Songer was never found. Smith’s uncle, however, reported that a firearm of the same type, a .38-caliber pistol, was missing from his home which several people testified to seeing Smith with shortly before the murder. Furthermore, the police were able to match the type of bullet that killed Songer to bullets that Smith’s uncle had bought for his missing firearm. Smith’s fingerprints were also found on the restaurant pay telephone that had been used to call for the taxicab. During the investigation, Smith said that he had sold the firearm the day before the murder to Johnson. Smith admitted that he called for the taxicab, but claims that at the last minute he changed his mind about the robbery and decided not to go.

Smith was resentenced to death in Pinellas County on July 13, 1990.

Robert Peede Florida Death Row

Robert Peede was sentenced to death by the State of Florida for the murder of his estranged wife Darla Peede. According to court documents Robert Peede would drive from North Carolina to Florida and would stab to death Darla Peede. Robert Peede would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Florida Death Row Inmate List

Robert Peede 2021 Information

DC Number:	093094
Name:	PEEDE, ROBERT I
Race:	WHITE
Sex:	MALE
Birth Date:	06/30/1944
Initial Receipt Date:	03/07/1984
Current Facility:	UNION C.I.
Current Custody:	MAXIMUM
Current Release Date:	DEATH SENTENCE

Robert Peede More News

The evidence at trial established that Peede returned to Miami to convince Darla [Peede’s estranged wife] to go to North Carolina and serve as a decoy in an alleged scheme Peede had to kill his ex-wife [Geraldine Peede] and her boyfriend. Peede telephoned Darla and she agreed to pick him up at the airport. However, instead of returning to Darla’s home as intended, they mistakenly got on the Florida Turnpike heading for Orlando. As they left the Miami area, Peede pulled a lock-blade knife and inflicted a superficial cut in Darla’s side. Subsequently, outside of Orlando, Peede stopped the car, jumped into the back seat, and stabbed Darla in the throat. As a result of this injury, Darla bled to death. Peede was arrested in North Carolina before carrying out his scheme to murder his ex-wife, and he confessed to Darla’s murder.

After his trial and conviction, a jury recommended the death penalty. The trial judge followed the jury’s recommendation and sentenced Peede to death, finding three aggravating factors and one mitigating circumstance. The trial court found in mitigation that Peede was under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance, but attributed little weight to this finding. On appeal, this Court affirmed Peede’s conviction and, although we found that the murder was not cold, calculated and premeditated (CCP), we nevertheless upheld the death penalty.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-11th-circuit/1879495.html

Jason Walton Florida Death Row

Jason Walton was sentenced to death by the State of Florida for the murder of Steven Fridella, Bobby Martindale, and Gary Petersen. According to court documents Jason Walton and his accomplices forced their way into the home and restrained the three men before shooting and killing them. Jason Walton would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Florida Death Row Inmate List

Jason Walton 2021 Information

DC Number:	093268
Name:	WALTON, JASON D
Race:	WHITE
Sex:	MALE
Birth Date:	10/09/1958
Initial Receipt Date:	03/22/1984
Current Facility:	UNION C.I.
Current Custody:	MAXIMUM
Current Release Date:	DEATH SENTENCE

Jason Walton More News

On June 18, 1982, police discovered the bodies of three men killed by shotgun blasts lying face down on the living room floor of the home shared by two of the victims. The victims’ wrists had been bound with duct tape. Victim Steven Fridella’s eight-year-old son, who summoned police, had been bound and locked in the bathroom but was otherwise unharmed. Six months after the murder, Fridella’s ex-wife supplied police with information that led to the arrest of one of appellant’s codefendants, and subsequently to the appellant, with whom she was romantically involved.

Following his apprehension, appellant initiated a conversation with detectives who were transporting him from the courthouse to jail. Although the detectives responded that appellant’s attorney had admonished them not to discuss the case with appellant, appellant informed the detectives that he wished to talk and signed a waiver form. He then told the detectives that he did not shoot the victims. In response to a detective’s further inquiry as to whether appellant wished to give a statement, appellant replied, “Well, yes, I would like to but I don’t really want to,” and answered the detectives’ subsequent questions. Appellant told the detectives that he and codefendants Terry Van Royal and Richard Cooper planned to rob the victims of money and cocaine and entered the victims’ house wearing ski masks. Appellant stated he carried a handgun and Van Royal and Cooper armed themselves with shotguns as “insurance”; that they did not intend to kill anyone; that when appellant entered the house, one of the victims asked, “Is that you, J.D.?”; that Fridella’s son was placed in the bathroom so he would not be harmed; that he ransacked the house and, failing to find money or cocaine, returned to the living room where he observed Van Royal and Cooper pointing shotguns at the victims, who were lying face down on the floor; that he stated, “Let’s get out of here”; and that he heard several gunshots as he exited the house. Appellant concluded his statement by noting that Fridella had been involved in a custody battle with his ex-wife, and that she told appellant she and Fridella might reconcile. Appellant repeated his statement on tape.

After appellant gave this statement, codefendant Cooper revealed that appellant’s brother, Jeffrey McCoy, also took part in the incident. After obtaining a waiver of rights, detectives interrogated appellant concerning his failure to mention McCoy’s participation in his earlier statement. Appellant responded that McCoy had bound the victims but was in the car when the shootings occurred. Appellant then admitted that he had initiated the idea for the robbery and also stated that before entering the house, he tested his weapon but that it had misfired. Both statements were introduced at trial. The jury found appellant guilty of all three counts of first-degree murder.

In the penalty phase of the trial, the state introduced the written confessions of codefendants Cooper and McCoy, who were awaiting trial on related charges, but did not call them as witnesses. Both confessions indicated that appellant had pointed his gun at Fridella’s head and pulled the trigger several times. Cooper’s statement also indicated that when appellant’s gun failed to discharge, appellant ordered Cooper and Van Royal to shoot the victims, and they complied. Cooper’s statement further reflected that when he left the house, appellant called him back to shoot Fridella again. Cooper’s former cellmate, who was called as a witness for the state to corroborate Cooper’s confession, testified that Cooper told him appellant was the “ringleader” and that appellant informed *1199 Cooper prior to their arrival at the victims’ house that they were going to “eliminate them.” The state also introduced evidence that appellant had sold two ounces of marijuana and that appellant had been in possession of several bales of marijuana allegedly taken during a sheriff’s department warehouse burglary.

https://law.justia.com/cases/florida/supreme-court/1985/65101-0.html

William Kelley Florida Death Row

William Kelley was sentenced to death by the State of Florida for the murder of Charles Von Maxcy. According to court documents William Kelley was hired to murder Charles Von Maxcy by his wife Irene Von Maxcy and her lover, John Sweet. Charles Von Maxcy would be stabbed and shot inside of his residence. The murder went unsolved for over ten years until William Kelley would be connected to the murder after John Sweet was arrested for an unrelated crime and exchanged information about the Von Maxcy murder for a lesser charge. William Kelley would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Florida Death Row Inmate List

William Kelley 2021 Information

DC Number:	093417
Name:	KELLEY, WILLIAM
Race:	WHITE
Sex:	MALE
Birth Date:	12/08/1942
Initial Receipt Date:	04/06/1984
Current Facility:	UNION C.I.
Current Custody:	MAXIMUM
Current Release Date:	DEATH SENTENCE

William Kelley More News

This sordid tale begins with an illicit love affair between John Sweet, a real estate broker with shadowy ties to Boston’s criminal underworld, and Irene Maxcy, who was married to Charles von Maxcy (“Maxcy”), a wealthy citrus grower. It culminates in Maxcy’s assassination at the hands of two hit men. The investigation and legal proceedings following the murder have spanned almost four decades and have involved some of the best known lawyers in the country.

The district court described the circumstances leading up to and surrounding Maxcy’s murder as follows:

Irene Maxcy and John Sweet were lovers, and they planned to kill Irene’s husband, Charles von Maxcy, a wealthy citrus grover [sic] and rancher from Sebring, Florida. Sweet and Irene talked for months about the murder, after which they planned to live together on Maxcy’s large estate. Sweet contacted an acquaintance, William Bennett of Boston, Massachusetts. Arrangements were made, and a price was set: $5000 up front, and $15,000 after the murder.

On October 1, 1966, Sweet went to Daytona, Florida to meet Andrew von Etter. Von Etter was to do the killing, along with a partner. The next day von Etter called Sweet to tell him the partner, “William Kelley”, had arrived. On October 3rd, Sweet drove von Etter and “Kelley” to the estate. The alleged killers showed Sweet the weapons they would use, knives and a revolver, which they kept in a satchel. Sweet drove back to Sebring. Charles von Maxcy was murdered that day. A couple weeks later, Sweet went to Boston to pay the $15,000 balance due for the murder.

Unfortunately, the murder did not signal the beginning of a blissful life on the estate for Irene Maxcy and John Sweet. Sweet wanted more money, purportedly to pay off the murder balance, and he began to harass and threaten Irene and her five-year-old daughter daily. Terrified, Irene Maxcy went to the authorities. In exchange for immunity, she implicated Sweet in the murder-for-hire scheme.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-11th-circuit/1034010.html

Carl Puiatti Florida Death Row

Carl Puiatti was sentenced to death by the State of Florida for the kidnapping and murder of Sharilyn Ritchie. According to court documents Carl Puiatti and Rodney Glock would kidnap, rob and murder Sharilyn Ritchie. Carl Puiatti would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Florida Death Row Inmate List

Carl Puiatti 2021 Information

DC Number:	716927
Name:	PUIATTI, CARL
Race:	WHITE
Sex:	MALE
Birth Date:	10/03/1962
Initial Receipt Date:	05/14/1984
Current Facility:	UNION C.I.
Current Custody:	MAXIMUM
Current Release Date:	DEATH SENTENCE

Carl Puiatti More News

On August 16, 1983, Puiatti and Robert Glock kidnapped, robbed, and murdered Sharilyn Ritchie. Puiatti (age 20) and Glock (age 22) confronted Ritchie as she got out of her car in the parking lot of a shopping mall in Bradenton, Florida. Glock pulled out a .38 pistol and forced Ritchie into the backseat of her car at gunpoint. Puiatti and Glock got in Ritchie’s car, Glock took $50 from Ritchie’s purse, and Puiatti drove them to Ritchie’s bank, where they made Ritchie cash a $100 check. Then Puiatti drove Ritchie more than 60 miles, to an orange grove outside Dade City, Florida. Puiatti took Ritchie’s wedding ring and left her at the roadside.

After driving away for a short distance, Glock said he thought they should kill Ritchie, and Puiatti agreed. Puiatti turned the car around, and when the car pulled abreast of Ritchie, Puiatti shot her twice from inside the car. Puiatti began to drive away, but when Glock saw Ritchie was still standing, Puiatti handed the gun to Glock, turned the car around, and drove by Ritchie again. Glock shot Ritchie. When Ritchie still did not fall, Puiatti made a third pass and Glock shot Ritchie again. Ritchie collapsed and died from her injuries.

Four days later, on August 20, 1983, Puiatti and Glock were in Ritchie’s car in New Jersey, with Glock driving. A state trooper stopped them because Ritchie’s license plate was improperly displayed. Neither Puiatti nor Glock had a valid driver’s license. When Puiatti opened the glove compartment to find the car’s registration, the state trooper saw a handgun that was later identified as the gun used to kill Ritchie. The state trooper searched the car and found another handgun. He arrested Puiatti and Glock for possessing handguns without a permit. After Puiatti and Glock were taken to the police station, police officers discovered that the car they were driving was stolen and its owner had been murdered.

The New Jersey State Police assigned Detective John Quinlan to interview Puiatti and Glock. On the evening of August 20, Detective Quinlan questioned Puiatti and Glock for about 15 minutes each, at which time Glock admitted he had stolen the car. On the evening of the next day, August 21, 1983, Detective Quinlan, along with Florida detectives August Stahl and James Wiggins, questioned the defendants again. The detectives questioned Puiatti and Glock separately, for about an hour each. Puiatti, who was interviewed after Glock, initially claimed Glock picked him up in Ritchie’s car to give him a ride to New York and that Puiatti knew nothing about the theft of the car or Ritchie’s death. After the detectives told Puiatti that Glock already gave a statement about Ritchie’s murder, Puiatti said, “I might as well tell you,” and gave a statement about the murder.

Puiatti’s and Glock’s individual confessions, which they gave initially, differed from each other in only two ways: (1) although Puiatti and Glock each confessed to shooting Ritchie, they differed on who fired which shots at her; and (2) they each claimed the other man instigated the killing.

Puiatti and Glock were extradited to Florida. On August 24, 1983, Detective Stahl asked Puiatti and Glock if they would give a joint statement confessing to their involvement in Ritchie’s murder, and they agreed. Puiatti and Glock’s joint confession resolved the inconsistencies in their individual confessions. Their joint confession stated that Glock had suggested shooting Ritchie, Puiatti fired the two shots on the first pass, and Glock fired the shots on the second and third passes.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-11th-circuit/1546190.html