Well, here we go & it's about time! Trial's expected to last 6 ugly weeks. July 13, 2006
Bloody evidence introduced in Deltona murder trial
By PATRICIO G. BALONA
Staff Writer
ST AUGUSTINE -- The killers in the Deltona mass murder sneaked around the house peeping through windows before kicking down the front door and delivering the worst nightmare possible to six young people sleeping inside, prosecutors said in opening statements Wednesday.
"With a rush, each with different assignments, they beat and stabbed all six young people to death in a matter of minutes," State Attorney John Tanner told a 12-member jury.
The jury of seven women and five men selected on Wednesday a few hours before opening statements will decide the fate of Troy Victorino, 29, Michael Salas, 20, and Jerone Hunter, 20. The three will face the death penalty if convicted of killing the six people in the home at 3106 Telford Lane in Deltona on Aug. 6, 2004.
The motive for the killings: Victorino felt dissed.
"They disrespected him. It was not over an X-Box or a T-shirt. It was a matter of disrespect," Tanner said. "They murdered Erin Belanger, (Francisco) Ayo-Roman sometimes called Flaco, Jonathan Gleason, Roberto Manuel Gonzalez, Michelle Nathan, Anthony Vega and the little dachshund."
The attackers showed no mercy, prosecutors said.
Gonzalez pleaded for his life, saying he did not live there. That did not stop the attackers from mercilessly bludgeoning him to death with aluminum baseball bats and then mutilating his body, Tanner said. The sickening thud of bats on flesh and bones continued amidst the screams of the women and the crying of a pet dog, Tanner said. The screams only stopped when there were no more sounds of life, he said.
The fourth man, Robert Cannon, 20, pleaded guilty to his role in the massacre and will be sentenced to life in prison without parole in exchange for his testimony against the others.
The slain range in age from the teens to the 30s: Gleason, 17, Nathan, 19, Belanger, 22, Gonzalez, 28, Ayo-Roman, 30, and Vega, 34. The pet dachshund named George was stomped to death.
Tanner said Victorino was angered when Erin Belanger called authorities when she found him and Hunter squatting at her grandmother's Providence Boulevard home in Deltona. Belanger called sheriff's deputies and Victorino was arrested.
When Victorino got out of jail he "found his nest torn" and his property taken and wanted revenge, Tanner said.
Prosecutors showed graphic photographs of gaping wounds on the abdomens, necks, hips and other parts of the victims. Bill Belanger and his family left the courtroom to avoid seeing the bloody photos of Belanger. The graphic nature of the photographs showing stab wounds and severe head injuries had some jurors looking away.
"I don't want to remember her like that," said Erin Pamela Belanger's mother, Pamela Belanger. "I can't believe they did it, that was sick. I hope the jury will give them the death penalty."
Prosecutors also showed a five minute video of the inside of the house including the bodies. During the video, Hunter stared at the table. Victorino wrote on a piece of paper and looked at a clock on the wall. Salas rested his chin on his thumb and index finger of his left hand and watched the entire video.
Victorino's defense team of Michael Nielsen, who along with his partner, Jeff Dowdy, asked jurors to carefully scrutinize Robert Cannon's testimony. Nielsen also asked the jury to weigh Brandon Graham's testimony. Graham was a fifth person authorities say withdrew from the murder plot and was not charged with being a principle to the crime, Nielsen said.
"Anthony Cannon fashioned a way out for himself, he cut a deal with the state and because of that he is to be viewed carefully," Nielsen said.
Also, Nielsen told jurors that what they heard from Tanner was his version of what happened but said Tanner's theory of what Victorino did could be wrong.
"It's important that you maintain neutrality," Nielsen said. "You are going to be asked by Mr. Tanner to make the most important decision on this young man's life. After the trial you are going to go your separate ways, but your decision will last a lifetime."
In his statement, Salas' attorney Jeffery Dees told the jury that although Tanner gave a powerful speech, he was not present when the crimes happened and only knew what witnesses told him. Dees also blamed Victorino for Salas' problems.
"Evidence will show that Victorino used his size, power and anger to intimidate four 18-year-olds to go with him to the house. Evidence will show Mike (Salas) is not a killer, that he did not kill anybody, and did not even know the names of the victims," Dees said.
Dees' statements prompted Victorino's attorneys to renew their motion to sever the trial, but Circuit Judge William A. Parson denied it.
Hunter's attorneys, Ed Mills and Frank Bankowitz, made no opening statements.
Christopher Carroll, the Orlando painting subcontractor who discovered the bodies, Volusia County deputy Anthony Crane, the first to enter the house, and Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Stacey Colton, who collected evidence from the home, testified Wednesday.
Assistant State Attorney David Smith said he was pleased with the progress of the trial but defense attorneys said it was a tough day.
"It wasn't a good day for the defense," Nielsen said. "It was as tough as we expected it to be."
patricio.balona@news-jrnl.com
The jury
The twelve jurors were selected after a six-day search for an impartial jury. They include a medical assistant, two elementary school teachers, a pest control technician, a salesman, a Web page designer, an Internal Revenue Service budget analyst, a toll collector and an insurance agent. Seven of the jurors are women, five are men. Only one of the jurors is black.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© 2006 News-Journal Corporation. ®
www.news-journalonline.com. Do not republish or distribute without permission.
All I know is it had to be take more than one of the four accused to kill six young people (and a dog). 
