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4th Man Found Guilty In Haines City Officer's Slaying In 1998

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By NEIL JOHNSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 18, 2008

TAMPA - A federal jury Tuesday found the fourth and final defendant guilty in the 1998 murder of a Haines City police officer, wrapping up the decade-old case.

A jury convicted Charles Fowler, 29, in the March 3, 1998, shooting of Officer Christopher Todd Horner. Testimony at the trial showed that Fowler was the gunman who shot the rookie police officer less than an hour after he started his 6 a.m. shift.

Horner was shot in the back of the head with his own gun.

Although a sentencing date has not been set, Fowler faces a mandatory life sentence, the U.S. attorney's office said.

The three other men who took part in the killing have received life sentences.

The other three men are: Christopher Gamble, 30, sentenced to life plus 107 years; Andre Paige, 28, and Robert Winston, 27.

Horner was killed after he told dispatchers he was checking a suspicious vehicle parked at Oakland Cemetery. Other officers responded when Horner stopped answering his radio.

They found him on the ground between his patrol car and where investigators thought the other car was parked.

It was 2004 before the first of four men now convicted of killing Horner was charged.

Gamble was already in prison when he was charged with Horner's killing, and he began cooperating with federal prosecutors. He was a key witness against the other three.

He testified at the trial of Paige that on the morning of March 3, 1998, he and a group of men were in a car at the cemetery planning a bank robbery. It was just before sunrise and they had guns, gloves and ski masks and were donning dark clothing.

Horner was patrolling the area, where stolen cars routinely were dumped. His last broadcast to a dispatcher was that he was checking out a suspicious vehicle.

Gamble testified that the men were surprised by Horner, who drew his gun and shined a flashlight on the four in the car. Fowler was in a nearby orange grove.

As Horner and Gamble talked, Fowler sneaked up behind Horner's car and grabbed his hand with the gun, Gamble said. The rest joined in and disarmed him.

With the officer down on his knees, Fowler shot Horner once in the back of the head, Gamble testified.

Paige was convicted Sept. 28, 2005.

Paige's attorneys wanted to call Fowler as a witness, but Fowler refused to testify because he did not want to incriminate himself. Prosecutors alleged at the time that Fowler was the gunman.

In June 2007, Winston was convicted for his role in the killing.

Reporter Neil Johnson can be reached at (813) 259-7731 or njohnson@tampatrib.com.

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