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Hillsborough Deputies List Items Found At Slain Family's Home

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By THOMAS H. KRAUSE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 23, 2008

TAMPA - When deputies found Edward Covington hiding under a pile of clothes in the Lutz mobile home where his girlfriend and her two children were slaughtered, he was covered in what looked like blood, according to court documents.

Two search warrants were issued May 12 by Hillsborough Circuit Court for the home at 1918 S. Mobile Villa Drive. They were returned to the court Wednesday, along with a list of 158 items detectives retrieved from the home and from Covington.

The bodies of Lisa Freiberg, 26, her son, Zachary, 7, and daughter, Heather Savannah, 2, were found by Freiberg's parents on May 11.

Covington, 35, told deputies that on May 11 he choked, beat, stabbed and mutilated them in the mobile home they shared in Lutz, an arrest report states.

He was charged with three counts of first-degree murder, three counts of abuse of dead human bodies, one count of cruelty to animals and one count of violating probation. He was being held without bail at Falkenburg Road Jail.

Deputies searched the home and found Covington in a bedroom, according to affidavits filed in applying for search warrants. They reported finding blood on his hands, under his fingernails, on the tops and bottoms of his feet and on his back.

Authorities collected samples of the suspected blood for testing to compare it with the victims'. Detectives also collected DNA samples from Covington.

Other items retrieved from the home include Freiberg's cell phone, nearly two dozen knives, several hammers, syringes, a broken lamp, a wood board with possible blood and a pair of pliers.

Detectives also collected Depakote pills and an empty bottle that had contained Seroquel. Both are commonly prescribed drugs for the treatment of bipolar disorder.

Reporter Mike Wells contributed to this report.

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