The saint and the sinner: Friends recall 2 sides of Kalisz

Sadness, guilt and disbelief have cost Melissa Williams a lot of tears during the past 72 hours.

John Kalisz has been her friend for 14 years. He was the subject of a term paper she wrote while in college.

He helped pull her out of a dense fog following the collapse of her marriage, she said.

His last day in Colorado more than a year ago was spent with Williams. He left for Florida promising a return.

"He's my friend and I know he's in the hospital, so I feel worried about him," she said.

Williams' voice squeaked as she tried to talk over her sobs.

"Then I feel bad that I'm worried," she said. "I just think to myself, 'John, there are a whole lot of people who look up to you and you turn around and do something like this.'"

The Hernando County Sheriff's Office said Kalisz showed up Thursday afternoon at his sister's house at 15303 Wilhelm Road and gunned down four women, killing two and seriously injuring two others. They were shot a combined 14 times, detectives said.

Among his targets were his 61-year-old sister Kathryn Donovan and 18-year-old niece Manessa Donovan.

The elder Donovan was killed instantly along with Debroah Buckley Tillotson, 59, who worked with her at her home-based business.

The younger Donovan and 31-year-old Amy Wilson survived.

Manessa Donovan was two months pregnant. She was taken off a respirator Thursday, but her baby did not make it, said Hernando County Sheriff Richard Nugent.

The carnage at the hands of Kalisz didn't end in Brooksville, authorities said.

After pulling into a gas station in Cross City later that day, he shot and killed Capt. Chad Reed of the Dixie County Sheriff's Office, Nugent said.

Other deputies at the scene were engaged in the gunfight with Kalisz, who was shot six times, the sheriff said during a media conference Friday.

Kalisz, 55, was admitted to Shands Hospital in Gainesville.

His behavior was not a shock to Donnie Durant. The two were part of the same social circles in Spring Hill during the past couple of years, he said.

Durant remembered Kalisz's quick temper, a propensity to steal, a hatred for police and a tendency to behave lecherously around women, he said.

Women entranced him; police infuriated him

Durant said he saw Kalisz's wickedness up close.

"I had an argument with him last year," Durant said. "He told me, 'I'm going to (expletive deleted) kill you.'

"I'm telling you, when he said it to me, my blood ran cold," he said. "I told my friends, 'This guy really means it.'"

Kalisz' friends knew he was a recovering alcoholic. Several people told Hernando Today he has been sober for at least two decades.

They said he was once a severe drunk, someone who lived on the street and under bridges for most of his young adult life.

After he got clean, he wanted to share his experiences as a way to help people.

They responded. His life became the subject of Williams' term paper, she said.

Durant also knew of Kalisz's sobriety.

He saw him as a manipulator. Kalisz sold people on his past. He went for fragile women and would woo them with his words and stories, Durant said.

"He was a con man," he said. "He was a total creep. The only intentions he had were bad. He wasn't who he said he was. That's for sure."

Durant said he witnessed Kalisz stealing money. He also heard him make vile comments about police. He heard it several times.

"He didn't have a love for policeman," he said of Kalisz. "If someone told him a story about getting pulled for DUI he would say something like, 'those (expletive deleted) cops. I hate those (expletive deleted) cops. That's something I specifically remember."

He is not a monster

Kalisz's family members, many of whom are spread from Florida to Connecticut, have declined to talk to the media.

On Saturday, they put out a statement.

"The family of John Kalisz is very deeply saddened by the tragic events of Thursday, Jan. 14, which claimed the lives of three people," wrote sister Becky Berarducci.

"Our hearts and prayers go out to all the families involved and who have been affected by this most devastating incident," her statement continued. "At this time, we request that our privacy be respected."

Judith Lavezzi is another long-time friend of Kalisz.

"He may have been a man of a blurry and difficult past, but the John that I knew, and knew pretty well by the way, is a man of compassion, strength and giving back," she said.

Williams was Kalisz's neighbor for six years. She also worked for him. She didn't know he ever owned a gun, she said.

He was a roofer who liked to travel during the winter because there would be no work for him in Colorado that time of year, she said.

Williams said she received a text message from him shortly after Christmas, at which time he told her his stay was delayed, but he still intended to return.

She didn't notice anything different.

"It's really hard to see how he did something so horrible," she said.

Kalisz's friends said he wanted to return to Colorado, but his probation meant he could not leave Florida. He was convicted in Hernando County of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

The latter charge was from when he slid a CD of nude photos of himself under Manessa Donovan's mattress, prosecutors said. She was 17 years old at the time.

When Sheriff Nugent talked about Kalisz's motives for the killings, he mentioned the convictions. Kalisz was sentenced in October.

Kathryn Donovan was among those who witnessed Kalisz pull a knife on someone. His aggravated assault charge stemmed from that incident, prosecutors said.

A couple days before the shootings, Kalisz's house burned as a result of a propane explosion. What little he owned was lost.

His life took a turn for the worse. He was slipping. His friends thought it was more than he could handle.

"John is not a monster," Lavezzi said. "Something happened to John, of that I am certain."

"I've known him for 14 years and the person I'm reading about in the papers wasn't the person I knew," Williams said.

Durant's recollection of Kalisz was in stark contrast. He believes he is a sociopath. He said he isn't the only one who feels that way.

"Some people thought he was this great guy," Durant said. "Other people, like me, knew he wasn't.

"You could see something like this coming."