TAMPA - When Exhibit No. 15A appeared on the screen today, the brother of a slain 13-year-old Citrus Park boy got up from his seat and cursed at the man accused of strangling his sibling. ...more

July 15, 2008

Mary Ann and George Patisso Sr. closed a tragic chapter in their lives when they left Polk County today after a jury awarded them $60.1 million Tuesday for the wrongful death of their son. It is a judgment they are unlikely to collect. The man who murdered their son in December 1997 is on death row. ...more

July 2, 2008

A key witness in the murder trial of James Ray Booth received a combined five years in prison for four cases on Wednesday. ...more

June 11, 2008

The Rev. Howard Douglas Porter says he tried to brake before his truck plunged into an irrigation ditch, and that he made a desperate effort to save his elderly passenger from drowning in the mire. ...more

May 30, 2008

Before his lawyers made an appearance on Fox News Network's "The O'Reilly Factor," this evening Mark Lunsford and one of his attorney's spoke for the first time about their intent-to-sue notice to the Citrus County Sheriff's Office. ...more

February 25, 2008

TAMPA - Robert Sinclaire Lee is noticeably absent from the attempted murder trial against him today. He didn't want to be in court and was excused this morning after he refused to change out of his orange jumpsuit, repeatedly kicked a door in his holding cell and began to disrobe, Assistant State Attorney Dereck Capaz said. ...more

February 13, 2008

SEBRING — A "body-less" murder trial is uncommon, but it's not unheard of, according to Assistant State Attorney Steve Houchin. Because authorities were unable to locate the body of the alleged newborn that Silvia Zanchez supposedly threw into the trash last November, prosecutors now have to prove through circumstantial evidence that Zanchez actually delivered the baby, if her case goes to a criminal trial. A Highlands County grand Jjury indicted Zanchez, 24, of 109 Sarasota St., Lake Placid, Wednesday, on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse. "We're going to have to prove circumstantially that she gave birth to a live human being," said Houchin, who also said that he's never prosecuted a "body-less" trial. ...more

January 11, 2008

Newspapers aren't as important to some folks today as they were before television and the Internet. But if you are a family historian, you can't afford to ignore historical newspapers as a research source. ...more

December 23, 2007

Daniel Parbel looked decidedly uncomfortable when detectives questioned him on Oct. 10, 2005, about John Benjamin's death. ...more

November 16, 2007

John Benjamin spent the last hours of his life high on crack and begging for money to pay off a $300 drug debt. ...more

November 15, 2007