By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-10-26 03:26:07 | Updated at 2024-10-26 05:25:25
2 hours ago
Sarah Boone has been found guilty of second-degree murder after her boyfriend was found 'stiff and purple' in a suitcase.
Boone, 47, from Winter Park, Florida, has been on trial following the death of 42-year-old Jorge Torres in 2020.
During her sentencing, Boone remained emotionless as Judge Kraynick read out the guilty verdict.
Her current defense attorney James Owens said outside the courthouse that Boone was 'in shock'.
State Attorney Andrew Bain said: 'This is a very horrific homicide... Today, justice was served with the conviction of Sarah Boone.'
Sarah Boone, 47, has been found guilty of second-degree murder after the death of her boyfriend
Jorge Torres, 42, was found dead in 2020 after being zipped inside a suitcase by his girlfriend Boone
Boone represented herself for much of her time in court after eight previous attorneys were removed or quit.
Before the trial, she had rejected a plea deal for 15 years in prison for manslaughter. She had also made an audacious request, which was denied, for professional hair and makeup while she stood trial.
Boone had claimed that the couple had been playing a game of drunken hide and seek in which Torres willingly got into the suitcase.
Prosecutors argued that she showed no regard for Torres's life, while she was defended on grounds that she was the victim of battered spouse syndrome.
On Tuesday, she testified: 'I looked over and saw him settling into the suitcase. I zipped him up. We thought it was funny and were joking about how he was small enough to fit inside the suitcase.'
Boone told the court how she hit her boyfriend's hand with a baseball bat to stop him from trying to get out and retract his hand
Boone demonstrated the chilling way she had zipped her boyfriend into the suitcase
Boone had taken two videos of Torres trapped inside the suitcase, in which he was thrashing around and can be heard yelling 'I can't f***ing breathe' while she laughed.
In the videos Boone can be heard laughing while she said: 'Yeah, that's what you do when you choke me... Oh this is what I feel when you cheat on me... For everything you've done to me, f*** you stupid.'
She said she hadn't let him out because he had been forcefully trying to escape and that he was angry, expressing that she was 'always in fear'.
Boone had made claims that her boyfriend was abusive toward her. She told the court that Torres threatened to make her 'unrecognizable' or she 'would have lost my life'.
A former neighbor testified that she had seen marks on Boone's arm and neck, and Boone would discuss the abuse during conversation, reported Orlando News 6.
'His hand started to come through, and so I shook the suitcase to try and get his hand to go back in. Telling him please stop doing this to me,' she told the court.
'He used to tell me he would make me unrecognizable, or I would have lost my life,' she added before telling the court she used a baseball bat to poke his hand back in and hit his hand.
Under cross examination, she admitted she wanted Torres to know how she felt living with his alleged abuse.
Boone then went upstairs to go to sleep before awaking the following morning and finding Torres still inside the suitcase.
A detective had pointed out to her that she had refused to free him while he was 'begging for you to let him out', to which she responded: 'It was not intentional. I will put my hand on the Bible. It was not intentional.'
On the call to 911, she described him as 'stiff and purple' with blood coming out of his mouth and it was later determined that Torres died as a result of positional asphyxia.
During the call, Boone was heard giving an emotionless recount of what had happened.
When asked the nature of her emergency, she had calmly said: 'My boyfriend is dead.'
The 911 operator then coached Boone through CPR while she protested that she had already attempted and asked them to 'hurry up'.
She said to the court that she was 'aghast' and was unable to describe the 'feeling of terror' upon discovering his body.
She is expected to be sentenced on December 2.
