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Thread: Jonathon LeBaron Sentenced in 2009 FL Slaying of Richard Gardner

  1. #1
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    Jonathon LeBaron Sentenced in 2009 FL Slaying of Richard Gardner

    LeBaron murder trial to be delayed
    He's charged with beating man to death



    Jonathon LeBaron, accused of killing a Cape Coral man on a Stock Island boat just more than a year ago, won't stand trial this month as originally expected, according to prosecutors.

    LeBaron is charged with capital murder in the death of Richard Gardner, 57. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

    He's set for a pretrial hearing Thursday at 10 a.m. in front of Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Mark Jones. But Assistant State Attorney Manny Madruga says the defense would likely ask for a continuance.

    That move would further delay LeBaron's trial, originally scheduled for later this month.

    "Many depositions remain on this case," Madruga said. LeBaron's "case will not be going to trial at the end of the month."

    LeBaron, 33, is accused of beating Gardner to death aboard Gardner's boat, the 43-foot Flo to Me, on Feb. 10, 2009. The boat was docked at the Kings Pointe Marina, formerly the Oceanside Marina.

    Kirsten Whitmore, 41, LeBaron's girlfriend, agreed in October to cooperate with prosecutors in building their case against LeBaron. She pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and Jones sentenced her to 18 years -- contingent on her continued cooperation -- in prison. She's at the Broward Correctional Institution.

    Authorities say Whitmore met Gardner through an ad on craigslist. She admitted to authorities that Gardner paid her on "numerous occasions" for oral sex while she was dating LeBaron, who's from Salt Lake City, Utah.

    Gardner had offered to let Whitmore stay on his boat, and she brought LeBaron with her. He hid inside the darkened boat, according to court documents.

    Whitmore "then stated that when she got to the bottom of the stairs, the flashlight suddenly went out and she felt a weight on her as Mr. Gardner fell back against her. She then heard sounds of a struggle and noise she described as bones crunching...."

    An autopsy revealed Gardner suffered a broken upper and lower jaw and had numerous teeth knocked out.

    After that, the pair stole Gardner's mother's 1999 Mercury Marquis and headed to Salt Lake City via Memphis, Tenn., where police pulled them over -- then let them go.

    LeBaron and Whitmore were arrested on Feb. 22, after a tip led police to a Motel 6 in Midvale, Utah.

    The lengthy deposition list includes law enforcement officials and witnesses in the Keys, Memphis and the Salt Lake City area.

    LeBaron's attorney Eugene Zenobi couldn't be reached for comment.

    http://www.keysnet.com/2010/03/03/194790/lebaron-murder-trial-to-be-delayed

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    Alleged killer's attorneys fired, could lead to trial delay

    Due to a round of firings in a state criminal-defense office, Keys defendant Jonathan LeBaron, facing the death penalty for allegedly beating a man to death on Stock Island in 2009, might have to wait longer to stand trial.

    Joseph P. George Jr., director of the South Florida office of the Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel, fired LeBaron's attorneys, Eugene Zenobi and Rene Palomino, early this month.

    The purported reason: Drinking on the job for an after-hours toast of Cabernet in July. George also fired attorney Kellie Peterson.

    The dismissals brought a swift backlash from legal professionals, clients and victims, prompting Gov. Rick Scott to undertake an accelerated nominating process that leaves George's continued employment in question, and presents the possibility that Zenobi could oust the boss that fired him.

    Chief Assistant Monroe County State Attorney Manny Madruga, who is prosecuting LeBaron, said interviews with Scott are set for Monday in Tallahassee, "and then an almost immediate selection is anticipated.

    "If [Zenobi is] appointed the new regional counsel," Madruga said, "there's the possibility he'd rehire Mr. Palomino and Ms. Peterson and once again he'd be on the case. That's the resolution that's in the best interest of our case."

    "It's devastating, especially after the progress that has been made," said Norman Gardner, the son of Richard Gardner, whom LeBaron is accused of killing. "These guys were actually doing a good job getting started on this case so we can get it to trial."

    LeBaron, who turned 35 last week, is accused of beating to death the 57-year-old Gardner of Cape Coral aboard Gardner's boat on Feb. 10, 2009. The boat was docked at the Kings Pointe Marina.

    LeBaron's then-girlfriend, Kristen Whitmore, 42, met Gardner through an ad on craigslist. She admitted to authorities that Gardner paid her on "numerous occasions" for oral sex while she was dating LeBaron, who's from Salt Lake City.

    The night of the killing, Gardner offered to let Whitmore stay on his boat, and she brought LeBaron with her. Authorities say he hid inside the darkened boat and then killed and robbed Gardner. LeBaron and Whitmore were arrested 12 days after the killing in Utah.

    Madruga said that if Zenobi doesn't garner the top job in the Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel, "Obviously there will be some kind of delay" in LeBaron's trial. He also noted that the case was "not about to be tried," anyway.

    Whitmore pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2009, and was sentenced to 18 years in prison contingent on her cooperation in the case against LeBaron.

    http://www.keysnet.com/2011/09/21/37...eys-fired.html

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    In Florida Keys homicide cases, justice moves slowly

    Homicides in the Florida Keys are a rarity, with just a handful -- and sometimes none -- happening each year. But once one does happen and an arrest is made, it can take years for the case to be resolved. That goes for intentional slayings and those charged with killing someone while driving drunk.

    For example, Jonathon LeBaron, 35, was arrested on Feb. 22, 2009, charged with capital murder in the beating death of 57-year-old Richard Gardner of Cape Coral aboard Gardner's boat 12 days earlier. The vessel was in storage at the Kings Pointe Marina on Stock Island.

    LeBaron's girlfriend, Kristen Whitmore, 42, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in October 2009 and agreed to testify against LeBaron in return for an 18-year sentence. Yet LeBaron's case isn't close to seeing trial, says Chief Assistant Monroe County State Attorney Manny Madruga.

    Among the reasons: Depositions needed from people in three states -- Florida; Tennessee, where police stopped LeBaron and Whitmore in Gardner's car, only to be let go; and in Utah, where the two are from and where they were arrested.

    Other cases with long delays:

    The second-degree murder case of Nicholas Ferro, 26, of Hollywood.

    He's accused of stabbing to death Key Wester Marquese Butler, 23, on Oct. 31, 2009, in Key West and is seeking to have the case thrown out based on the Stand Your Ground Law, which allows for self defense.

    A three-judge Third District Court of Appeal panel rejected his petition on Oct. 26 without issuing a written opinion, and now defense attorney Ed O'Donnell wants the full 11-judge court to weigh in. He filed for a rehearing last Thursday.

    Because Butler was connected to several staffers at the Monroe County State Attorney's Office, prosecution is being handled by Miami-Dade prosecutors.

    There's no trial date in the offing for William Dieguez, 23, and Sean Roberts, 18, both of Marathon and charged with first-degree murder in the May 22, 2010, shooting death of 18-year-old Big Pine Key resident Frank Randleman.

    Dieguez and Roberts are accused of shooting Randleman in his grandmother's home in the Seahorse RV Park during an apparent robbery, possibly related to a drug deal. Madruga said the case is "pending and in the process of discovery."

    Pablo Jimenez, 29, is charged with second-degree murder in the May 31, 2010, death of Tracy Heshmaty, 37, and could stand trial in the spring, according to Assistant State Attorney Mark Wilson.

    Heshmaty's body was found in a pool of blood in the back parking lot of First State Bank on Simonton Street in Key West. Authorities have not revealed the connection, if any, between the two.

    The state is also still building its case, Madruga said, against William Millstead, 48, charged with second-degree murder in the hammer-beating death of Clay Ratcliff, 49, during an argument over a woman. The slaying took place on Christmas 2010 at a homeless encampment near Enchanted Isle by Key Haven.

    On Sept. 2, Carl Eric Johanson, 66, was found in his apartment at the Henry Haskins Senior Citizen Plaza on Kennedy Drive, bound with his throat slashed.

    Tod Geofrey Helfrich, 46, is the prime suspect although he has not been charged, as prosecutors await a forensic analysis by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Helfrich is being held at the Monroe County Detention Center on charges of probation violation and grand theft related to him being caught in Orlando with Johanson's car, cell phone and credit card.

    As with the homicide cases, drunk-driving cases involving death also move through the courts slowly.

    Assistant State Attorney Tanner Demmery says he anticipates a January trial for 30-year-old Pierson Villalobos, charged with killing Deborah Mangrum, 42, and Christopher Jennings, 34, in a Nov. 28, 2009, drunk-driving crash on U.S. 1 in Marathon.

    Villalobos is charged with two counts each of DUI-manslaughter and vehicular homicide, and three counts of DUI-personal injury and property damage with a prior conviction. Demmery said the defense is still taking depositions.

    Public Defender Anthony Barrows represents Villalobos and has said he was working on a possible plea deal. However, Demmery said, "As of now, there hasn't been any plea that we're close on."

    Bill Heffernan, the attorney for a Michigan man charged with causing the death of 61-year-old Bernie Snyder while driving drunk in Marathon, says his client's trial is months away.

    Richard Lee Hall, a 66-year-old seasonal resident, is charged with DUI-manslaughter. He was at the wheel of a 2001 Corvette on Feb. 2, 2010, when he plowed into a metal pole and fence along U.S. 1. Snyder was tossed from the car; he wasn't wearing a seatbelt.

    Hall is "back up in Michigan and we've been doing some depositions; some witnesses came and some didn't," Heffernan said. "We still have some discovery going."

    Attorneys are also working through depositions and discovery in the DUI-manslaughter case against 23-year-old Alison Bryan of Ocala.

    Hal Schuhmacher, her attorney, said "there's lots of work to be done" before his client stands trial. She was driving a Chrysler on Aug. 10, 2010, on MacDonald Avenue on Stock Island when she slammed into a concrete utility pole, killing passenger Scott Ackles, 29.

    Schuhmacher estimated the trial would fall in "early to mid-2012."

    http://www.keysnet.com/2011/11/16/39...ide-cases.html

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    Jury selection begins in death penalty case

    Jury selection is set to begin Monday in the death penalty trial of a drifter accused of beating a Cape Coral man to death aboard his boat on Stock Island in 2009.

    Jonathan LeBaron, 36, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Richard Gardner, 58, whose body was found Feb. 10, 2009 aboard his 43-foot boat that was docked at Oceanside Marina on Stock Island. Gardner kept a boat in the Keys, where he frequently fished.

    LeBaron's girlfriend and co-defendant, Kirsten Whitmore, 43, was sentenced to 18 years in prison in September 2009 as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors that calls for her to testify against LeBaron.

    LeBaron is being kept in the Monroe County Detention Center on Stock Island's "Alpha Unit," the high-profile wing of the jail where high-level offenders or those with disciplinary issues are housed, said Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Deputy Becky Herrin.

    He has been there since his arrest in 2009, when the couple was captured in Utah.

    Prosecutors allege the pair planned to steal Gardner's boat, Flo to Me, and sail to Belize, but their plans were stymied when Gardner was brutally killed in the alleged attempted robbery.

    Circuit Judge Mark Jones will preside over the trial and Chief Assistant State Attorney Manny Madruga and Assistant State Attorney Val Winter are the prosecutors.

    LeBaron is being represented by attorneys from the Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel, a state agency that provides indigent defendants with lawyers when the Public Defender's Office cannot represent them because of a conflict of interest or other reasons. The Public Defender's Office represented Whitmore.

    There are more than 80 witnesses in the case, scattered all over the country.

    It is the only death penalty case on the Monroe County docket and there already have been numerous continuances due to the number of expected witnesses, changing of defense attorneys and mental evaluations.

    In Florida, capital murder cases are broken down into two proceedings: The guilt phase and the penalty phase.

    During the first phase, a jury determines a verdict of guilty or not guilty.

    If they deem the defendant guilty, the trial moves into the penalty phase, when the jury decides on a sentence of either life in prison or death.

    The jury's vote must be unanimous when finding the defendant guilty. But in the penalty phase, a sentence of death only comes at the recommendation of a majority of the jury.

    The judge presiding over the case ultimately determines the sentence and has the authority overrule the jury's recommendation, although it is rare for a judge to do so barring some other legal factor.

    http://keysnews.com/node/46893
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    4 years on, capital murder case under way

    Jury selection could be complete today in the murder case of Jonathon Leo LeBaron in what's expected to be a 3- to 4-week trial at the Freeman Justice Center in Key West.

    But it could be some time until the trial begins, according to Monroe County State Attorney Catherine Vogel. "It could go on for weeks. I tried a case in Miami where we were in jury selection for 2 weeks," she said.

    The delay is due in large part to attorneys for both sides being forced to interview large pools of jurors individually. That's because prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against LeBaron, accused of beating to death 57-year-old Richard Gardner in Key West in February 2009. The charge is 1st-degree murder.

    There's also the question of media exposure among prospective jurors.

    "On any high-profile case or one with a lot of media attention, the jurors will be interviewed separately," Vogel said. "When you have a juror sitting in the midst of 30 others, they may say something that could taint the others."

    In addition, potential jurors undergo "death qualification" in which their willingness to recommend the death penalty is gauged.

    "There are certain questions that get asked in a trial where you're going to seek the death penalty," Vogel said.

    Chief Assistant Monroe County State Attorney Manny Madruga, who is working with Assistant State Attorney Val Winter, said he plans to call around 40 witnesses, including from Memphis, Tenn., and Midvale, Utah, stops along LeBaron's cross-country trek following Gardner's death.

    LeBaron, 36, is accused of killing Gardner on Feb. 10, 2009, aboard Gardner's boat at a Stock Island marina. Madruga's chief witness is LeBaron's then-girlfriend, Kristen Whitmore, who testified she met Gardner on craigslist and that he paid her for oral sex. She said Gardner invited her to stay on his boat while she was looking for somewhere to live.

    Instead, Whitmore said she led LeBaron there with plans of robbing Gardner when he showed up at the boat. In October 2009, Whitmore pleaded guilty to 2nd-degree murder and was sentenced by Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Mark Jones to 18 years in prison.

    According to testimony and police records, LeBaron "was waiting inside the cabin of the vessel. [Whitmore] then stated that when she got to the bottom of the stairs, the flashlight suddenly went out and she felt a weight on her as Mr. Gardner fell back against her.

    "She then heard sounds of a struggle and noise she described as bones crunching. The autopsy confirmed that Mr. Gardner suffered a broken upper and lower jaw as well as having numerous teeth knocked out."

    Whitmore told authorities she was pinned under Gardner during the struggle but at some point, Gardner "moved off of her" and fell into cushions.

    He also reportedly pleaded for his life: "Please don't kill me; I've got money." Someone turned on the cabin lights and, Whitmore told investigators, she saw Gardner bloodied and heard "gurgling noises" coming from his direction.

    LeBaron then "threw her a pair of pants and told her to get cleaned up and they needed to get going," the warrant says.

    They then took Gardner's 1999 Mercury Marquis and headed north. While driving out of the Keys, LeBaron reportedly tossed a switchblade, hammer and Whitmore's cell phone from the car. The couple was caught Feb. 22, 2009, in Midvale, Utah, based on a tip to police.

    LeBaron is represented by attorneys from the Regional Office of Conflict Counsel out of Miami. Jones is the presiding judge.

    (source: Keysnet.com)
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    Jury nearly seated in death-penalty murder case



    At least 176 potential jurors were interviewed in Key West this week as attorneys work to move forward in the first-degree murder trial of Jonathon Leo LeBaron, accused of beating to death 57-year-old Richard Gardner in 2009.

    Chief Assistant State Attorney Manny Madruga said Friday that attorneys from both sides were still conducting individual interviews with prospective jurors because it's a death-penalty case.

    "We're still going through the individual jury inquiries about various topics, and that will leave us with a panel that we'll engage in general questioning on Monday. The anticipation is we'll have a jury by Monday afternoon," he said.

    Madruga, prosecuting with co-counsel Val Winter, said "it's a combination of the length of the trial, death-penalty issues and media exposure. It's very difficult for people who are self-employed to be able to serve for three weeks."

    Madruga said he expects "45 to 50" potential jurors would be involved in the open-court general questioning Monday. A start time for the hearing was not announced by press time.

    LeBaron, 36, is accused of killing Gardner, from Cape Coral, aboard Gardner's boat at a Stock Island marina on Feb. 10, 2009. The chief witness against LeBaron is his then-girlfriend, Kristen Whitmore. Whitmore pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and is serving 18 years in prison.

    Gardner had allowed her to stay on his boat, and she led LeBaron to the vessel intending to rob Gardner. Instead, LeBaron allegedly beat Gardner to death, then stole his car. He and Whitmore were arrested in Midvale, Utah, 12 days after the killing based on an anonymous tip to police.

    LeBaron is represented by attorneys from the Regional Office of Conflict Counsel out of Miami. Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Jones is presiding.

    http://www.keysnet.com/2013/04/20/48...h-penalty.html
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    LeBaron could join three others on Death Row



    If Jonathan LeBaron is convicted of first-degree murder in the Feb. 10, 2009, killing of Richard Gardner and sentenced to death, he would become the fourth person sent to Death Row for a crime committed in Monroe County. The current Death Row inmates:

    Lloyd Allen, 62, sentenced to death on March 3, 1993.

    Allen was convicted in the Nov. 13, 1991, murder of Dortha Cribbs, who was found in her Summerland Key home with her throat slashed. Police say the motive was theft -- missing were her 1988 Ford Taurus, a $5,000 ring and $4,200 in cash. Allen was caught in California.

    Police say at the time she was killed, Cribbs' wrists might have neem bound.

    Thomas Overton, 52, sentenced to death on March 18, 1999.

    Overton was convicted in the Aug. 22, 1991, murders of Michael and Missy MacIvor of Tavernier and their unborn child.

    Overton, a service-station clerk who moonlighted as a burglar, was linked to the crimes after detectives obtained a DNA sample from his blood while he was in custody in November 1994 on a burglary count. He had long been considered the primary suspect in the killings.

    Michael Tanzi, 36, sentenced to death on April 11, 2003.

    Tanzi, a drifter from Massachusetts, was convicted of killing Miami Herald ad supervisor Janet Acosta on April 25, 2000.

    In his confession, Tanzi said he forced Acosta into her van during her lunch break outside the Herald building, drove her to the Keys and used her ATM card to withdraw money. He then strangled her and dumped her body on Blimp Road on Cudjoe Key.

    Tanzi, who was caught in Key West two days later, had also been accused of sexually assaulting Acosta but would not admit to that.

    Overall, there are 405 Florida Death Row inmates. All but five are men.

    http://www.keysnet.com/2013/04/27/48...ee-others.html
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    Jury convicts LeBaron of first-degree murder

    A 12-member jury convicted Jonathan LeBaron, 36, of premeditated homicide and robbery following about four hours of deliberation. LeBaron, upon hearing the verdict of each individual juror, put his head in his hands and leaned over the defense-side table.

    Monroe County State Attorney's Office prosecutors Manny Madruga and Val Winter are seeking the death penalty for LeBaron, who was convicted of beating and stabbing to death Cape Coral resident Richard Gardner at a Stock Island marina aboard Gardner's boat, the Flo To Me. Gardner died Feb. 10, 2009.

    Tuesday beginning at 2 p.m. in Circuit Court Judge Mark Jones' Courtroom B at the Freeman Justice Center in Key West, arguments in the penalty phase will begin with a scheduled Friday culmination. Both sides will make their respective cases for and against the death penalty. The jury can only recommend. The decision stands with Jones.

    LeBaron's girlfriend Kristen Whitmore, the state's star eyewitness, told police she met Gardner through her work as a prostitute and schemed with LeBaron to rob Gardner.

    On the day of the murder, jurors decided, LeBaron lay in wait in the cabin of Gardner's boat at the Oceanside Marina as Whitmore led the unsuspecting 57-year-old to his death.

    LeBaron took the stand on Tuesday and blamed the slaying on Whitmore, telling the jury that he was in Homestead when Whitmore killed the 6-foot, 1-inch, 270-pound Gardner.

    In exchange for her cooperation in the case against LeBaron, Whitmore pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and is serving 18 years at the Lowell Correctional Institute.

    LeBaron and Whitmore were caught in Midvale, Utah, 12 days after the killing. Police had been tipped to their whereabouts.

    http://www.keysnet.com/2013/05/01/48...-of-first.html
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  9. #9
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    Jury votes 11-1 for death penalty

    By SEAN KINNEY

    By a vote of 11-1 a Key West jury on Friday recommended to Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Mark Jones that Jonathan Leo LeBaron should face the death penalty.

    Last week, the same jury found LeBaron guilty of premeditated murder in the Feb. 10, 2009, beating death of 57-year-old Richard Gardner aboard the latter's boat, Flo to Me, at a Stock Island marina.

    The jury's recommendation is advisory and Jones has set a sentencing hearing for June 28 at the Freeman Justice Center.

    Before the jury left for deliberations, Jones told them their decision would be "given great weight."

    This week attorneys on both sides argued whether the defendant should spend the rest of his life in Florida prison or die from lethal injection.

    Prosecutors opted to ground their closing arguments to the jury in terms of hard evidence speaking directly to the "heinous, atrocious and cruel" manner of the murder, whereas defense counsel spoke in more abstract terms of morality and how LeBaron's life went off course.

    Kellie Peterson, defense counsel from the Regional Office of Civil and Conflict Counsel, described a pattern of various abuses that began when LeBaron, now 36, was just three years old.

    Testimony from LeBaron's brother and sister described mother Melba as a devout Jehovah's Witness and strict disciplinarian who regularly abused the siblings.

    "The problem is," Peterson said, "we all get so wrapped up in this process that everyone has to point a finger. Don't do that. Look at why this happened and what our system of justice stands for.

    "I would say our system of justice failed those kids. Was that Jonathan's fault? Would he still be here today? Those are the kinds of questions you need to answer.

    "I would ask to look at Jonathan LeBaron and the path that he was given and know that there's no gift here, there's no free pass. Either way he dies in prison and it becomes less about him and more about the morality of what happened and what failed. Then I would ask you not to kill him."

    A crime that a jury decides is "heinous, atrocious and cruel," is considered an aggravating factor in the penalty phase where life or death is deliberated.

    "There were a minimum of four, distinct blunt force wounds to Richard Gardner's head," Assistant Monroe County State Attorney Val Winter told jurors. "The blunt object struck Richard Gardner's head with such sheer strength and wickedness, Richard Gardner avulsed seven teeth."

    The victim's "upper jaw was broken and his lower jaw shattered," Winter said, going on to describe a total of 12 stab wounds to Gardner's body, evidenced by a graphic photograph projected in the courtroom.

    "Heinous," Winter said, displaying a new photo of plastic wire ties LeBaron planned to bind Gardner with during a robbery or kidnapping. "Atrocious."

    Finally, a photo of Gardner's body so badly beaten it was difficult to ascertain the exact anatomy. "Cruel. Did Richard Gardner die because of Jonathan LeBaron's greed or because the defendant was hit with a switch as a child?"

    http://www.keysnet.com/2013/05/10/48...h-penalty.html

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    Decision day: Death or life in prison



    Convicted killer Jonathan LeBaron finds out Monday if he gets the death penalty or is spared and receives a sentence of life in prison.

    LeBaron, 36, convicted on May 1 of first-degree murder in the Feb. 10, 2009, beating death of Richard Gardner on Stock Island, is scheduled for sentencing at 11:30 a.m. Aug. 12 before Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Mark Jones at the Freeman Justice Center in Key West.

    Gardner, 57, was beaten to death aboard his boat Flo To Me at the Oceanside Marina. On May 10 this year, a jury voted 11-1 for the death penalty for LeBaron. That will weigh heavily on Jones' decision.

    Prosecutors built their case around testimony from Kristen Whitmore, 44, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for her role in the slaying. She's serving 18 years in prison. She's being held in the Lowell Reception Center, a medium-security prison in Gainesville.

    Testimony, court documents and police reports indicate Gardner, a resident of Cape Coral, had allowed Whitmore to stay on his boat and that she led LeBaron to the vessel to lay in wait and rob Gardner.

    Instead, LeBaron beat and stabbed Gardner to death and stole his car. The couple was arrested in Midvale, Utah, 12 days after the killing following an anonymous tip to police.

    If he's sentenced to death, LeBaron would be the fifth person sent to Death Row for a crime committed in Monroe County (there are three there now). Overall, Florida's Death Row has 404 inmates.

    Since Florida reinstated the death penalty in 1976, there have been 78 executions. Just one of the condemned, Marion Francis, was convicted of a capital crime in Monroe County.

    Francis, then 46, was executed by electrocution on June 25, 1991. He was convicted in the June 17, 1975, murder of Titus Walters, a Key West drug informant. Francis reportedly shot him dead after injecting him with battery acid and Drano. When his body was found in a bathtub, Walters' hands were bound and his mouth taped shut.

    http://www.keysnet.com/2013/08/10/48...r-life-in.html
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