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Thread: Virginia Gail Larzelere - Florida

  1. #1
    Senior Member Member Johnya's Avatar
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    Virginia Gail Larzelere - Florida




    LARZELERE, Virginia Gail (W/F)
    DC# 842556
    DOB: 12/27/52

    Originally sentenced to death. The sentence was overturned and now she will be eligible for parole in 2016.

    Volusia County, Seventh Judicial Circuit, Case# 91-2561CFAES
    Sentencing Judge, Trial: The Honorable John W. Watson, III
    Attorney, Trial: John Wilkins – Private
    Attorney, Direct Appeal: Christopher S. Quarles – Assistant Public Defender
    Attorney, Collateral Appeals: David D. Hendry – CCRC-M

    Date of Offense: 03/08/91
    Date of Sentence: 05/11/93
    Date of Resentence: 08/01/08


    Circumstances of Offense:

    Virginia Larzelere was married to the victim, Norman Larzelere, who was a dentist. Virginia was the office manager for Norman’s practice. During the afternoon of 03/08/91, a masked gunman entered the dental office. The gunman chased Norman down and shot him with a shotgun and then fled. Norman died shortly after being shot. A patient, a dental assistant, and Virginia were all present in the office at the time of the shooting.

    Virginia and her son, Jason, were charged with the murder. The State theorized that Virginia and Jason conspired to kill Norman in order to cash in a $2 million life insurance policy and $1 million in assets.

    The following evidence was presented by the state at trial. Two different men presented testimony stating that they had engaged in affairs with Virginia and that she had asked them to assist her in killing her husband. Two additional witnesses, Steven Heidle and Kristen Palmieri, received immunity and testified to various incriminating statements and actions made by Jason and Virginia concerning the murder. Heidle and Palmieri testified that the night before the murder, Virginia sent Jason to pick up documents from a storage unit. Those documents included Norman’s life insurance policies and will. They also said that Virgina said to Jason after the murder, “Don’t worry, you’ll get your $200,000 for taking care of business.” Heidle and Palmieri said that Virginia told both of them that Jason screwed up by showing up at Norman’s practice half an hour late. If Jason had arrived on time, it would have been 12:30 p.m. and the dental assistant, as well as the patient, would not have been present. The two witnesses said that Virginia told them to get rid of a .45 handgun and a shotgun by encasing them in concrete and disposing of them in a creek. In the days after the murder, the two witnesses said that Virginia and Jason reenacted the murder, with Virginia playing the role of the victim and Jason playing the role of the gunman. The shotgun was recovered from the creek, but no conclusive determination was made as to whether it was the weapon used in the murder.

    Virginia gave several different versions of the murder in her testimony to the police. Both the descriptions of the gunman and the getaway car changed. The patient who witnessed the murder heard the victim say just after he was shot, “Jason, is that you?”

    Over the six years before the murder, Virginia took out seven different life insurance policies on the victim. In the six months before the murder, she doubled the amount payable from $1 million to $2 million. The victim helped to obtain these policies, but Virginia was dominant in pursuing the policies. Virginia also gave false statements and information in order to get the policies. Additionally, Virginia filed a fraudulent will designating her as the sole heir to the estate shortly after the murder. The will was submitted on the same day that one of the biggest insurance policies went into effect.

    Codefendant Information:

    Jason Larzelere was 18 years old at the time of the slaying by the masked gunmen. He was acquitted of the first-degree murder charge and accepted a $75,000 insurance settlement in 1994.

    Trial Summary:

    05/24/91 Indicted as follows:
    Count I: First-Degree Murder
    08/17/92 Jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts of the indictment and recommended death by a vote of 7-5
    05/14/93 Sentenced as follows:
    Count I: First-Degree Murder – Death
    02/28/08 FSC vacated the sentence of death and remanded for a new sentencing proceeding
    08/01/08 Resentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 25 years.

    Appeal Summary:

    Florida Supreme Court – Direct Appeal
    FSC# 81,793
    676 So. 2d 394

    05/21/93 Appeal filed
    03/28/96 FSC affirmed conviction and sentence
    07/11/96 Rehearing denied
    08/12/96 Mandate issued

    United States Supreme Court – Petition for Writ of Certiorari
    USSC# 96-6345
    519 U.S. 1043; 117 S. Ct. 615; 136 L. Ed. 2d 539

    10/09/96 Petition filed
    12/16/96 Petition denied

    State Circuit Court – 3.850 Motion
    CC# 91-2561-CF-A-ES

    11/25/97 Motion filed
    08/31/00 Amended motion filed
    01/14/03 Second amended motion filed
    03/24/05 Death sentence overturned and remanded for resentencing

    Florida Supreme Court – 3.850 Appeal
    FSC# 05-611

    04/11/05 Appeal filed by the State of Florida
    02/28/08 Trial Court’s decision affirmed; FSC remands for new sentencing hearing
    04/21/08 Mandate issued

    Florida Supreme Court – Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus
    FSC# 06-148

    01/30/06 Petition filed
    02/28/08 Petition denied
    03/14/08 Motion for Rehearing filed
    04/03/08 Motion for Rehearing denied
    04/21/08 Mandate issued

    Factors Contributing to the Delay in Imposition of Sentence:

    The 3.850 Motion was pending in the Circuit Court for over seven years.


    Case Information:

    The Direct Appeal was filed to the Florida Supreme Court on 05/21/93. Issues that were raised included whether the trial judge improperly limited the defense’s impeachment of a witness and whether the trial judge erred in admitted selected portions of taped statements and in refusing the request to introduce the complete statements. The Florida Supreme Court found all of the issues either harmless or without merit. The Court affirmed the conviction and death sentence on 03/28/96.

    Larzelere filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court on 10/09/96, which was denied on 12/16/96.

    A 3.850 Motion was filed to the Circuit Court on 11/25/97. The motion was amended twice on 08/31/00 and 01/14/03. On 03/24/05, Larzelere’s death sentence was overturned and ordered for resentencing by Judge Watson, who claimed that Larzelere’s lawyers did not present important evidence during the original penalty phase. Judge Watson concluded that Larzelere’s attorneys did not spend enough time preparing for the penalty phase and noted her jury did not hear evidence about her mental health issues and sexual abuse as a child.

    On 04/11/05, the State of Florida filed a 3.850 Appeal of the trial court’s decision to vacate Larzelere’s death sentence in the Florida Supreme Court. On 02/28/08, the Florida Supreme Court released its opinion affirming the trial court’s order insofar that it vacates Larzelere’s death sentence and remands for a new sentencing proceeding before a jury. The Florida Supreme Court issued a mandate in this case on 04/21/08.

    On 01/30/06, Larzelere filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus to the Florida Supreme Court. This Habeas petition was denied on 02/28/08. Larzelere filed a Motion for Rehearing on 03/14/08 which was denied on 04/03/08. The Florida Supreme Court issued a mandate in this case on 04/21/08.

    On 08/01/08, the Circuit Court resentenced Larzelere to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 25 years.

    Institutional Adjustment:

    DATE DAYS VIOLATION LOCATION
    -------- ---- ----------------- -------------------
    09/23/04 0 LYING TO STAFF LOWELL ANNEX
    __________________________________________________ ______________________

    Report Date: 12/03/02 CC
    Approved: 12/15/02 WS
    Updated: 08/07/08 AEH

    http://www.floridacapitalcases.state...ils.cfm?id=446

  2. #2
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    'Deadly Affairs' examines case of murdered Edgewater dentist

    The TV series "Deadly Affairs" is taking up the headline-making saga of a slain Volusia County dentist and his wife, who spent 15 years on Florida's death row.

    Virginia Larzelere was sentenced to die in 1993 for the first-degree murder of her husband, Norman Larzelere. He was gunned down at his dentist's office in Edgewater in 1991.

    "Deadly Affairs" looks into the case at 10 p.m. Saturday on Investigation Discovery.

    The channel provided this preview: "When their marriage hits a lull, Virginia Larzelere starts to search the late-night scene for a new fling. After her husband, Norman, finds out about her transgressions, they try desperately to keep the passion going, but greed and money further taint the once-admirable marriage."

    The speakers include author Lee Butcher, Henry Frederick of the New Smyrna Beach News, family attorney Ted Doran and dental patient Judy Beard.

    Prosecutors argued that Virginia Larzelere masterminded her husband's death by hiring Jason Larzelere, an 18-year-old son from a previous marriage, to shoot him for $3 million in insurance money and assets. The dentist was shot while a patient was in the waiting room. Jason Larzelere, who had been adopted by the dentist, was acquitted.

    Virginia Larzelere spent 15 years on Florida's death row before being spared the death penalty in 2008 and sentenced to life in prison. The Florida Supreme Court determined that her attorneys failed to provide key evidence during the penalty phase.

    http://www.orlandosentinel.com/enter...0,7705635.post
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    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Volusia murder-for-hire killer Virginia Larzelere describes death row, claims innocence

    By Tony Holt
    The Daytona Beach News-Journal

    Virginia Larzelere admitted to living an indulgent life and recently said her "sterling record" in prison has been a result of her wanting to her to atone for her past sins.

    Even still, she claims she was wrongly put behind bars. She said she never hired anyone to murder her husband.

    That's what the former DeLand socialite told the Lakeland Ledger in a recent interview from the Homestead Correctional Institution in Florida City, where she is being incarcerated.

    Originally sentenced to death, Larzelere spent 15 years on death row at Lowell Correctional Institution in Ocala. The now 66-year-old had her sentence reduced to life in prison in 2008.

    Larzelere, who was convicted in 1993 of ordering the execution-style murder of her husband in Edgewater, told the Ledger she turned her life around after "all the years of my greedy, narcissistic, promiscuous ways."

    The Ledger reported that because of her good behavior and earned "gain time," she is scheduled for release in August 2034, at which time she will be 81 years old.

    Norman Larzelere, 39, and his wife were at work March 8, 1991, at the former's dental practice on West Knapp Avenue in Edgewater. He was standing near the hallway when he heard a noise coming from the back of the building. When he peeked around the corner, he saw a masked man armed with a shotgun.

    He sprinted toward the front of the building, closed the wooden doors behind him and that's when the buckshot pellets went through the wood and entered his chest.

    The gunman fled and Virginia Larzelere frantically called 9-1-1. At least one witness, a patient in the waiting room, heard the victim say, "Jason, is that you?"

    Larzelere's 18-year-old son's name was Jason. After a two-month investigation, which was accelerated after a witness came forward with detailed instructions on where to find the murder weapon, Larzelere and her son were charged with first-degree murder.

    That slaying more than 18 years ago was perfect fodder for a fledgling television tabloid news industry that actively sought such sordid and salacious crime stories. The Larzelere case had it all — murder, swingers, adultery, incest, a drug-addled attorney and a vixen for a defendant.

    Geraldo Rivera profiled the case on his syndicated talk show. Among his guests was Dave Gamell, now a retired Edgewater police detective. Gamell never had good memories of that experience. He has many more unsettling memories about the investigation itself.

    "It had (tales) of an Oedipus complex. It had hit men. It had inmates fighting," Gamell told The News-Journal last year. "It had just a multitude of things — sex, drugs, everything you could think of."

    Larzelere was tried in August 1992 and convicted. Among the witnesses called to the stand were a couple of Larzelere's lovers, who testified that she had offered to pay them thousands of dollars to murder her husband. After they convicted her, jurors recommended the death penalty.

    Her son was tried the following year and prosecutors went into it feeling they had more evidence against him compared to his mother. In a shocking twist, jurors acquitted him. After he walked out of the courtroom and while he was riding away in a sheriff's deputy's squad car, Jason yelled, "I'm free!"

    Jason would later enlist in the U.S. Navy and his current whereabouts are not known.

    Larzelere's death sentence got reduced in 2008, in part because of her attorney's unethical and criminal behavior, which landed him in a federal prison.

    Larzelere's recent interview with the Ledger was done via email. She stated that Lowell would be "locked down" any time she exited her cell.

    "I was accompanied by six of the largest and meanest staff available," she wrote. "There were days without communication from anyone."

    She would see certain people peer into her cell each week — usually the warden or the chaplain. A metal health specialist would visit her to make sure she wasn't homicidal or suicidal, she said.

    At one point, Larzelere was on death row along with two other female killers from Volusia County — Deidre Hunt and Aileen Wuornos. By the time Larzelere was sent there, the three inmates made up 50% of the female death row population at Lowell, according to prison records.

    Gamell told The News-Journal that Wuornos and Larzelere clashed while they were in the same wing together. Wuornos, who was executed in 2002, once attacked Larzelere, which caused one of Larzelere's breast implants to rupture, Gamell said.

    Larzelere, who had been married four times, was investigated in Polk County in 1975 on suspicion of trying to murder her first husband, who was shot during an ambush along a dark highway. He had been told to go there by his wife, who said her cousin was having car problems and was stranded. He was shot by a stranger, but survived.

    Larzelere, who went by Gail Mathis at the time, never cooperated with investigators and her husband eventually refused to press charges because he didn't want to break up the family. The couple's son, Jason, was a toddler then. The pair stayed married for another two years.

    Larzelere murdered her fourth and final husband because she wanted to receive $2.1 million in life insurance money, prosecutors said.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime...nce/ar-AAJaJQr
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