And nothing the driver does makes a bit of difference. "Every time they'd mention [Tracy's] name, it was like a punch in the head," Lahey said. Blood spattered an easy chair, the carpet, the coffee table. jim martin death couples massage class san diego beaver falls football ed humphrey gainesville wiki 25 Feb/23 ed humphrey gainesville wiki ed humphrey gainesville wiki And an odd thing happened: Agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement showed up and began questioning him about the murders. A serial killer, cunning and profoundly evil, was on the loose. "It definitely all started when I was 16," he says now. His family took him to a private psychiatric hospital in Palm Bay, where he was admitted, locked up, medicated and ultimately diagnosed. Aug. 25,1990, approximately 0100 hours: At a party, Humphrey threatens two Pi Lambda Phi fraternity brothers with what they say is a straight razor. And it got worse as more people came forward. "I feel really bad about this," she confided, "but they knew who you were, and when you left they were all laughing and saying, 'Man, we're not going to give that guy a job."'. All of Gainesville shuddered. Following the sentencing, Manny Taboada's brother, Mario Taboada, stood up and shouted, "You're going down in five. He's had a tough row to hoe.". Ed answered immediately, and the two have been exchanging letters at least once a month ever since. Legran Hewitt said they dispatched Barber and another officer to Christa Hoyt's home. "VVhen he was not taking his lithium, he was a clearly diagnosed manic-depressive," Marti Mackenzie says. Don Lykkebak, Ed's attorney, says, "He was a medical patient at the time who was not being treated. Hammack had been with the Brevard County Sheriff's Offfice for less than a year, but he'd been to the plantation-style Indialantic house at least five times before. Donvan said. Also known as Lewis E It was upon revisiting the scene that he decided to decapitate her. It made his mouth dry. Betty Curnutt, the manager of the apartment complex, said she was standing behind the worker when he broke down the door and that a police officer was behind her. After five students were found brutally slain, a shocked and terrified community demanded quick police action, and the media descended on Gainesville to monitor investigators' every move. He may be a possible suspect, announced Sadie Darnell, then the Gainesville police spokeswoman. A judge ordered him removed from the court. He mostly stared off into space as the judge imposed the maximum prison term, to be served, at least at the start, in the prison systems psychiatric facility. said Laurie Lahey, Paules' older sister. Do you understand that? On it, he admitted to killing 55-year-old William Grissom, 24-year-old Julie Grissom and 8-year-old Sean Grissom in Shreveport. Before I could say anything, Humphrey came to the door, visibly shaken and upset, his face fraught with worry. Edward Lewis Humphrey, 19, had tears in his eyes upon hearing the conviction on a reduced charge of battery on a person over age 65. Spectrum reporter, 9-year-old girl among 3 victims fatally shot in Orlando, As Tampa Bay sales grow, sport bike maker Ducati plans giant dealership, Central Florida reporter, girl killed as multiple people shot near earlier slaying, Florida executes Donald Dillbeck for 1990 Tallahassee murder, Rolling of the Bulls: USF pulls off rare February four-sport sweep, Steven Lorenzo sentenced to death for 2 Tampa murders, Florida lawmakers take up plan to shield businesses from lawsuits, Tampa man tied to assassination of Haitian president, Black history lives in the present in Cheryl Heads Times Undoing, 10 big issues to watch in Floridas 2023 legislative session. The transcript of that interview has never been made public. I had practiced so many times what I would say in this moment. It lets him have his old smile back. We just got in the car and headed for Gainesville. His grandmother, Elna Hlavaty, told a deputy that night that her grandson had beaten and choked her in the familys home in Indialantic. She briefs him before interviews; she and his attorney decide which questions he'll answer. The killer mutilated the breasts of two of the young women. He spent a lot of that time in Chattahoochee, the state hospital for mentally ill prisoners. He said nothing more. Her funeral is today. But most of Humphreys descriptions of the student mutilations were not accurate. Authorities subsequently cleared Humphrey of any involvement in the murders. "I'd come in and there would be books open and calculators out.". Maines said they found out that the suspect had broken in by wedging a screwdriver into the door jamb. He has been hounded by the press. "I'm like, 'Yeah, right,"' Ed says. I had deliberately chosen 9 a.m. on a Saturday morning so that the chances of him being home would be greater. When the discussion turned to a human anatomy class that McGrath was taking, McGrath said, Ed asked her what it was like to cut up bodies and if she ever took skin or body parts home to "mess around with it.". In Shreveport, Maines found that Julie Grissom's body had been posed in a similar position to some of the women killed in Gainesville. HE STROLLS INTO YAB YUM, A downtown coffee house, for a cup of hazelnut regular, the flavor of the day, and a book of matches. "This death is devastating to us as a family. Humphrey says 10 men chased him and that he pulled a pocketknife--not a razor--in self-defense. We will prevail. He enrolled at University of Central Florida in 1995, taking classes around part-time jobs ranging from cleaning dog kennels and swimming pools to assembling tanning beds and working in factories, according to the Orlando Sentinel. They had softened with time, but they told his story. "We think that was in an effort to keep investigators from discovering DNA, blood types, fingerprints," Maines said. He was under surveillance for reports of odd behaviors, like wearing camouflage, and he had an obsession with knives. "My brother is in jail now because of the image Gainesville gave him, not because of anything he did.". Im happy I always have the support of family and friends, and Im happy with my family now.. He described Ynnad as a bad person, but not evil. He was known to carry knives, had been off his medication for a mental health disorder and had visible scars on his face from a car accident. I wanted to know whether he still carried the weight of what he had endured almost three decades earlier. Prosecutors also attacked Rollings' claims that he had multiple personalities and that he was overtaken by his evil "Gemini" side when he murdered his victims. I wanted to ask him so many questions. An article in The Orlando Sentinel followed up with Darnell on the discovery; she acknowledged investigators had found promising evidence toward wrapping up the case. The cops came and asked for identification. He was the youngest of four kids. In the aftermath of the murders, investigators discovered some highly unusual details at the scene. He may have more plastic surgery. "Tracy asked him, 'You're the one, aren't you?'" It was too painful for them to remain here. Danny Rolling is talking about the murders now. Before moving to Edward's current city of Palm Bay, FL, Edward lived in Melbourne FL and Indialantic FL. "So, let's take it easy on him. "Should I smile? He knew the southwest neighborhoods where the killings took place. He caught a glimpse of a tall young man climbing the stairs. Students left--some for good--and there was a run on the sale of guns, Mace and door locks. She hadn't called us and, finally, the Powells, who lived closer, went over there.". During that stretch when Ed couldn't get work, Kennedy sent him $1,000. Well, they're influenced so much by what they watch and they think, 'Oh, yeah, I saw where they got the suspect.' I knocked on his front door with trepidation. Edward Lewis Humphrey, 19, was found guilty Wednesday of battery on a person over 65. I mean, I was amped. A classic film noir, it features a great cast and a great storyline. But I thought about the few words that Humphrey uttered in our brief conversation. "Your honor, I've been running from first one thing and then another all my life," Rolling said. Humphrey's bail was set at $1-millionand he remained behind bars until well after investigators set their sights on a new suspect: Danny Rolling. By the time she reported Rolling, police had already arrested another man who they believed to be a suspect in the Gainesville murders. Ed, following his attorney's advice, won't talk about it--or anything else he may have said to police at the time. he would yell. Even today, a spokesman for the new state attorney hesitates: "Is Ed Humphrey still a suspect?Well, hmmm.One would think it ought to be a simple question.". Edward Lewis Humphrey was an early suspect in the case of five grisly murders of college students in Gainesville, Florida; one Daniel Rolling was eventually I felt bad for him. "In a way, talking about [Manny], as I do sometimes with those who knew him they're kind of alive for that moment, and so, it's comforting. The Gainesville Sun broke the story of a knife hidden in a milk carton during a search of Humphreys home on Sept. 6. He reportedly threatened several people there with a large knife and once warned a security guard: "God told me to kill you. And I'll never be able to forget it. At this moment he would be home in Indialantic studying for a science test--and hoping, unrealistically, that people would just forget Ed Humphrey. The task force investigating the killings put Humphrey under surveillance, and when a police spokesman described him as "an extremely valuable suspect," the media zeroed in on him. Ray Barber, called for backup and with more investigators on the scene, they found Powell dead on the first floor of the apartment. (Edis Catholic.). He is questioned and officers search his car, finding two knives under the seat. Acquaintances claimed he went on late-night "missions" through the Alachua County woods. Scott Grissom, the son of William Grissom, brother of Julie Grissom and father to Sean, said they were killed just a week after his wedding, on his first day back at work from his honeymoon. Your story has never been told.. This is the first extensive interview Ed Humphrey has ever granted. Family trouble, mental problems and sheer coincidence seem to be the main factors that put Ed Humphrey into legal limbo. As the questioning went on, Rolling began to say he'd "dealt with different personalities all my life." Ten years ago, 18-year-old Ed Humphrey seemed to be Florida's Public Enemy No. Humphrey could not have possibly understood at the time how high the stakes were or the consequences of the suspicion cast on him. ), "We had a lot of physical evidence that, according to our technology at the time, placed Ed at some of the scenes," Maines said. When I got a job, .when I got good grades in school, they weren't calling me. She was found raped, stabbed to death, mutilated and beheaded. One day in April 1988--after Ed had dropped out of school for a while and gone to live with his brother, George, in Gainesville--the two were taking a drive to the beach to talk about Ed moving home. ", Mackenzie, looking pained, interrupts: "But that was before the plastic surgery. His face smashed into the windshield, leaving deep wounds, and he broke his leg so badly doctors had to implant a steel rod running from his hip to his knee. ", Marti Mackenzie nods. Now, sitting on the beach, a breeze mussing his blond hair, having just let Eric borrow his surfboard, Ed says Eric was just trying to grab the spotlight, to make himself look good. Ed's co-worker at the Humane Society, Nancy Breslin, says people sometimes look warily at Ed and say things like: Who's that guy you've got working back there? As they investigated the case, police grew convinced that Ed Humphrey might be their most likely suspect. When he was arrested for hitting his grandmother and questioned by state agents, sources say, Ed spoke of someone named "John" and claimed to have knowledge of the Gainesville killings. ", "It was like, here's a reason he killed the person you loved," she said. The sheriff's office says it kept him there for his own safety--not as punishment--because he'd threatened suicide. JULY 14,1990,1609 HOURS: INDIALANtic police receive a reported trespass at the Crawford Surf Shop, on AlA and 5th Street. After she failed to show up to work on the night of Aug. 26, 1990, Det. She was hoping to become a lawyer. Always," recalls Scott Bedesem, a friend since junior high school. His eyes appeared glazed and barely open, his hair unkempt. Tell me she did not suffer.' Now the scars on his face are softer, his smile boyish, a little shy--not at all the sinister young man he might have seemed when one corner of his lip curled upward. I knew, until he was gone, I couldn't really start my life again and be me," Lahey said. As Ed talks about it now, his voice is small and his eyes diverted. "It didn't matter what the lyrics were or what he was saying at that point. Suddenly, Humphreys tabby snuck out the door. I am still his friend, and I think what happened to him is wrong. And I hated looking in the mirror every time, seeing scars on my face. And legal experts say that even if Humphrey is innocent, he'll carry the stigma of the killings with him the rest of his days. Edward Lewis Humphrey, 51. And I said, 'Holy sh--.' He was convicted of armed robbery in Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi for several grocery store robberies, and spent most of the 1980s in prison. In late August of 1990, five Gainesville college students were murdered and their bodies sexually assaulted. That was the start of it all. The Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville cited sources it did not identify in today's story about Edward Lewis Humphrey. Now he works six days a week, attends community college and wants to become an X-ray technician. The time frame is precise in his mind. The next day Humphrey is reported to be running in circles and talking to himself on Patrick Air Force Base. A neighbor also reports that the grandson is running in and out of the home - shouting that he is going to murder the grandparents. And the day after Ed was arrested, an investigator interviewed Sydney McGrath, a college student who had long conversations with Ed about dissecting corpses. Watch "20/20" FRIDAYS at 9 p.m. He is saying, as he's said before, that he never met Ed Humphrey. Ed already worked there. He tried repeatedly to find work, but kept being turned away, often with no explanation. There were mood swings, sudden belligerence and two auto crashes that friends thought were suicide attempts. TITUSVILLE, Fla. (AP) _ Gainesville murder suspect Edward Lewis Humphrey was sentenced today to the maximum 22 months for beating his grandmother after his lawyer said no private psychiatric hospital could be found for him. Humphrey, who fit a vague FBI profile of the killer, was never charged with murder but the damage to his reputation had been done; his name, marred. He had a violent history, an unstable personality. "He was always very grateful and surprised and pleased," Kennedy says. On Aug. 26, 1990, Emery said Powell's parents arrived at the apartment and banged on the door. One piece of this wall has remained unchanged for more than 30 years: The section where the names of all five victims are painted in remembrance: Sonja Larson, Christina Powell, Christa Hoyt, Manuel Taboada, Tracy Paules. SOMETIMES WHEN YOU LOSE your emotional grip on life--when all the joy seeps out of living and every face becomes an enemy's- it happens so slowly you hardly notice. WebDescription Muster roll for Humphrey Lewis' Company from Madison County, ca. "He has been persecuted. Rolling's trial for the five student murders began on Feb. 15, 1994, nearly four years after he killed the five students. The two talked in June at the Krispy Kreme doughnut store where McGrath worked. They will not speak to reporters without Ed's approval. All her clothes had been taken off, he said, and "she was lying back on the bed with her feet on the floor and her hair fanned out. Journalist John Donnelly, who covered the story for the Miami Herald, said the officers noticed the unusual way in which Sonja Larson's body was posed. In police audio recordings, he could be heard asking police to accompany him at the request of his manager. Sonja Larson's body was found on her waterbed on the second floor, with stab wounds in her arms and torso. To do so, he claims, would jeopardize the prosecution. Humphrey, 19, nodded when his 79-year-old grandmother blew him as kiss as he entered the courtroom but was generally oblivious to the proceedings. Those who knew Larson said she was a sweet girl, but reserved, and that she liked to work with children. He finally moved back to Indialantic with his mother, where things went smoothly until March 1992, when he and some buddies went on a spring break camping trip to Key West. "It's just a negative," he says. Im sorry that we didnt clear him sooner, said Alachua County State Attorney Rod Smith, who wrote a letter to Gov. Humphrey was asked to leave the premises by Officer Smith, and he complied, but not before threatening Officer Smith that he (Humphrey) was going to cut his eyes out and send him to hell. No indictment was issued against Edward Lewis Humphrey, a former University of Florida freshman who was considered a secondary suspect. When Ed first got out of prison, he tried living in Orlando with his older brother, George, who gave him a cellular phone to carry around as protection. That's what did it.". "I can't blame them for making Ed a suspect, but I can blame them for sticking with it. There is still a court order not to discuss evidence m the case. Christopher Slobogin, a professor at the University of Florida Law School, said suspicions about Mr. Humphrey's possible connection with the Gainesville murders increased the likelihood that he would be prosecuted on assault charges that otherwise would probably have been dropped. Good Student and Boy Scout He was at the wrong place at the wrong time, said Spencer Mann, the spokesman for the Alachua County Sheriffs Department at the time. I had to have my husband stop at the side of the road, and I looked outside and the stars were shining. The second, more sinister personality, was named "Gemini" and Rolling blamed him for his deadliest acts. Earlier that summer, investigators learned, Ed had been kicked out of the Gatorwood apartment complex where two of the victims were killed. Then, at one point, the man on the tape says his name: Danny Harold Rolling. "No offense." "He just stole that and used that [as] part of his story," Smith said. 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