Vollständiges Transkript von Serial Killer Documentary - The Manhunt for Howell Donaldson

00:05:47.319 --> 00:05:53.360 had a close father-daughter relationship. When we were together, it 76 00:05:53.379 --> 00:05:56.680 was like we never missed a beat. She grew up 77 00:05:56.740 --> 00:06:02.329 in Tampa. She lived with her grandmother and grandfather. Great people. 78 00:06:03.009 --> 00:06:07.129 They did the majority of her being raised. Her mother 79 00:06:07.189 --> 00:06:11.800 was deaf, and Monica was kind of her link between 80 00:06:11.819 --> 00:06:18.779 the hearing world and the deaf world. She had told 81 00:06:18.819 --> 00:06:21.139 me quite often that she would like to have been 82 00:06:21.170 --> 00:06:25.910 a deaf interpreter. Her and her mother were very, very close. 83 00:06:26.629 --> 00:06:28.829 She was really a different kind of light, you know? 84 00:06:39.300 --> 00:06:45.000 She did not show up for her grandmother's birthday. And, 85 00:06:45.019 --> 00:06:49.540 you know, it's 24 hours before they could think that 86 00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:53.819 someone was missing. But it was not like her not 87 00:06:53.930 --> 00:06:56.889 to be around her grandmother, especially on her birthday. 88 00:07:02.589 --> 00:07:04.670 A journalist is one of the first to learn of 89 00:07:04.730 --> 00:07:09.079 Monica's fate. Sick with fear, Kenny receives a devastating call. 90 00:07:09.459 --> 00:07:13.660 I was actually driving to Tampa and got the phone 91 00:07:13.720 --> 00:07:18.019 call from my wife. And she said, baby, pull over. 92 00:07:18.050 --> 00:07:19.910 And I said, why? 93 00:07:19.949 --> 00:07:20.410 What's wrong? 94 00:07:20.449 --> 00:07:20.990 What's wrong? 95 00:07:21.129 --> 00:07:26.750 And a reporter had called her, and she called me. 96 00:07:29.430 --> 00:07:32.750 And then the reporter wanted to get on the call 97 00:07:32.790 --> 00:07:36.310 with us, and he told me what happened. It was 98 00:07:36.350 --> 00:07:40.810 a very bad moment in my life. It was, I 99 00:07:40.889 --> 00:07:46.629 hope that you never experience anything like it. She was 100 00:07:48.089 --> 00:07:58.139 shot three times. Left in a overgrown lot. And they 101 00:07:58.160 --> 00:08:04.019 didn't find her body for two days. And as she 102 00:08:04.060 --> 00:08:08.470 was walking to meet a friend, And she must have 103 00:08:08.529 --> 00:08:13.350 recognized that someone was following her, because in this case, 104 00:08:13.949 --> 00:08:18.589 there were five shots that were fired. Two were misses, 105 00:08:19.370 --> 00:08:22.129 and the other three killed her. 106 00:08:27.180 --> 00:08:30.279 It was especially heartbreaking that her body had been laying 107 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:33.299 in this tall grass for two days. And so for 108 00:08:33.350 --> 00:08:36.149 that two days, her family had to wonder and worry 109 00:08:36.809 --> 00:08:39.070 about where she was. And then they had to worry 110 00:08:39.129 --> 00:08:41.870 about how long was she alive? You know, was she 111 00:08:41.889 --> 00:08:44.269 alive for hours? Was she alive for a day? If 112 00:08:44.309 --> 00:08:46.860 somebody had found her, could they have saved her? I mean, 113 00:08:46.899 --> 00:08:48.639 these are all the kinds of things that would haunt 114 00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:50.179 any family member. 115 00:08:51.740 --> 00:08:56.379 They tell me that she died almost immediately, which is, 116 00:08:56.399 --> 00:09:02.909 you know, some... some comfort to know that she didn't 117 00:09:02.970 --> 00:09:09.509 lay in that field for two days and suffer. But still, 118 00:09:12.789 --> 00:09:15.690 there's really no comfort in it whatsoever. 119 00:09:18.509 --> 00:09:21.029 Monica's body is found less than a mile from where 120 00:09:21.070 --> 00:09:22.070 Benjamin was shot. 121 00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:28.440 So our second victim, Monica Hoffa, 32 years of age, 122 00:09:28.620 --> 00:09:36.139 white woman, different age, different race, different gender. There's no 123 00:09:36.279 --> 00:09:42.059 pattern here. Police investigation is looking for clues that link 124 00:09:42.220 --> 00:09:48.190 people together, time, space, location. These don't have that. They're 125 00:09:48.230 --> 00:09:51.990 people getting off of public buses. They're people walking down 126 00:09:52.029 --> 00:09:56.529 the street. This terrifies this community. So you can imagine 127 00:09:56.549 --> 00:10:00.110 that the police department is perplexed with the ideas of 128 00:10:00.230 --> 00:10:01.429 what's going to happen next. 129 00:10:03.889 --> 00:10:07.009 Losing your daughter, no matter what, you're going to be devastated. 130 00:10:07.720 --> 00:10:11.179 Add to that, you know, there's somebody out there who's 131 00:10:11.259 --> 00:10:12.159 still doing this. 132 00:10:13.500 --> 00:10:18.049 This type of crime, just from those two murders... had 133 00:10:18.269 --> 00:10:21.340 the appearance that it could impact anyone at any time. 134 00:10:21.860 --> 00:10:25.740 So immediately law enforcement got into action, working with the community, 135 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:28.860 working with prosecutors, not just to follow the leads and 136 00:10:28.899 --> 00:10:32.179 try to find the suspect, but also to take prophylactic 137 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:35.789 measures to make sure that this vibrant city could continue 138 00:10:36.690 --> 00:10:38.830 without a lot of disruption, without a lot of fear. 139 00:10:42.490 --> 00:10:45.590 Like the rest of the community, James Felton and his brothers, 140 00:10:46.009 --> 00:10:49.299 twins Ronald and Reggie, were deeply troubled by the murders. 141 00:10:50.250 --> 00:10:52.350 They helped run a local church and food bank. 142 00:10:53.269 --> 00:10:55.889 We never think that it would happen like that in 143 00:10:55.929 --> 00:10:59.730 that area, especially with a business suite. We were saying, oh, okay, 144 00:11:00.669 --> 00:11:04.049 we need to light up the bus stops. We need 145 00:11:04.070 --> 00:11:07.250 to be alert. It was kind

of dark going down 146 00:11:07.269 --> 00:11:09.919 these suites. Sometimes you have to get your flashlight and say, hey, 147 00:11:10.169 --> 00:11:11.649 this is where I met a stop bus, you know, 148 00:11:11.669 --> 00:11:14.529 like that. If you see anything that looks suspicious, if 149 00:11:14.549 --> 00:11:16.750 you got a dog that barked, make sure you check. 150 00:11:17.049 --> 00:11:18.950 You know, that's after more of the second. That's when 151 00:11:18.970 --> 00:11:22.110 they start getting serious about it. And so when we 152 00:11:22.129 --> 00:11:25.029 had the food ministry, you know, they get there like 153 00:11:25.029 --> 00:11:27.330 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning. Hey, don't come 154 00:11:27.389 --> 00:11:29.230 this early. Come when it's daylight. 155 00:11:32.649 --> 00:11:36.720 With your typical homicide, you have a relatively small universe 156 00:11:36.740 --> 00:11:40.980 of suspects. Most murders, the victim and the murderer know 157 00:11:41.039 --> 00:11:44.669 each other. Here we have a situation where you have 158 00:11:44.750 --> 00:11:48.149 two victims not doing anything wrong in their lives. It's 159 00:11:48.190 --> 00:11:50.470 a little bit like searching for a needle in a haystack. 160 00:11:50.929 --> 00:11:53.789 Law enforcement doesn't know exactly where to start because they're 161 00:11:53.830 --> 00:11:56.870 putting together a puzzle and they have no idea what 162 00:11:56.889 --> 00:12:02.409 the pieces even look like. We have immediate concerns because 163 00:12:02.450 --> 00:12:05.409 you never know what's going to be the next murder. 164 00:12:06.889 --> 00:12:10.149 But never knew that it was going to happen again 165 00:12:10.230 --> 00:12:12.330 and again and again. And that's when he started getting 166 00:12:12.350 --> 00:12:16.409 worried after the second one. 167 00:12:25.320 --> 00:12:29.179 The apparently random shootings of Benjamin Mitchell and Monica Hoffa 168 00:12:29.620 --> 00:12:34.100 have sent shockwaves through this usually safe Florida neighborhood. Police 169 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:37.250 believe the murders are linked and have CCTV footage of 170 00:12:37.289 --> 00:12:40.210 a potential suspect, but know nothing about the man in 171 00:12:40.230 --> 00:12:43.870 the video. Local man, Howell Donaldson III. 172 00:12:55.000 --> 00:12:59.740 Howell Donaldson III was very interested in athletics, particularly basketball. 173 00:13:00.340 --> 00:13:03.340 He had his heart set on being a basketball star, 174 00:13:03.899 --> 00:13:05.460 and he practiced a lot. 175 00:13:06.120 --> 00:13:11.740 So from this basketball ability that he has, he's searching 176 00:13:11.799 --> 00:13:14.100 to be that star. And he goes from high school 177 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:17.379 to high school looking for that opportunity to be the 178 00:13:17.419 --> 00:13:20.820 starting guard. But you get this feeling as you're looking 179 00:13:20.940 --> 00:13:25.259 at his life, he's searching for

something. He's searching for 180 00:13:25.580 --> 00:13:26.440 the greatness. 181 00:13:26.919 --> 00:13:30.240 Donaldson absolutely was shooting for the stars. I mean, he 182 00:13:30.259 --> 00:13:32.710 was willing to give up a lot by changing schools. 183 00:13:33.320 --> 00:13:36.899 It is very clear that his number one priority in 184 00:13:36.940 --> 00:13:40.720 high school was basketball. And he was willing to do 185 00:13:40.759 --> 00:13:44.700 whatever it takes to try to be that basketball star 186 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:47.360 that he not only, I think, wanted to be, but 187 00:13:47.399 --> 00:13:49.120 really saw himself as being. 188 00:13:52.929 --> 00:13:55.490 Donaldson went up to New York City to St. John's 189 00:13:55.529 --> 00:14:00.110 University to attend college. He walked onto the basketball team there. 190 00:14:00.210 --> 00:14:01.409 He played for one year. 191 00:14:02.070 --> 00:14:06.289 He doesn't get a scholarship. He's not recruited. And so 192 00:14:06.350 --> 00:14:09.769 he ends up walking on. That's a pretty bold move. 193 00:14:10.460 --> 00:14:14.120 The odds are stacked against you when you walk on 194 00:14:14.419 --> 00:14:16.480 at a university and want to be a basketball player. 195 00:14:16.820 --> 00:14:19.659 But he certainly was motivated to do that. Does that 196 00:14:19.779 --> 00:14:24.730 mean that Donaldson was unrealistic in terms of his skills? 197 00:14:24.850 --> 00:14:25.450 Possibly. 198 00:14:26.379 --> 00:14:28.450 And for somebody, I think, who was invested from a 199 00:14:28.490 --> 00:14:31.710 very young age in being this basketball star, that would 200 00:14:31.850 --> 00:14:35.490 have been really disappointing to him. It took him six 201 00:14:35.529 --> 00:14:39.220 years to get a degree. So we don't know how 202 00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:42.399 motivated he was to get through school, but we do 203 00:14:42.460 --> 00:14:46.320 know that he had the self-discipline and the perseverance to 204 00:14:46.440 --> 00:14:48.120 eventually get a degree. 205 00:14:55.519 --> 00:14:58.220 Donaldson is back in Seminole Heights with a major in 206 00:14:58.259 --> 00:15:01.399 sports management and a minor in business. He's working at 207 00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:04.419 a medical education company, but is aiming higher. 208 00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:09.210 He was looking for work in the sports industry, potentially 209 00:15:09.269 --> 00:15:09.870 as an agent. 210 00:15:10.870 --> 00:15:14.710 The problem with that is that that takes years to 211 00:15:14.750 --> 00:15:18.289 become a sports agent. And it doesn't seem like Donaldson 212 00:15:18.330 --> 00:15:22.940 really understood that. And within three months, he's fired. And 213 00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:26.740 he's fired from absenteeism. He's basically not showing up at work. 214 00:15:27.159 --> 00:15:30.649 It appears that Donaldson may have had some troubles with 215 00:15:31.029 --> 00:15:34.029 how difficult life proved to be. Again, a young man 216 00:15:34.129 --> 00:15:36.710 who had his future in front of him and who 217 00:15:36.750 --> 00:15:38.629 thought that success maybe would have come a little bit 218 00:15:38.669 --> 00:15:42.100 more easily than it had. And he didn't quite achieve 219 00:15:42.200 --> 00:15:44.539 what he had hoped on the basketball court or in 220 00:15:44.580 --> 00:15:46.500 his professional life at such a young age. 221 00:15:50.809 --> 00:15:54.669 Now he has housing problems where he's moving from house 222 00:15:54.710 --> 00:15:58.500 to house, sleeping over at mom's house some days, girlfriend's 223 00:15:58.539 --> 00:15:59.379 house at another. 224 00:16:00.799 --> 00:16:03.460 So what we're seeing, I think, is just a slow 225 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:08.200 downward spiral. And along this period of time, we start 226 00:16:08.279 --> 00:16:12.029 seeing some other things happening that I think are adding 227 00:16:12.070 --> 00:16:13.090 to this downward spiral. 228 00:16:13.830 --> 00:16:17.629 The question is, how do you respond to those low points? 229 00:16:18.169 --> 00:16:21.429 What is going to be the action when these tough 230 00:16:21.490 --> 00:16:27.139 situations of life continuously come your way. What's going to 231 00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:36.480 happen next? 232 00:16:36.500 --> 00:16:40.000 20-year-old Anthony Neboa, who's autistic, happens to get on the 233 00:16:40.019 --> 00:16:40.580 wrong bus. 234 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:42.000 He's on his way home. 235 00:16:42.419 --> 00:16:46.120 He was working packaging supplies to be sent to Puerto 236 00:16:46.139 --> 00:16:50.080 Rico to help with hurricane relief. He was an aspiring 237 00:16:50.120 --> 00:16:52.919 musician and a rapper. He was, you know, one of 238 00:16:53.340 --> 00:16:56.779 several children who had a close relationship with his siblings 239 00:16:56.830 --> 00:16:59.049 and with his parents. And he was someone who was 240 00:16:59.070 --> 00:17:03.289 stolen from our community, like Monica, like Benjamin, far too young. 241 00:17:04.410 --> 00:17:06.009 His murder occurs. 242 00:17:07.579 --> 00:17:07.880 Why? 243 00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:11.900 Because he gets on the wrong bus, wrong place at 244 00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:12.579 the wrong time. 245 00:17:17.069 --> 00:17:20.910 Anthony is killed barely 200 yards from Benjamin Mitchell and 246 00:17:20.950 --> 00:17:23.069 less than half a mile from Monica Hoffa. 247 00:17:26.089 --> 00:17:29.390 I'm sure that when they examined the shell casings, they 248 00:17:29.450 --> 00:17:33.779 realized that, you know, this is the same shooter. And 249 00:17:33.819 --> 00:17:37.740 then when Anthony was killed, they knew they had a 250 00:17:38.299 --> 00:17:41.039 serial killer on their hands, someone who was, you know, 251 00:17:41.380 --> 00:17:45.369 committing all these murders in Seminole Heights. I think that 252 00:17:45.470 --> 00:17:52.450 the entire... area was just under the stranglehold of these

murders, 253 00:17:52.490 --> 00:18:02.410 these killings. After Monica's memorial, that's when the rumors were like, oh, 254 00:18:02.490 --> 00:18:04.990 we think there might be a serial killer, and I 255 00:18:05.029 --> 00:18:08.589 think there might have even been some press coverage about that. 256 00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:19.220 It was really intense in that neighborhood. You could feel 257 00:18:19.660 --> 00:18:23.119 just the tension. Nobody was on the street. We went 258 00:18:23.160 --> 00:18:27.380 to visit these memorials that they had put on the 259 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:31.240 side of this building. People would have all their lights on. 260 00:18:31.259 --> 00:18:35.170 The city would make sure that all the street lights 261 00:18:35.289 --> 00:18:37.670 were up. I mean, it was very tense. 262 00:18:39.450 --> 00:18:42.029 There was a palpable sense of fear in the community. 263 00:18:42.730 --> 00:18:46.470 And our mayor at the time famously said, you know, 264 00:18:46.490 --> 00:18:47.890 bring me his head on a platter. 265 00:18:48.309 --> 00:18:51.210 This guy is not going to win. He's not taking 266 00:18:51.230 --> 00:18:54.250 over this neighborhood. He's not taking over these streets. You 267 00:18:54.289 --> 00:18:58.890 guys go hunt him down and bring his head to me. 268 00:18:59.589 --> 00:19:01.089 All right, let's go get it done. 269 00:19:01.349 --> 00:19:04.089 That's not the most diplomatic thing a mayor could say, 270 00:19:04.609 --> 00:19:08.119 but it captured the frustration and anger of the community. 271 00:19:13.609 --> 00:19:21.039 The reward for information on the killer is increased to $ 25, 000. 272 00:19:18.359 --> 00:19:21.700 Police release new CCTV clips of a man walking away 273 00:19:21.740 --> 00:19:25.680 from the scene of Benjamin's murder, hoping someone recognizes the 274 00:19:25.720 --> 00:19:28.779 way the suspect appears to flip a phone in their hand. 275 00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:32.650 Without any promising leads, without any evidence to help us 276 00:19:32.769 --> 00:19:36.130 find that one person who's committing these crimes, there's a 277 00:19:36.170 --> 00:19:38.490 real concern that this is going to continue. 278 00:19:40.619 --> 00:19:42.980 If you're in that community, you are doing whatever you 279 00:19:43.019 --> 00:19:46.619 can to try to see any pattern, anything that's going 280 00:19:46.630 --> 00:19:49.099 to help you feel safer. So, for example, you have 281 00:19:49.140 --> 00:19:51.160 people who kind of go, okay, the first victim was 282 00:19:51.240 --> 00:19:54.279 at a bus stop. The second victim was maybe missed 283 00:19:54.319 --> 00:19:56.220 the bus, so I'm not going to take the bus, 284 00:19:56.680 --> 00:19:58.599 or I'm not going to walk down this particular street. 285 00:19:59.559 --> 00:20:02.859 People were just frantically trying to figure out, how can 286 00:20:02.920 --> 00:20:03.609 I be safer? 287 00:20:05.710 --> 00:20:08.559 Have your lights on

because this guy had on a 288 00:20:08.599 --> 00:20:12.539 black hoodie, he had on, you know, black clothes. No 289 00:20:12.619 --> 00:20:15.339 one would catch the bus, especially when the third got hit. 290 00:20:19.980 --> 00:20:22.680 At this time, Donaldson was working at a McDonald's, like 291 00:20:22.700 --> 00:20:24.460 a lot of young people do to try to make 292 00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:27.750 ends meet. But for someone who had told his friends 293 00:20:27.789 --> 00:20:29.910 that he was going to be a basketball star in college, 294 00:20:30.349 --> 00:20:32.910 for someone who had ambitions of being a sports agent, 295 00:20:33.670 --> 00:20:36.759 He must have felt like he had hit rock bottom 296 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:39.599 with his career and his path in life. 297 00:20:40.839 --> 00:20:43.799 It's almost like a narcissistic injury that these bad things 298 00:20:43.839 --> 00:20:46.559 have happened. And I think that at this point, that 299 00:20:46.640 --> 00:20:49.680 Donaldson is really angry about all the things that have 300 00:20:49.700 --> 00:20:52.390 happened to him. I do think there was a part 301 00:20:52.450 --> 00:20:55.450 of him that said, I am special. I'm going to 302 00:20:55.490 --> 00:20:58.109 be special in some way. You are going to pay 303 00:20:58.150 --> 00:21:00.910 attention to me. You are going to notice. Look what 304 00:21:00.970 --> 00:21:04.539 I'm doing. I can go out and I can... give 305 00:21:04.579 --> 00:21:06.819 somebody the gift of life or the gift of death 306 00:21:06.859 --> 00:21:13.690 at any moment, and I'm controlling an entire community. It's 307 00:21:13.710 --> 00:21:20.029 pretty clear that Howell Donaldson had absolutely no compassion for 308 00:21:20.150 --> 00:21:21.549 the people he was killing. As a matter of fact, 309 00:21:21.630 --> 00:21:26.210 it almost appears like he's out hunting for prey. And 310 00:21:26.230 --> 00:21:29.410 that is really the ultimate, I think, in dehumanizing somebody, 311 00:21:29.910 --> 00:21:32.779 to go out and just kill a random person who 312 00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:35.789 you don't know who's never done anything to you, who 313 00:21:35.809 --> 00:21:38.450 you have no attraction to, you have no anger toward. 314 00:21:38.910 --> 00:21:41.049 It really is the ultimate in dehumanization. 315 00:21:45.930 --> 00:21:49.529 With three murders in 10 days, law enforcement had some 316 00:21:49.569 --> 00:21:52.470 information to work with and are doing their best to 317 00:21:52.490 --> 00:21:54.990 develop suspects, doing their best to work with the community. 318 00:21:55.470 --> 00:21:57.900 But then there are no real leads going on for 319 00:21:57.940 --> 00:22:02.680 a while. Donaldson did a really good job of hiding 320 00:22:02.819 --> 00:22:07.119 after Anthony's murder and not putting himself in a position 321 00:22:07.160 --> 00:22:08.240 where he could get caught. 322 00:22:09.920 --> 00:22:11.960 And the media moves on like they do

because there's 323 00:22:12.019 --> 00:22:15.140 always things to talk about. And so at this point, 324 00:22:15.680 --> 00:22:20.549 things are slowly starting to creep back to normal. And 325 00:22:20.630 --> 00:22:25.910 then on November the 14th, another murder happens. 326 00:22:42.740 --> 00:22:47.220 So it's been five weeks since Benjamin Mitchell was killed. 327 00:22:48.900 --> 00:22:52.579 One morning, I got up and I heard what happened again. 328 00:22:55.519 --> 00:22:59.200 This time, the victim is Ronald Felton, James' older brother 329 00:22:59.619 --> 00:23:00.539 and twin to Reggie. 330 00:23:01.380 --> 00:23:03.839 One thing about Ronald, well, they always say that when 331 00:23:03.859 --> 00:23:06.200 we was born that we all look alike. We was 332 00:23:06.259 --> 00:23:10.650 like triplets. We went to high school together, elementary school, 333 00:23:10.990 --> 00:23:14.049 junior high school together, and we was always together. And 334 00:23:14.109 --> 00:23:18.329 Reggie was always the one that was so stubborn. So 335 00:23:18.390 --> 00:23:21.609 me and Ronald was more closer than his twin brother. 336 00:23:23.829 --> 00:23:26.289 We never was apart, but he always look out for 337 00:23:26.309 --> 00:23:27.890 the others than himself. 338 00:23:33.299 --> 00:23:36.960 Ronald was a construction worker. He'd spent 25 years on 339 00:23:36.980 --> 00:23:39.869 the job, and this was someone who was giving back 340 00:23:39.910 --> 00:23:42.970 to the community by working at a food bank. He 341 00:23:43.009 --> 00:23:45.549 was by himself at a time when there weren't a 342 00:23:45.569 --> 00:23:48.869 lot of people out. He was crossing a relatively busy 343 00:23:48.930 --> 00:23:51.259 street early in the morning at about 5 a.m. when 344 00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:53.799 there weren't a lot of people around, and that's when 345 00:23:53.819 --> 00:23:54.279 he was killed. 346 00:24:06.650 --> 00:24:08.950 Why is the bus so full and everybody talking about 347 00:24:08.970 --> 00:24:11.529 the same thing? And I just looked around and said, 348 00:24:11.549 --> 00:24:13.410 what's going on? It's another killer. 349 00:24:13.849 --> 00:24:14.109 What? 350 00:24:15.589 --> 00:24:17.130 So I went up to the bus robber. 351 00:24:17.069 --> 00:24:17.829 And he knew. 352 00:24:18.430 --> 00:24:21.650 And it was saying that it was Ronald Felton. I said, 353 00:24:21.690 --> 00:24:25.329 that's my brother. He said, what? He just took me 354 00:24:25.369 --> 00:24:27.609 down to Hillsboro and there it was. I don't know 355 00:24:27.650 --> 00:24:29.940 if he stopped, but he got me there safely. And 356 00:24:29.960 --> 00:24:33.619 that's where they had everything was blocked. So when I 357 00:24:33.660 --> 00:24:35.940 went across the street, some of my family was there. 358 00:24:36.380 --> 00:24:39.140 All of a sudden, we just braced each other. They said, 359 00:24:39.509 --> 00:24:43.369 it's him. I said, are you serious? Another murder happened 360 00:24:43.430 --> 00:24:49.349 in Seminole Heights. And it was Ronald Felton. When he 361 00:24:49.390 --> 00:24:53.210 was walking, that's when he heard someone behind. That's when 362 00:24:53.230 --> 00:24:57.240 he got shot. And he fell backwards. And when he 363 00:24:57.259 --> 00:25:01.630 fell backwards, he went up to him over him to 364 00:25:01.670 --> 00:25:06.349 shoot him again. Who would do this to a person? 365 00:25:06.789 --> 00:25:10.569 The tragic irony of Ronald's death was that the morning 366 00:25:10.609 --> 00:25:13.029 that he was killed, he was actually going to a 367 00:25:13.089 --> 00:25:16.049 food bank to volunteer like he did regularly. So you 368 00:25:16.069 --> 00:25:20.470 have someone who, as a construction worker, has dedicated part 369 00:25:20.490 --> 00:25:23.250 of his life to giving back to the community at 370 00:25:23.289 --> 00:25:26.349 the moment when someone who has decided to rob this 371 00:25:26.410 --> 00:25:29.450 community of four innocent lives kills him in cold blood. 372 00:25:30.990 --> 00:25:32.710 They couldn't even have us to come and see the 373 00:25:32.750 --> 00:25:35.250 body because the way they said where he got shot at. 374 00:25:36.069 --> 00:25:39.130 They said, no, we think we better not, don't see him. 375 00:25:39.430 --> 00:25:42.430 And they have them all cover up. I felt like this, 376 00:25:43.450 --> 00:25:46.490 this is the end of it. After they did, that's 377 00:25:46.509 --> 00:25:47.210 the way I felt. 378 00:25:57.140 --> 00:26:01.579 This had become a story nationally and internationally because we 379 00:26:01.619 --> 00:26:03.920 had a serial or a spree killer in our midst 380 00:26:03.980 --> 00:26:04.480 in Tampa. 381 00:26:06.069 --> 00:26:10.869 SWAT teams start patrolling the area. The community feels terrorized again. 382 00:26:11.109 --> 00:26:13.599 When you look at the type of killing that occurred 383 00:26:13.619 --> 00:26:16.660 with this case, it is random. But then we have 384 00:26:16.700 --> 00:26:21.640 to look at what is random. Random could be easily accessible. 385 00:26:22.349 --> 00:26:25.849 Someone walking down the street, someone getting off a public bus. 386 00:26:26.349 --> 00:26:29.470 If I have an anger about me, if I have 387 00:26:29.519 --> 00:26:33.579 a weapon available to me, I'm looking for easy targets. 388 00:26:33.940 --> 00:26:38.420 Seems random, but perhaps the key issue is access. 389 00:26:39.420 --> 00:26:42.700 This time there's a witness. The police announced they are 390 00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:45.579 looking for a thin black male dressed in all black 391 00:26:45.819 --> 00:26:47.079 with a black baseball cap. 392 00:26:47.619 --> 00:26:52.059 Imagine being the police of Seminole Heights, Florida. What appears 393 00:26:52.119 --> 00:26:55.940 to be random killings are taking place in your jurisdiction. 394 00:26:56.579 --> 00:26:59.900 People are fearful. There seems to be no pattern. 395

00:27:02.980 --> 00:27:05.859 The reward for the capture of the killer is raised 396 00:27:05.940 --> 00:27:10.240 to $ 110, 000. But in the days following Ronald's murder, the 397 00:27:10.279 --> 00:27:13.819 police make no arrests. The killer is evading them again. 398 00:27:14.920 --> 00:27:18.809 Even after four murders... In all the diligent work that 399 00:27:18.829 --> 00:27:21.099 law enforcement was doing and all the help we had 400 00:27:21.140 --> 00:27:23.900 from the community, it was really hard to develop a 401 00:27:23.980 --> 00:27:27.660 solid lead into the suspect. But just like Donaldson had 402 00:27:27.700 --> 00:27:31.150 this misperception of where he was in life that may 403 00:27:31.170 --> 00:27:34.269 have caused him to commit these crimes, he probably felt 404 00:27:34.309 --> 00:27:37.789 like things were closing in on him. And he panicked 405 00:27:37.829 --> 00:27:38.289 a little bit. 406 00:27:39.369 --> 00:27:41.119 He's 24 years old, and one of the things we 407 00:27:41.130 --> 00:27:44.759 know is that You know, our brains continue to develop 408 00:27:44.799 --> 00:27:47.079 until we're at least 25. And so I think there's 409 00:27:47.099 --> 00:27:50.180 an immaturity there as well. You know, it's difficult when 410 00:27:50.220 --> 00:27:52.700 you're in your early 20s or early to mid 20s 411 00:27:53.240 --> 00:27:56.849 to think about the fact that a year from now, 412 00:27:56.900 --> 00:27:59.750 things could be completely different. Two years from now, things 413 00:27:59.769 --> 00:28:02.609 could be different. It's much more likely to think how 414 00:28:02.690 --> 00:28:06.190 things are right now is how they are always going 415 00:28:06.250 --> 00:28:10.210 to be. And I think for Donaldson, that was intolerable. 416 00:28:11.349 --> 00:28:13.930 Donaldson had told people that he was looking to leave 417 00:28:13.990 --> 00:28:18.680 the state, that he was looking to flee. In our perception, 418 00:28:19.059 --> 00:28:21.799 he probably felt like the walls were closing in on 419 00:28:21.839 --> 00:28:23.420 him and he was going to get caught, so he 420 00:28:23.460 --> 00:28:25.720 was trying to escape from Tampa before it happened. 421 00:28:26.099 --> 00:28:29.900 You know, he was trying to get a ticket to 422 00:28:29.940 --> 00:28:32.869 go back to New York. He was trying to leave Tampa. 423 00:28:39.450 --> 00:28:42.730 He's working at McDonald's. He tells his manager that he's 424 00:28:42.750 --> 00:28:45.650 going to quit. He turns in his uniform. He says 425 00:28:45.670 --> 00:28:48.359 he needs to run to go buy a ticket to 426 00:28:48.390 --> 00:28:52.700 leave town, and he's gonna come back. Shockingly, he handed 427 00:28:52.720 --> 00:28:56.000 the manager a bag and said, hold on to this 428 00:28:56.059 --> 00:28:57.930 for me and don't look into it. 429 00:28:58.559 --> 00:29:01.700 I would imagine most people, if somebody gave them a 430 00:29:01.740 --> 00:29:05.000 bag with something in it, a plastic bag, you would 431 00:29:05.019 --> 00:29:08.480 be concerned about what this is. Their relationship was not 432 00:29:09.019 --> 00:29:13.190 that close. He's given this to his manager, who, of course, 433 00:29:13.750 --> 00:29:14.529 looks in the bag. 434 00:29:16.630 --> 00:29:19.210 And that was the stroke of luck that we needed, 435 00:29:19.609 --> 00:29:23.380 combined with law enforcement's diligence efforts to make the huge 436 00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:24.140 break in the case. 437 00:29:24.700 --> 00:29:28.059 The bag contains a weapon, a gun. 438 00:29:29.720 --> 00:29:32.680 Well, the McDonald's manager immediately knew that there was a problem. 439 00:29:33.109 --> 00:29:36.529 She found a police officer in the parking lot at McDonald's. 440 00:29:36.910 --> 00:29:39.910 And by the time Donaldson returned to the McDonald's, you 441 00:29:39.950 --> 00:29:42.869 had a whole group of law enforcement officers waiting to 442 00:29:42.910 --> 00:29:43.809 arrest him immediately. 443 00:29:54.500 --> 00:29:55.460 But you're responsible for this? 444 00:29:55.539 --> 00:29:55.599 No. 445 00:29:56.079 --> 00:29:58.819 Because it's the gun, okay? 446 00:29:59.250 --> 00:30:00.069 You murdered those people. 447 00:30:00.430 --> 00:30:01.269 Your phone would put. 448 00:30:01.130 --> 00:30:03.450 You right there at specific times. 449 00:30:04.130 --> 00:30:06.269 We know it's you. Can you please tell us why? 450 00:30:06.289 --> 00:30:07.490 I don't know. 451 00:30:07.589 --> 00:30:07.890 Why? 452 00:30:07.910 --> 00:30:11.200 I just don't know anything else to say. 453 00:30:11.279 --> 00:30:13.480 I just want to, I guess, talk to my attorney 454 00:30:13.539 --> 00:30:15.240 and talk to her who I need to talk to. 455 00:30:16.059 --> 00:30:20.740 Shortly after Mr. Felton's death, my brother said there's a 456 00:30:20.799 --> 00:30:25.779 report on TV that they might have the guy at 457 00:30:25.799 --> 00:30:30.329 a McDonald's. So I started watching TV Everything I could 458 00:30:30.349 --> 00:30:34.920 watch online and watching the news. I think all the 459 00:30:34.980 --> 00:30:37.359 press was there and they came out and they said 460 00:30:37.380 --> 00:30:41.500 they've arrested someone. They believe in connection of the murders. 461 00:30:42.319 --> 00:30:45.220 That's kind of when I saw, you know, the face 462 00:30:45.279 --> 00:30:45.779 of evil. 463 00:30:52.460 --> 00:30:57.180 When Donaldson was arrested, when Donaldson was charged by my office, 464 00:30:57.779 --> 00:31:00.440 You could feel the sense of relief in the community. 465 00:31:06.589 --> 00:31:12.329 Today is a good day. Today, the good guys won. Today, 466 00:31:12.450 --> 00:31:13.650 Seminole Heights can sleep. 467 00:31:19.569 --> 00:31:21.720 The mayor, he talked to me when we had to say, 468 00:31:21.740 --> 00:31:24.859 he said, at night while y'all was asleep, I was 469 00:31:24.920 --> 00:31:26.960 with them trying to capture

him. 470 00:31:32.690 --> 00:31:37.269 I mean, who walks around with a murder weapon in 471 00:31:37.309 --> 00:31:42.190 a sandwich bag in McDonald's and then asks his boss 472 00:31:42.269 --> 00:31:45.589 to hold this while I go try to get money 473 00:31:45.650 --> 00:31:49.630 to get a ticket to get out of town? I mean, 474 00:31:51.819 --> 00:31:58.200 for all of his opportunities, he was just a dumb kid. 475 00:32:00.430 --> 00:32:03.990 It's hard to explain how someone who had been relatively 476 00:32:04.029 --> 00:32:07.549 careful for a month in murdering four people hands the 477 00:32:07.589 --> 00:32:11.190 murder weapon to his manager at McDonald's and then walks away. 478 00:32:12.109 --> 00:32:18.809 I have often said that 99.99% of serial killers do 479 00:32:18.869 --> 00:32:23.900 not want to get caught. And if they make stupid mistakes, 480 00:32:24.619 --> 00:32:28.559 it's because they're so narcissistic or so grandiose that they've 481 00:32:28.599 --> 00:32:32.660 convinced themselves that I can't get caught. I'm the smartest 482 00:32:32.680 --> 00:32:37.240 person around here. Is it possible that that is completely 483 00:32:37.240 --> 00:32:41.240 100% what happened with Howell Donaldson? 484 00:32:41.400 --> 00:32:41.980 Yes, it is. 485 00:32:42.789 --> 00:32:45.009 I have to say this is one of those few 486 00:32:45.069 --> 00:32:49.829 situations when I have to wonder if on some level 487 00:32:50.970 --> 00:32:54.230 Howell Donaldson at the very least was wanting to stop 488 00:32:54.289 --> 00:32:56.329 doing what he was doing. It's so hard for me 489 00:32:56.369 --> 00:32:59.089 to believe it was just stupidity. 490 00:33:00.049 --> 00:33:00.769 That led to that. 491 00:33:02.569 --> 00:33:06.170 With Howell Donaldson arrested, the residents of Seminole Heights feel 492 00:33:06.210 --> 00:33:10.430 safe for the first time in 51 days. Investigators quickly 493 00:33:10.490 --> 00:33:11.769 link him to the murder spree. 494 00:33:13.009 --> 00:33:17.359 He then is questioned, his car is searched, and they 495 00:33:17.450 --> 00:33:23.960 find bloodstained clothing. So the bloodstained clothing matches surveillance footage 496 00:33:24.599 --> 00:33:25.140 of the killer. 497 00:33:27.730 --> 00:33:30.450 The gun that he handed to his McDonald's manager was 498 00:33:30.509 --> 00:33:36.160 the gun that was involved in all four murders. That 499 00:33:36.220 --> 00:33:39.400 was ultimately the strongest piece of evidence in tying Donaldson 500 00:33:39.420 --> 00:33:40.119 to these crimes. 501 00:33:42.400 --> 00:33:47.509 I got to talk to Chief Dugan. I met Mayor Buckhorn. 502 00:33:47.890 --> 00:33:50.150 He's the one that said, bring me his head. There's 503 00:33:50.190 --> 00:33:53.970 t-shirts made, bring me his head. Once I had learned 504 00:33:54.069 --> 00:33:56.599 all the different things, and I had read all the 505 00:33:56.680 --> 00:33:59.500 things that they were possibly using to track and to 506

00:33:59.599 --> 00:34:04.480 find this guy, I was relieved, knowing now that he 507 00:34:05.680 --> 00:34:06.660 was behind bars. 508 00:34:19.869 --> 00:34:23.250 So as Case moves forward, he enters a plea of 509 00:34:23.469 --> 00:34:24.369 not guilty. 510 00:34:26.630 --> 00:34:30.949 I think one of the really problematic things about Donaldson 511 00:34:30.969 --> 00:34:32.550 was how he coped with things. And one of the 512 00:34:32.590 --> 00:34:36.489 things that you see or we see emerging is this 513 00:34:36.550 --> 00:34:40.369 lack of responsibility. It's not my fault. It's other people's fault. 514 00:34:40.590 --> 00:34:43.829 It's circumstances fault. It's anybody but my own fault. 515 00:34:53.659 --> 00:34:57.510 There was a meeting with the state's attorney We all 516 00:34:57.590 --> 00:35:01.010 made the decision that we wanted him to have the 517 00:35:01.050 --> 00:35:04.690 death penalty. We wanted death. 518 00:35:16.789 --> 00:35:20.530 Investigators are preparing for the August 2020 murder trial of 519 00:35:20.590 --> 00:35:24.340 Howell Donaldson III. The victim's families are hoping he's found 520 00:35:24.360 --> 00:35:26.039 guilty and sentenced to death. 521 00:35:26.829 --> 00:35:29.250 We were able to build a strong case against Donaldson 522 00:35:29.309 --> 00:35:34.679 really on three different pillars. One was on his general description, 523 00:35:35.280 --> 00:35:38.079 one was on his whereabouts and location, and the third 524 00:35:38.119 --> 00:35:41.800 was on the gun and the ballistic evidence. But you 525 00:35:41.840 --> 00:35:43.900 know when you walk into court, you still have to 526 00:35:43.960 --> 00:35:47.630 persuade a jury unanimously, beyond and to the exclusion of 527 00:35:47.789 --> 00:35:50.650 any reasonable doubt, that he's the one who committed these crimes. 528 00:35:56.320 --> 00:35:58.860 So we find after each and every one of these 529 00:35:59.000 --> 00:36:05.250 activities that he goes home, plays video games, and watches porn. 530 00:36:06.889 --> 00:36:09.710 That's a pattern you see in spree and serial killers 531 00:36:10.190 --> 00:36:14.929 where they're able to commit these heinous, horrific, barbaric acts 532 00:36:15.369 --> 00:36:19.090 and then go back to their normal life every day. 533 00:36:19.730 --> 00:36:22.110 And it turns out that's exactly what Donaldson was doing. 534 00:36:22.769 --> 00:36:25.489 But think about the type of person, think about the 535 00:36:25.550 --> 00:36:29.530 type of mentality you have to have. It's really hard 536 00:36:29.550 --> 00:36:45.179 to wrap your head around. There's no such thing as 537 00:36:45.219 --> 00:36:47.480 a sure thing when you're talking about taking a case 538 00:36:47.519 --> 00:36:50.940 to trial. And the defense was doing as best they 539 00:36:50.980 --> 00:36:53.400 could to poke holes in our theory of the case, 540 00:36:53.739 --> 00:36:55.880 poke holes in the description of this young man who 541 00:36:55.900 --> 00:36:59.889 was seen on video, poke holes in the location we 542 00:36:59.929 --> 00:37:02.170 had for him as he was going from where he 543 00:37:02.210 --> 00:37:05.969 was staying and living to the murder scenes, poke holes 544 00:37:06.130 --> 00:37:09.840 in the ballistic and forensic evidence we had connecting him 545 00:37:10.019 --> 00:37:11.900 and the gun to these murders. 546 00:37:20.730 --> 00:37:24.210 Donaldson's defense team are successful in their request for each 547 00:37:24.289 --> 00:37:25.690 murder to be tried separately. 548 00:37:26.349 --> 00:37:30.389 This ends up prolonging the difficulty for the victims' families. 549 00:37:30.849 --> 00:37:33.630 It makes the case take years and years before they 550 00:37:33.650 --> 00:37:36.670 can get a sense of justice, and it really ends 551 00:37:36.750 --> 00:37:40.139 up hurting them twice because they have to relive these 552 00:37:40.239 --> 00:37:43.500 tragedies throughout the court case as it continues for years. 553 00:37:44.739 --> 00:37:50.619 When it comes to red tape and prolonging the inevitable... 554 00:37:50.570 --> 00:37:54.690 We should look for mercy for the victims. There needs 555 00:37:54.730 --> 00:38:01.420 to be some kind of preponderance of the evidence that says, listen, 556 00:38:02.679 --> 00:38:06.239 no matter what, you are tied to all of these 557 00:38:06.320 --> 00:38:10.579 murders with this evidence. And we cannot have all of 558 00:38:10.659 --> 00:38:18.110 these families suffer because you have the right to a 559 00:38:18.190 --> 00:38:23.280 not-so-speedy trial. I think what happened to me, the Feltons, 560 00:38:23.360 --> 00:38:28.699 the Nyboas, Benjamin's family, was nothing short of torture. Then 561 00:38:28.719 --> 00:38:33.130 the second year went by. Then the third year. Then 562 00:38:33.170 --> 00:38:36.650 the fourth year. Then the fifth year. And we're almost 563 00:38:36.730 --> 00:38:40.130 into the sixth year. And just thank God that he 564 00:38:40.170 --> 00:38:41.650 decided he had had enough. 565 00:38:45.829 --> 00:38:49.320 Donaldson changes his plea to guilty on all counts. in 566 00:38:49.360 --> 00:38:51.800 a deal that will see him avoid the death penalty. 567 00:38:52.559 --> 00:38:56.920 Sitting in jail for almost six years, I think he 568 00:38:56.960 --> 00:39:00.550 just wanted to do enough to get out of being 569 00:39:00.639 --> 00:39:05.809 executed so that he could just move on. And by 570 00:39:05.889 --> 00:39:09.969 doing that, I think he got some kind of gratification also. 571 00:39:10.469 --> 00:39:19.659 He knew he wasn't going to die. And you took 572 00:39:20.519 --> 00:39:21.679 my daughter's life. 573 00:39:22.679 --> 00:39:23.800 I'll never understand. 574 00:39:24.710 --> 00:39:27.329 I'll never understand why it took so long to get 575 00:39:27.369 --> 00:39:33.590 to this point. It was a total release. All the anger, 576 00:39:34.730 --> 00:39:38.949 all the pent-up

frustrations I had with the court system, 577 00:39:39.570 --> 00:39:45.400 it was a release. It was a dedication, kind of, 578 00:39:45.480 --> 00:39:46.139 to my daughter. 579 00:39:54.820 --> 00:40:00.300 He is sentenced to four consecutive life sentences without the 580 00:40:00.360 --> 00:40:02.260 possibility of parole. 581 00:40:06.780 --> 00:40:11.590 I struggled with forgiveness. I really did. And I know 582 00:40:11.650 --> 00:40:15.769 now forgiveness for me is kind of letting go and 583 00:40:16.730 --> 00:40:20.510 letting God shepherd me through the things that I can't 584 00:40:20.550 --> 00:40:21.710 shepherd myself through. 585 00:40:22.949 --> 00:40:26.309 I said, this guy really had a good life, but 586 00:40:26.369 --> 00:40:29.079 what tricked him to do something like that? He went 587 00:40:29.119 --> 00:40:34.179 to college, basketball. He wants to better himself. And I just, 588 00:40:34.280 --> 00:40:37.179 at that moment, just looked at him and I couldn't 589 00:40:37.219 --> 00:40:40.360 shed a tear for him. I just couldn't do it. 590 00:40:40.400 --> 00:40:45.079 I just like, I couldn't do that. He had a 591 00:40:45.119 --> 00:40:48.579 successful life. He had something going on for himself, for 592 00:40:48.619 --> 00:40:52.110 him to really do that. I mean, come on. 593 00:40:54.000 --> 00:40:57.219 This case really is about a young man who did 594 00:40:57.260 --> 00:41:00.860 not live up to his perhaps unrealistic expectations for himself 595 00:41:01.079 --> 00:41:03.659 and his accomplishments. And instead of finding a way to 596 00:41:03.699 --> 00:41:07.079 deal with that directly, took it out on the world 597 00:41:07.119 --> 00:41:07.559 around him. 598 00:41:08.260 --> 00:41:10.840 He grew up in church. He's got a tattoo of 599 00:41:10.900 --> 00:41:15.239 Christ on his arm. He shouldn't be a serial killer. 600 00:41:15.599 --> 00:41:21.260 I'm at peace knowing now that when he went into prison, 601 00:41:21.300 --> 00:41:23.820 he thought he was somebody. but there's a lot of 602 00:41:23.860 --> 00:41:27.380 people there that think he's a nobody. I'm sure he 603 00:41:27.460 --> 00:41:31.099 is suffering now like we have been suffering. 604 00:41:33.590 --> 00:41:37.969 We have four victims, Benjamin, Anthony, Monica, Ronald, who we 605 00:41:37.989 --> 00:41:40.349 can talk about as a college student and as a 606 00:41:40.389 --> 00:41:44.789 construction worker, but that will never capture who these people are. 607 00:41:45.510 --> 00:41:48.659 I sat with their families and heard the stories and 608 00:41:48.719 --> 00:41:51.719 saw the pictures and laughed and cried with them as 609 00:41:51.800 --> 00:41:56.650 we remembered the loved ones lost. Nothing will ever justify, 610 00:41:56.710 --> 00:42:00.550 nothing will ever explain these four innocent lives that were 611 00:42:00.590 --> 00:42:01.690 ripped from our community. 612 00:42:02.719 --> 00:42:06.679 And Ronald left this legacy about love. Do what you 613 00:42:06.719 --> 00:42:09.639 can for people. If you want to leave here and 614 00:42:09.659 --> 00:42:12.280 be with God, love the people. Do what you can. 615 00:42:13.559 --> 00:42:16.550 I'll never stop loving my daughter. She was just a 616 00:42:16.650 --> 00:42:19.130 great child who had a great sense of humor and 617 00:42:19.170 --> 00:42:25.289 a whole future ahead of her. She was really, she 618 00:42:25.329 --> 00:42:27.489 was a light in the darkness.