Sarah Boone verdict: Jury finds Florida woman guilty in 'suitcase murder' of boyfriend

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ORLANDO, Fla. - A jury rendered a guilty verdict in the second-degree murder trial of Sarah Boone. The jury arrived at that decision after a short period of deliberations that began Friday evening, following closing arguments. 

Prosecutors said Boone, 47, zipped Jorge Torres, 42, inside a suitcase during a drunken game of hide-and-seek, hitting him with a bat, and then leaving him inside the suitcase overnight until he died of asphyxiation.

The state argued that Boone killed Torres with malicious intent and to punish him. The defense argued that their relationship was abusive at the hands of Torres and that Boone suffered from Battered Spouse Syndrome.

The jury was shown videos of previous incidents between Boone and Torres in which police were called due to alleged violations of a no-contact order between the two. This was also one of the first times that Torres' perspective had been shown.

At the center of the case were two separate videos recorded 11 minutes apart on Sarah Boone's cell phone of Torres inside the zipped suitcase, calling out her name repeatedly and telling her that he could not breathe.

"She's just in shock," said defense attorney James Owens in an impromptu news conference outside the courthouse. "We're, obviously, really disappointed. We did the best that we could, you know, in the time that we had to prepare. Sarah really liked the team, and we all got along."

State Attorney Andrew Bain thanked the jury and praised the work of the prosecution and the investigators.

"This is a very horrific homicide. Nobody really should have to endure this type of struggle and fight for their lives and have to die alone, begging for their last breath inside a suitcase," said Bain. "Today, justice was served with the conviction of Sarah Boone."

Before the trial, Boone rejected a plea deal in which a judge would have sentenced her to 15 years in prison for manslaughter.  A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Dec. 2 at 1:30 p.m.

The verdict comes after over four years of legal wrangling and several pretrial hearings during which Boone went through multiple attorneys.  Below is a summary of a timeline of events. 

The 911 call: Deadly game of 'hide-and-seek' 

On Feb. 24, 2020, at 1:01 p.m., Sarah Boone called 911 to report that her boyfriend, Jorge Torres Jr., was dead inside their apartment in Winter Park, Florida. She told 911 dispatchers that she and Torres were playing a game of hide-and-seek the night before and during the game, both "jokingly thought it would be funny if Jorge got in the suitcase," the arrest report stated.

Boone said she and Torres were drinking wine. At some point, she went upstairs and "passed out" in her bed, the report said. She said she woke up hours later to her cell phone ringing, went downstairs, and found Torres unresponsive and not breathing in the suitcase, according to the report.

Minutes after that 911 call, the Orange County Fire Department arrived and confirmed that Torres was dead.

The cell phone videos: 'Sarah, I can't breathe, babe'

During the investigation, detectives found two videos on Sarah's iPhone. The videos appear to show Torres zipped inside the suitcase, occasionally moving, and seemingly begging Sarah to let him out. In the video, it seems Boone repeatedly taunts him. 

"Sarah, I can't breathe, babe," Torres said, according to the video.

"That's on you," she responds.

"Sarah, I can't breathe," he said again.

"That's on you," Boone responds, even laughing.

Content warning: The video may be disturbing and difficult to watch.

According to investigators, those videos were recorded shortly after 11 p.m., and hours before, Boone eventually called 911. The second video, according to the report, shows the suitcase in a different position – flipped over and now on the left side of the living room. 

According to the arrest report, the autopsy found that Torres had scratches on his back, a large scratch on his neck, bruising on his left shoulder, and bruises on his forehead from "blunt force trauma." He also had a cut on his lip, the report said.

The interrogation: 'It was not intentional'

On Feb. 25, 2022, Sarah Boone drove to the Orange County Sheriff's Office where she spoke with detectives for nearly two hours. During that interrogation, Boone said Torres' injuries were from falling off her son's bike or from falling or running into walls.

When detectives asked her to watch the videos found on her cell phone, Boone watched for a moment and then said she did not want to watch them. She told detectives that she thought Torres could get out of the suitcase alleging that it could be unzipped from the inside.

However, detectives questioned that because in the videos, they did not see Torres' fingers reaching out of the suitcase anywhere.

"In the video, you can't see any holes. There's nowhere in that where the zipper separation you can see a hole. If there's a hole, he's pushing on it begging you to get out. We should probably see that hole," one detective said in the interrogation.

"He essentially would have been able to get out," another detective responds.

"I did not zip it all the way. I did not zip it up all the way. This is horrific, OK? Horrific. Horrific. I don't think I'll ever be right because of this," Boone said, according to the interrogation video.

"It was not intentional. I'll put my hand on the Bible. It was not intentional. I would not do that to him nor anyone else," she later said.

"But you did," a detective responds.

"Not intentional," Boone responds, adding that she thought Torres would get out.

The disputes with lawyers: 'Inmate seeks attorney'

Sarah Boone went through several court-appointed attorneys before her trial, many of whom asked to be withdrawn from the case due to irreconcilable differences with Boone over her defense. Some exited due to conflicts of interest. 

Boone also claimed her various lawyers were not working with her, not being available, not having certain documents or evidence, and outright lying to her. At one of her pre-trial hearings, Boone submitted a 58-page handwritten letter to the judge with a list of questions, complaints, and critiques regarding how her case has allegedly been handled in the court system. You can read the entire letter embedded below.

"I should feel secure, highly confident, proud in her ‘representing’ my life," Boone wrote in her letter about her attorney. "I do not and have said to her many times regarding her monumental disbelief in me and my case, which I believe contributes greatly to her inimical attitude towards me."

Boone forfeited her right to another court-appointed defense lawyer after reportedly going through nine lawyers. After she was told she would need to find her own defense attorney if she did not want to solely represent herself in her second-degree murder trial, she crafted her own employment ad.

The hand-drawn ad was included in a six-page letter, dated July 8, Boone sent to the judge overseeing her case – Judge Michael Kraynick. In the letter, Boone lamented about her case, the handling of her case; she claimed she was "forced" to represent herself, and wondered where the "discovery" was from her latest attorney, who withdrew from the case.

"INMATE SEEKS ATTORNEY" read the ad with "inmate' and "attorney" emphasized in bold-like writing.

"Looking for a prosperous challenge? "Ready for your close-up on nat'l television? Are you zealous with a side of keen?" reads the ad. "Show the WORLD who you are with your original creativity, extraordinary expertise, confident ingenuity." 

The trial delays and motion to dismiss

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 disrupted the Florida court system. Many cases, including Boone’s, were delayed due to court closures and limited in-person proceedings.

While representing herself, Boone filed a motion to dismiss her second-degree murder case, citing her constitutional right to a speedy trial.

In Florida, a "speedy trial" means that a person charged with a crime must be brought to trial within 90 days of arrest if the crime is a misdemeanor, or within 175 days if the crime is a felony. It's been more than four years since Boone was arrested and charged with murder. 

"The state of Florida has not met the requirements or proven good cause of delays," the motion read. "Unafective substandard state provided attorneys should have made this request long ago proving this as a fact."

The trial delays in the Sarah Boone case were caused by several factors:

• Procedural delays
• COVID-19 pandemic disruptions
• Frequent changes in legal representation
• Court system backlogs
• Review and preparation of key evidence
• Potential mental health evaluations
• Boone’s rejection of a plea deal
• Revocation of Boone’s right to court-appointed counsel
• Boone's attempts to secure private representation
• Hurricane Milton

The motion was denied. 

In late August, Boone retained an attorney for her trial that was to begin in October.

The trial: Boone argues she was acting in self-defense 

Sarah Boone spoke in her defense, taking the stand during her second-degree murder trial. Boone said she lied to investigators when she initially told them her boyfriend had died by accident. Instead, she said she was acting in self-defense.

An attorney following Boone’s case, Lauren Cadilac, said that change was striking. Namely because of the videos presented in the trial, allegedly showing Boone taunting her boyfriend after trapping him in a suitcase:

"Then a defense attorney's job is no longer necessarily defending her, but maybe mitigating the damage," said Cadilac. "That's why I was shocked - I mean, shocked out of my mind - that she didn't take that plea deal."

In the videos, Torres can be heard from inside the suitcase saying, "I can’t breathe, babe."

"That’s what I feel like when you cheat on me," Boone responds. 

"I think it would have been a better play to come in and say, ‘Yes, I put him in the suitcase, but I was drunk out of my gourd, and I totally forgot. I never intentionally did anything,’" said Cadilac. 

That was Boone’s original defense, which lasted four years, and through eight other attorneys. However, now she says she was a battered spouse acting in self-defense.

"I lied to the police and basically everyone, because I was extremely fearful of being arrested," she said on the stand Tuesday. 

The battered spouse argument is what’s called an affirmative defense. The defendant basically says, "Yes I did it, but I was within my right to do so."

What did the prosecution say in closing arguments?

What did the defense say in closing arguments?

The verdict: Sarah Boone guilty of second-degree murder

The fate of Sarah Boone rested in the hands of a jury comprising six people – five women and one man – and eight alternate jurors.

Boone was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Torres. However, during a charging conference on Friday, both sides agreed to the potential of lesser charges, including manslaughter and culpable negligence. A jury also had the option of finding Boone not guilty of any charges.

The jury had to be unanimous in their decision. Just before 9 p.m. on Friday, after less than two hours of deliberations, they found Boone guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Jorge Torres. 

Defense attorney James Owen said the prosecution presented strong evidence and that he respected the jury's decision. Responding to questions about whether it was Boone's decision not to take a plea deal before trial, he said his client wanted her day in court.

"She was convinced in her mind, obviously, that she didn't intend to kill Jorge and that this was just circumstance. Because they were both intoxicated, things happen that it was really just an unintentional act. I think she felt bad about any murder conviction or pleading to any type of murder that she was somehow criminally responsible for Jorge's death and I think that's where her mindset was."