Accused sex offender commits suicide

11-27-17 Florida

Bruce McAllister, who was facing multiple sex offense charges has committed suicide. He was the husband of former Hernando Christian Academy Principal Kathy McAllister.

Bruce McAllister 68 was accused of molesting several young boys in the school sponsored foreign exchange program - who were staying with the couple at their home in Southern Hills.

The Brooksville PD reports, “On 11/15/2017 Brooksville Police received a teletype from the West Palm Beach Police Department advising that McAllister, who was identified by his driver's license, committed suicide. McAllister was scheduled for a Hernando County court appearance reference to his pending charges 11/16/17.” ..Source..

Key West homeless man found dead on beach

11-25-16 Florida:

A 50-year-old man who lived at the Key West homeless shelter was found dead on a local beach Thanksgiving Day, but police have only called it a “non-suspicious” death investigation, not a homicide.

David Allen Bolivar, whose legal address was the Keys Overnight Temporary Shelter, 5537 College Road, was found in the sea oat grass along the sand dunes at Smathers Beach off South Roosevelt Boulevard about 11:30 a.m. Thursday.

“His personal belongings were there under a little bench,” said Key West police spokesman Steve Torrence. “It’s an ongoing death investigation. I’m not supposed to say much of anything.”

An autopsy was scheduled for Monday and no preliminary cause of death was being released Friday, Torrence said.

UPDATE: Accused molester takes own life

5-13-16 Florida:

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The man who was accused of molesting an autistic teenager at the North County Library committed suicide while out on bond, police say.

Richard Moore, 56, of Vero Beach was arrested in April and faced a charge of sexual battery on a "mentally defective" person and unlawful sexual activity with a minor after Indian River County Sheriff's Det. Jeremy Shepherd interviewed him, according to a press release.

Moore died of an apparent suicide Sunday, May 8, in the 8000 block of 105th Court, at 12:30 p.m., according to Indian River County Spokesman Lt. Eric Flowers. He suffered a gunshot wound to the head. The investigation is still active.

Suspect Commits Suicide During Sex Offense Investigation in Sumter County

10-24-16 Florida:

LAKE PANASOFFKEE – Sumter County Deputies were dispatched to the Lake Panasoffkee Family Dollar in response to a sex offense complaint involving a minor on Sunday just after 5:00 pm.

When deputies arrived, the victim’s mother told deputies that her daughter told her she was molested and raped. According to a statement from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, the victim stated that the abuse began when she was nine years old and lived out of state.

Deputies escorted the victim and her family to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office where they continued to investigate the allegations. During the investigation, the suspect began sending text messages to the victim’s mother one of which caused concern among the deputies due to the suspect’s history of suicidal threats.

Casa Grande sex offender commits suicide as police question him

3-18-16 Florida:

CASA GRANDE -- A man wanted in Pinal County for possessing thousands of files of child pornography committed suicide Thursday as police questioned him in Florida, authorities said.

In February, the Casa Grande Police Department assisted the Pinal County Adult Probation search the residence of 45-yar-old Albert Thomas Shade, a registered sex offender living in Casa Grande. During the search, probation officers seized numerous items of Shade’s property, including a computer, Casa Grande police said.

Shade absconded to Florida and Pinal County Adult Probation issued a warrant for his arrest, police said.

The computer was turned over to the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office Forensics Analysis Unit where over 800,000 files of child pornography were discovered, according to police. Casa Grande Police Detectives contacted the City of Sebastian Police Department in Florida and requested their assistance in locating Shade.

Hernando County Sex Offender Found Dead

12-15-15 Florida:

(UPDATE 2:30 p.m.) The body of 50 year old Dennis Cox has been found hours after he walked away from his home. There's no word how he died.

(Earlier)

The Hernando County Sheriff's Office is seeking assistance from the public in locating an absconded sex offender.

Dennis Cox, 50, is a registered sexual offender who took off his ankle monitor at 2:17 a.m. this morning and proceeded to leave his home at 9375 Bearwalk Path in Wachee, in the Woodland Waters subdivision, Weeki Wachee.

Police say he left in an unknown direction and did not take his car. He listed as a Violent Felony Offender who is considered dangerous. He may also be suicidal. Deputies are currently searching the surrounding area and have notified nearby schools regarding Cox. ..Source.. by News Talk Florida

Death investigation at home of man arrested for child porn

6-9-15 Florida:

NORTH NAPLES, Fla. – A death investigation is underway at the home of a retired doctor who was arrested on child porn charges last week.

Deputies and crime scene were coming in and out of the Village Walk community Tuesday afternoon.

WINK News confirmed the death investigation is at the home of 69-year-old Freddy Koenig. Neighbors say he is the only one who lived in the home.

Koenig was arrested after reports show he tried to print out inappropriate pictures at a kiosk in a North Naples Costco. An employee took a look at the pictures and called deputies.

Reports show the pictures were of what looked to be a 13-year-old girl having sex with a man. Koenig prepaid for the pictures and was arrested in the Costco parking lot.

Koenig bonded out of jail around 2 a.m. Saturday; he had to hand over his passport as ordered by the judge.

Monday his attorney filed a not guilty plea and requested a trial. About 24 hours later, Koenig’s home was roped off with crime scene tape. ..Source.. by WINK News

2nd Putnam jail inmate in less than three weeks found dead in cell of apparent suicide

10-2-2014 Florida:

A second inmate has died of an apparent suicide at the Putnam County jail in less than three weeks, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

About 1 a.m. Friday, deputies found Dennis Rudy King, 66, unresponsive in his cell. They said King used a rope fashioned from a bedsheet to strangle himself. King was jailed Sept. 30 and was distraught over several child-pornography charges filed after a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

King apparently waited until lights were turned out for the night and investigators said no one in surrounding cells heard or knew anything about what happened. He did not have a cell mate.

The case is similar to the Sept. 17 death of Timothy Lawrence Walrath, 39, who also was found asphyxiated by a bed sheet in his cell. Walrath was upset about a possible prison sentence and also waited until lights were doused that night.

Florida inmate found dead in cell

8-14-2014 Florida:

An inmate has been found dead inside a cell at the Pinellas County Jail hours before he was scheduled for sentencing in a sexual battery case.

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office says detention deputies found 38-year-old Larry Kobielnik hanging in his cell early Thursday.

Officials say medical staff and Pinellas County Fire Rescue crews tried to revive Kobielnik, but he was pronounced dead a short time later.

The sheriff's office says Kobielnik was being held in a single person cell in the maximum security section of the jail.

An investigation of his death is underway.

Sex crime fugitive commits suicide

5-14-2014 Florida:

STARKE, Fla. - Police officers sent to check out a tip that a man wanted on multiple charges of rape and other sex crimes in Putnam County was at a hotel in Starke found the man dead inside one of the rooms.

According to the Stake Police Department, officers went to the Best Western on Temple Avenue just after 10:30 a.m. Wednesday trying to locate Timothy Brian Raulerson (51). They found a vehicle believed to be the fugitive's in the parking lot but they not no response at the door of the room that he had rented.

With the vehicle being present and the arrest warrant being confirmed, officers responded as if there was a barricaded subject in the room. Officers forced their way inside of the room and located Raulerson dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Man Wanted On Child Pornography Charges Commits Suicide

5-8-2014 Florida:

A man wanted on multiple out-of- state warrants for possession of child pornography died Wednesday of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound after members of the U.S. Marshals Service Regional Fugitive Task Force arrived at a Crestview hotel to take him into custody.

The Task Force members, including deputies from the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, were called out to the Holiday Inn Express at 125 Cracker Barrel Road in Crestview early Wednesday morning.

The suspect, considered armed and dangerous, was believed to be hiding out in a room at the hotel. Task Force members knocked on his door shortly before 2 a.m. and announced their presence. As they were attempting to enter the room, they heard a single gunshot. 45 year old Richard Allen Garretson of Huntington West Virginia was found wounded inside and pronounced dead a short time later by EMS personnel.

Pinellas Jail inmate chose death over prison

5-6-2014 Florida:

Just a few weeks before he was to be sentenced in a solicitation-to-commit murder case, a convicted sex offender was found dead over the weekend at the Pinellas County Jail, his defense attorney confirmed.

Attorney Deb Moss said Tuesday morning she was notified Saturday that David Tyler, 56, was found dead and that he appeared to have killed himself.

Tyler was convicted last month of solicitation to commit murder. Prosecutors claimed he enlisted a fellow inmate at the jail to find someone to kill his aunt after his aunt told a judge her nephew should not be released on bond during a pending case in which he was accused of stalking a 13-year-old boy.

Tyler was scheduled to be sentenced May 23 in the solicitation-to-commit murder case. Because of his criminal history, he faced a sentence of 15 years to life.

Child Porn Defendent Dies In Federal Prison

3-1-2014 Florida:

A former Tyndall airman, who pled guilty on child pornography possession charges in September, is dead.

Investigators arrested 30-year old Daniel Freiwald in July after tracing pornography internet downloads to his computer. He pled guilty to the federal charges last fall.

Federal Judge Richard Smoak sentenced him last month to 8-years in a federal prison. Wednesday authorities transferred Freiwald to the Federal Detention Center in Tallahassee, on his way to a federal prison.

But, Thursday he reportedly committed suicide.

Officials at the detention center refused to discuss the case.

But the Federal Bureau of Prisons' Inmate Locator website lists Freiwald's status as deceased. ..Source.. by

GPD: Suspect in fatal stabbing commits suicide in Daytona Beach

1-14-2014 Florida:

A woman was stabbed to death in her car early Monday morning in a parking garage at North Florida Regional Medical Center.

Investigators say the assailant was her estranged husband, a registered sex offender, who later took his own life as police arrived at a location in Daytona Beach.

The woman has been identified as Casey Renee Wilsey, 37, of Bronson. GPD reported receiving a call at 8:58 a.m. in which the caller said a woman was dead in a vehicle parked on the third floor garage near the Women's Center entrance.

GPD officers responded and found Wilsey dead, apparently from a stab wound to her torso.

Based on information from family members, investigators determined the likely suspect was Wilsey's estranged husband, Walker Gage Wilsey Sr., 46. According to Levy County public records, Casey Wilsey had petitioned for an injunction against domestic violence in November and, in December, petitioned for a divorce.

Police said Casey Wilsey was not an employee of the hospital but she worked in the complex. It appears that Walker Wilsey waited for her to arrive at work, then attacked her in the parking garage while she was still inside of her vehicle, police said.

Investigators believe Walker Wilsey fled in a white F-350 diesel pickup truck with a camo-style bottom “wrap.”

GPD investigators asked multiple agencies, including Daytona Beach police, to check possible addresses for Walker Wilsey.

Man Found Dead in Lakeland Was Facing Child Porn Charges, Deputies Say

11-1-2013 Florida:

LAKELAND | A man found dead in his South Lakeland home Thursday night after deputies surrounded the property had been wanted on out-of-state child pornography charges, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.

Michael James Nicholson Gattis, 36, was found with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head when a Polk County Sheriff's SWAT team entered the home, according to the Sheriff's Office.

According to the Fairfax County, Va., Police Department, the agency had an arrest warrant on file for Gattis on two counts of child porn possession.

Polk County deputies had contacted Gattis and asked him to report for questioning in regard to the warrant.

Gattis declined, according to the Sheriff's Office, telling detectives he had weapons in his home at 6820 Lakeland Highlands Road and wanted to speak to his wife, who deputies said had recently left him.

Man shot by Tampa airport police registered as sex offender in August

10-29-2013 Florida:

TAMPA — A man shot by police Monday at Tampa International Airport before jumping to his death from a parking garage recently had registered as a sex offender.

Allen Piano, 46, of Palm Harbor, registered after being sentenced to probation in August for providing obscene materials to a minor.

Piano was shot late Monday afternoon when he lunged at TIA Police Officer Jason Virt on the fourth floor of the airport's long-term parking garage, authorities said.

Airport officials said an airport police officer approached Piano about 4:30 p.m. on the eighth floor of the short-term parking garage.

Piano said he was watching planes. A background check revealed he was a sex offender for whom Pinellas officials were about to issue an arrest warrant, according to his probation officer.

The probation officer also said a shotgun was missing from the home of Piano's mother, with whom he lived.

County inmate dies from what authorities say is apparent suicide

6-3-2013 Florida:

SEBRING- A Highlands County Jail inmate Scott Alexander Wilkie, 37, died early hours Monday from what appears to be an apparent suicide, a Highlands County Sheriff's Office news release adds.

Wilkie was found unresponsive in his cell at approximately 2:20 a.m. Monday, the news release adds.

He was taken by emergency responders to a local medical facility where he was pronounced dead.

"Detectives responded to the jail and began a death investigation, which is the normal procedure under these circumstances," the news release states. "At this time the death looks to be an apparent suicide however the District 10 Medical Examiner is conducting an autopsy and an official cause of death will be forthcoming."

Once the death investigation is concluded, the sheriff's office's Internal Affairs Unit will begin an administrative review, the news release adds.

The mandatory review will evaluate all policies, standard operating procedures and protocols "to ensure a thorough assessment of the circumstances, immediate care and response provided to the inmate in this case. "

Sheriff Susan Benton said the family has been notified and "we are saddened for their loss.

She has personally known him since he was in middle school.

"One of our retired deputies spent much of his time as a school resource deputy helping Scott to get through some very difficult times as a youngster. As always, we will ensure a thorough review of the circumstances surrounding his death at which time the report will become public record." ..Source.. by Highlands Today

Dania Beach man kills girlfriend, hangs himself at Greenbelt Park, police say

Posted in Related Deaths

8-31-2012 Florida:

A man found hanging from a tree in Greenbelt Park on Sunday morning apparently first killed his girlfriend before turning to suicide, authorities said.

The body of Louise Attardi-Cramer, 50, dead from blunt force trauma, was discovered in her bedroom early Sunday, said Keyla Concepcion, a spokeswoman for the Broward Sheriff's Office.

About four hours later, Michael Kanuf, 49, was found by a couple taking a morning stroll through a secluded area of the park adjacent to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Concepcion said.

Police say Kanuf left a note outside a relative's home admitting to the crime and saying that he was going to commit suicide.

Man Arrested in Clay County Sting Found Dead in Home

4-14-2012 Florida:

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A man accused of trying to solicit sex online from a 14-year-old is dead, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

A neighbor called 911 after finding 49-year-old Steven Earl Marshall dead in his home Wednesday morning, and when officers got to the scene they called for a rescue unit who confirmed that Marshall was dead.

Marshall's death is currently being investigated as undetermined, according to JSO Public Information Officer Melissa Bujeda

Investigators said the Bank of America employee, who was arrested in a Clay County sting operation, met a girl, who later turned out to be a detective, and had illicit conversations with her.

Those conversations were redacted from the police report, but the report does say that Marshall arranged to pay the girl $350 in exchange for sex.

Marshall drove to the agreed upon meeting location off of Highway 17, the CCSO report says, and when officers arrested him they said they found $380 in cash and several condoms in Marshall's pocket. ..Source.. by Jessika Lewis

Escambia Bay body identified

3-19-2012 Florida:

A preliminary identification has been made regarding the body boaters discovered Saturday morning in Escambia Bay.

Investigators used a GPS ankle monitor to tentatively identify the body found as the remains of Patrick Willingham, 29, of Pensacola.

According to Sgt. Scott Haines with the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, Willingham was on a GPS monitor through State Probation in Escambia County as he was a register sex offender.

Willingham, who had been reported missing to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office on Dec. 22 of last year by his family.

Officers with the Florida Highway Patrol discovered Willingham’s abandoned vehicle just east of the 17-mile marker on the Escambia Bay Bridge, Dec. 21.

According to Haines, Willingham’s GPS monitor last transmitted on Dec. 20, at 9 a.m. from the top of the Escambia Bay Bridge.

State Probation received a notification that Willingham had travelled too far from his base unit and the monitor could not be tracked.

No foul play is suspected in Willingham’s death, according to Haines, but the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office is continuing its investigation.

The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit checked the area with boats on Dec. 22 and the Florida Wildlife Commission checked the waterways on Dec. 28, but both searches were met with negative results.

According to Haines, individuals testing a boat discovered the body floating in Escambia Bay around 11:30 a.m.

The boaters, who were not identified by Haines, remained on the scene until units from Avalon Fire and Rescue, Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office and Lifeguard Ambulance responded to the scene.

Just before 3 p.m. members of Avalon Fire and Rescue, Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, and the Florida District 1 Medical Examiners Office left Archie Glover Boat Ramp to recover the body.

A positive identification of the body will be done through further analysis of the remains according to Haines.

According to Haines, the body appeared to have been in the bay for a lengthy period of time.

A fisherman, who would not give his name, said he and a fishing partner caught a couple of red fish early Saturday morning near piling 90. Later Saturday morning they returned to the piling to catch more fish when a boat informed them about it being a crime scene.

Despite the investigation, the Archie Glover Boat Ramp was busy with boats being launched for fishing and boating excursions.

"The fog was really intense this morning," said A.J. Ward of Pace, who was fishing with friends Saturday morning. "The fog finally lifted around 11 a.m., but we were back and forth across the bay between the bridge and the train tracks and didn't see anything all morning.

"Early on it was like our own private lake since visibility in some spots was limited to 20 yards and 100 yards in others since the fog was so thick.” ..Source.. by Santa Fosa Press