Man Found Dead In Car Was Sex Offender

8-3-2010 Florida:

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The man found shot to death Sunday night in a vehicle parked near a Westside park was a registered sex offender who was released from prison less than two years ago.

Police said the body of 35-year-old Isaac Bradley was found in a vehicle in Melvin Park, off Jade Drive West. Homicide detectives have not released details, but did say at the time they did not have a suspect in the case.

Florida Department of Corrections records show Bradley had served three sentences in state prison in the past decade on various crimes, including lewd and lascivious battery on a child in 2005.

Bradley was listed as a sexual predator on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement sex offender database.

As of last month, Bradley's registered address was near the intersection of Lake Shore Boulevard and Park Street -- less than five miles from where his body was found.

Anyone with information about the victim or any suspicious activity in the park Sunday night is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS. Information leading to an arrest could earn the caller a cash reward. ..Source.. News4jax.com

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Man Arrested In Melvin Park Shooting Death

9-29-2010:

35-Year-Old Found Shot To Death Inside Vehicle Last Month

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Police have arrested a man in connection with the shooting death of another man on the Westside last month.

Jacksonville police said Alvoid Hartley shot and killed 35-year-old Isaac Bradley, who was found dead in his car at Melvin Park on Aug. 2.

Police said Hartley met Bradley, robbed him and shot him several times. Police said the two men knew each other.

Investigators said the arrest was made as the result of witnesses coming forward. ..Source.. by News4Jax.com

FL- Sex offender killed outside game arcade

11-18-2008 Florida:

A registered sex offender from North Miami was shot and killed outside a video game arcade in Lake Worth.

A North Miami man shot and mortally wounded Sunday night outside a children's amusement center in Lake Worth was a registered sex offender, according to state records.

Edner Eustache, 27, was shot at least twice in the ''upper part of his body'' at about 8:30 p.m. after a fist fight outside Fun Depot, 2003 10th Ave. North, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said.

Eustache was flown to Delray Medical Center, where he died, said Teri Barbera, a sheriff's office spokeswoman.

Witnesses told deputies that three men were involved in the fight in the parking lot, and that two drove away in a white van and green car.

In February 2002, Eustache registered in Broward County as a sex offender who had assaulted a minor, according to Florida Department of Law Enforcement records.

In three arrests in Miami-Dade and Broward counties since December 2007, Eustache was charged with failure to obey state registration laws for sexual offenders. In the case of a Dec. 1 arrest by Miami-Dade police, he pleaded guilty to the charge, records show.

It was not immediately clear what Eustache was doing outside Fun Depot, where young people gather to play video games and laser tag.

Fun Depot general manager Eddie Naphan said he watched security camera footage Monday morning but did not see anyone who looked like the victim enter or leave the park's arcade in the hour before the shooting.

Naphan said the security cameras showed a car sitting by a trash bin in Fun Depot's parking lot.

''You can't see anything but headlights,'' he said.

As detectives paced outside Fun Depot, patrons continued to hit baseballs in the batting cages, which overlooked the crime scene.

''I've been around here for 20 years, and I can tell you we've never had an incident like this near this place,'' said Naphan, whose father opened Fun Depot in 1988.

Police asked anyone with information about the shooting to call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 800-458-8477.
..News Source.. by MICHAEL LaFORGIA, Palm Beach Post

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Man charged in 2008 slaying outside Fun Depot in Lake Worth

11-23-2009 Florida:

Three men, including a registered sex offender, drive from Broward County to a Lake Worth amusement park for a robbery, according to authorities.

Their intended victim, in a struggle, kills one of the assailants with his own gun.

The other two return to Broward, where they kidnap their dead colleague's girlfriend and her 3-month-old daughter and are arrested.

Now a year later, under the state's "felony murder" law, one of them has been brought to Palm Beach County, charged with his alleged accomplice's death.

The second is in the Broward County Jail, awaiting transfer on the same charges.

Ralph Gutierrez, 29, of Lauderdale Lakes, was booked Wednesday afternoon into the Palm Beach County Jail on a warrant issued March 9, documents show.

He is charged with second-degree felony murder with a firearm and attempted armed robbery in the Nov. 16, 2008, death of Edner Eustache, 27, of North Miami at the Fun Depot.

Gutierrez was transferred from the Broward County Jail, where he has been since his arrest the day of the slaying.

The second defendant is not identified in a Palm Beach County Sheriff's report.

But Broward documents identify him as Dante Coats, 24, of Parkland, and confirm he faces the same Palm Beach County charges as Gutierrez.

A bond hearing for Gutierrrez is set for Friday before Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Karen Miller at the main courthouse.

According to the Palm Beach County sheriff's affidavit, Gutierrez, Eustache and the third person, Coats, came from Broward County, driving the company van of Coats' father.

Aaron Bazan, 27, of West Palm Beach, told investigators Gutierrez, a distant cousin, called to say he was on the way to the Fun Depot, at 2003 10th Ave. North.

Bazan said when he met Gutierrez near a dumpster outside the park, he started to shake hands, but Gutierrez grabbed his hand and the other two men stepped out.

One, armed with a handgun -- the report doesn't say which — demanded Bazan's wallet.

Bazan said that as the two men tried to rifle his pockets, he got hold of the gun and he and Eustache struggled and went down.

The gun went off and Bazan crawled out from under Eustache, ran to his car, and drove off with his girlfriend, the report said.

Eustache, struck twice in the upper body, was taken to Delray Medical Center, where he died the next morning.

Gutierrez and Coats drove back to Broward County, where they rifled Eustache's hotel room and demanded his girlfriend say where he might have money.

They then grabbed the girlfriend, Darline Gabriel, and her three-month-old daughter Cally, and forced them to another hotel, saying they feared authorities would track them at the first one.

But the woman was able to call the front desk and have the clerk call police.

The Palm Beach County report does not say if the child was Eustache's daughter.

Inquiries to Plantation police for details were unsuccessful.

Broward prosecutors say Gutierrez and Coats were each charged with two counts of armed kidnapping and one of attempted robbery with a firearm, and Coats with carrying a concealed firearm.

Gutierrez later confessed to the Fun Depot robbery, the Palm Beach County report said.

Attempts to reach Bazan today were unsuccessful.

According to state law, if someone dies during the commission of a felony, any of the people who perpetrated the original crime can be charged in his death.

Jesse Watson, a manager at the park, said today he could not comment because the general manager was out of town.

According to Florida Department of Law Enforcement Records, in February 2002, Eustache registered in Broward County as a sex offender who had assaulted a minor. ..Source.. by Eliot Kleinberg

Man Charged With Resident's Murder

9-4-2006 Florida:

A man accused of killing an elderly Pasco resident was arrested Sunday. Luis A. Rivera, 23, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of William C. Medley, 72, according to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office. Investigators said Rivera killed Medley during a robbery at the elderly man's house, 21212 Franklin Drive in Lacoochee.

Medley, a registered sex offender, died from injuries consistent with knife wounds and blunt trauma, the sheriff's office said. Investigators said he died between Tuesday and Wednesday. His body was found Thursday after a friend, who hadn't heard from Medley for several days, went by his home to check on him. The door was unlocked and Medley's body was found inside on the floor, the sheriff's office said.

Medley was serving 14 years of probation after he was convicted of eight counts of lewd and lascivious assault on a child younger than 16 in Hillsborough County in 1996. The sheriff's office said Medley's death appeared to have nothing to do with those crimes. Rivera was arrested by Tampa police in his apartment complex at 8923 N. 40th St. about 1:30 p.m. after authorities received a tip. Rivera has been arrested before, his most recent being in February on robbery and burglary charges. Disposition of the case was withheld by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

On Saturday, a man contacted the sheriff's office with information about Medley's death. According to the man, Rivera showed him Medley's Dodge Dakota pickup, which was parked behind a Hess gas station. ..more.. : by MARI ROBYN JONES

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Neighbors have two views of victim
Some say he was a great guy. Others aren't surprised he was killed. Many knew he was a sex offender.
LACOOCHEE - Neighbors who knew an elderly Lacoochee man found dead in his home this week painted conflicting portraits of him Friday.

William C. Medley, 72, was last seen Tuesday night. His Dodge Dakota pickup was last seen Wednesday, authorities said. A neighbor went to check on him Thursday at the house where he lived alone, 21212 Franklin Drive. After the neighbor called 911, paramedics arrived, and then authorities from the Sheriff's Office. Medley had been killed.

Investigators blocked off the white wood house. They walked around the cluttered front porch and the yard full of cars, trucks, RVs, a tow truck and a trailer - signs of Medley's work as a mechanic.

Some neighbors were shocked to hear that someone had killed him.

Kim Marsella described Medley as a sweet, considerate man who used to check up on her after she suffered a stroke.

He gave her 15-year-old son, Michael Haas, a dirt bike and let the teen use it when he came to visit Medley. They called him "Mr. Bill."

"You couldn't have liked him more," said Marsella's mother, Norma Haas.

But many in the neighborhood, including Haas and Marsella, knew that Medley was a convicted sex offender. Marsella always went with her son when he visited Medley to use the bike.

In 1989, Medley was convicted of four counts of a lewd and lascivious act with a child under age 16, records show. He was incarcerated until 1995, when he was released and placed on probation, said Jo Ellyn Rackleff, a spokeswoman with the Florida Department of Corrections. He violated his parole in 1996 by leaving the state, and he was to remain on probation until 2011, she said.

Some saw only Medley's past.

Authorities aren't saying how Medley died, but in the end, neighbor Greg Odom said, "He got what he deserved."

Odom, 44, said he is especially offended by crimes against children since a niece of his was killed at age 12. "It was just a matter of time. ... I'm glad he's dead."

David Glentzer, 49, who lives on the block, said he was not surprised that Medley was killed. "When you play with fire, you're going to get burned," he said.

Medley, a skinny man often seen smoking a cigar, was known for working on cars. Dozens of vehicles filled his front and back yards.

He was also known for carrying around cash.

"He carried a lot of money on him," Glentzer said, speculating as to a motive for his death. "Everyone around here knew it."

Medley had been a frequent victim of petty crime.

Sheriff's spokesman Doug Tobin said Medley had filed several crime reports in recent years. In May 2005, someone broke into his home. In March 2004, someone broke into one of his cars. In 2003, a car was stolen, he told authorities. And in 2002, a pressure washer was taken from his driveway.

Wilfredo Santiago, 42, a neighbor who is a mechanic and who used to buy car parts from Medley, said Medley was targeted by thieves because he kept valuable auto parts, such as tire rims, on his property.

Santiago moved into the neighborhood about 10 years ago and had known Medley ever since. He said many in the area misjudged Medley. He was really quiet and helpful, Santiago said.

"To me, he was a good man," he said.

The Sheriff's Office has not released information regarding a suspect or a motive for the crime. Authorities are looking for Medley's stolen truck, a 1995 silver Dodge Dakota pickup with Florida license plate X04-VJK. Anyone with information should call the Sheriff's Office at 1-800-854-2862, ext. 501. ..more.. by Gina Pace

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FL- Man pleads guilty to killing child molester
2-19-2009 Florida:

DADE CITY -- Luis Angel Rivera, accused of killing a convicted sex offender in Lacoochee in 2006, pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Authorities said Rivera (pictured), 26, killed 72-year-old William Medley in a robbery sometime between Aug. 27 and 31, 2006, at Medley's Lacoochee home, then stole his pickup. Medley was on probation at the time for his conviction in 1989 on four counts of a lewd and lascivious act with a child under age 16 in 1980s. He was incarcerated until 1995.

He worked on cars in his yard, keeping cash and valuable parts around. Authorities said he was often the victim of thefts. He died of knife wounds and blunt trauma.

Rivera faced a first-degree murder charge. He pleaded to second-degree murder in a deal negotiated with prosecutors. ..News Source.. by Molly Moorhead, Times staff writer