Andrew Allred was sentenced to death by the State of Florida for two murders
According to court documents Andrew Allred was upset that his girlfriend Tiffany Barwick had broken up with him and was not reportedly romantically involved with his best friend Michael Ruschack
Andrew Allred would go over to Tiffany Barwick home and would shoot and kill her and Michael Ruschack
Andrew Allred would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
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Where Is Andrew Allred Now
Andrew Allred is currently incarcerated at Union Correctional Institution
Andrew Allred Case
The penalty phase was held September 22-24, 2008.2 Because Andrew Allred pleaded guilty, the State presented evidence regarding the murders to establish a basis for aggravating factors, after which the defense presented mitigation testimony.
On August 25, 2007, Andrew Allred celebrated his twenty-first birthday with a party at his family’s home in Oviedo. A number of people attended, including his best friend Michael Ruschak and Allred’s live-in girlfriend, Tiffany Barwick. Allred and Barwick had dated for about a year and lived together for the last several months. The relationship with Barwick, however, came to an abrupt and public end at the birthday party. When Barwick told Allred she “wanted her stuff back,” Allred went to the room they shared, gathered her belongings, and began throwing them over the property’s fence.3 Someone called the police, who upon arrival ordered Allred to stop but did not arrest him.
A few days later, Andrew Allred bought a Springfield XP .45 caliber handgun. Because of the legal waiting period, however, he did not take possession of it until September 7. On that day, he used pictures of Barwick for target practice and subsequently emailed Barwick a photo of the bullet-riddled pictures that were hanging on the wall of his room.
Witness testimony and digital messaging indicated that in the days shortly before the murders, Andrew Allred discovered that-subsequent to the breakup-Ruschak and Barwick had sexual intercourse. Allred became angry and sent threatening messages to his “ex-best friend” and his ex-girlfriend. He also discussed his feelings with friend Michael Siler. In an instant message exchange with Siler on September 23, Allred stated, “I pretty much just need to start killing people.” The next day, September 24, 2007, the day of the murders, Allred specifically threatened the lives of Barwick and Ruschak. In an instant message chat with Siler in the morning, Allred stated, “I’m pretty much gonna kill him ․ Ruschak ․ and her.” In an electronic conversation with victim Ruschak on that same day, Allred told him, “If [I] see you again, [I] will kill you, and yes that is a threat.” Finally, Allred and Barwick engaged in a heated and lengthy computer exchange on the day of the murder. Allred informed Barwick that he had hacked into her computer, changed the passwords, deleted files, and sent emails to people on her contacts list. He also transferred all of the funds in her bank account to pay her credit card debt. Calling her a “whore” because of her relationship with Ruschak, Allred said he could not forgive her for that and threatened, “[I]f, I ever see [Ruschak] again I will kill him.”
Andrew Allred was fired from his job instructing on the use of computer software on the day of the murders. That evening, he and Siler went to dinner at a local restaurant. They talked about work and other subjects, but Allred seemed not to care about anything and often shrugged in response to questions. Allred drove Siler home about an hour later. Siler testified that as Allred left, the thought that Allred might be suicidal crossed his mind.
After dropping Siler off, Andrew Allred drove first to a grocery store and bought beer. Then he went home for a while, but he did not drink any of the beer. Later, knowing that Barwick would be with Ruschak, Allred contacted Ruschak, stating that he was coming to Ruschak’s house. Allred then picked up the .45 he bought for his birthday and went out to his truck.
At the time of the murders, Ruschak was living in the home of friend Eric Roberts at 100 Shady Oak Lane. A neighbor, Steve McCavour, testified that at approximately 10 p.m. on September 24, 2007, he saw a large black truck repeatedly crashing into a white car. He called 911 and observed the driver go to the front door of Roberts’ house, kick and bang on it, and then head around the house.
Roberts and roommate Ruschak had invited friends over that night for dinner and to watch a popular television program. Tiffany Barwick was living there temporarily, and the other guests present were Justin Kovacich, Philip Cammarata, Kathryn Cochran, and Charles Bateman. Soon after all the guests arrived, Ruschak told the group that he had just received a message from Allred stating that he was coming over. Ruschak suggested calling Allred’s mother to see if Allred had left home and someone suggested calling the police, but neither call was made. The message that Andrew Allred was coming over, however, put Barwick “in full panic mode.”
Soon thereafter, witnesses sitting in the living room heard a loud noise outside the house, which Cochran testified sounded “like a mortar going off.” Ruschak, who was in the kitchen at the front of the house, looked out the window and announced that Allred had arrived. Ruschak then quickly locked the front door just before Allred banged loudly on it, yelling, “[L]et me in.”
When no one opened the door, Andrew Allred went to the back of the house, where the guests had assembled in the living room. He banged on the sliding glass door, and Barwick ran up the hall to a bathroom near the front of the house. The glass door suddenly shattered when Allred fired a shot into it. He walked into the house, holding his gun. He recognized all of the people standing before him, but he said nothing. The people present began to scream and look for an escape route. Together, Cammarata and Kovacich ran up the hallway to the front door, unlocked it, and fled as they heard gunshots. Kovacich then called 911.
Andrew Allred saw Ruschak peer around the corner from the kitchen, and Allred fired a shot up the hallway in his direction. Allred walked past Roberts, who had just come down the hallway from the front door, and went directly to the kitchen, where he shot Ruschak several times. At this point, Roberts grabbed Allred from behind and asked Allred what he was doing. Allred struggled with Roberts, telling him to let go. When Roberts did not release him, Allred pointed the gun downward and fired a shot that hit Roberts’ right leg. During this struggle, Bateman ran out the shattered back door and into the woods, where he called 911. Realizing he could escape the same way, Roberts let go of Allred and ran to a neighbor’s house. When his neighbors opened their door, Roberts asked them to call 911 and soon heard Allred drive off in his truck. Roberts realized he had been shot when his neighbors pointed to the blood on his pants.
At this point, only Barwick and Cochran remained alive in the house with Andrew Allred. Barwick was in the hall bathroom at the front of the house, where she fled when Allred first entered. Standing in the bathtub, Barwick called 911. At the beginning of the call, Barwick tried to provide the 911 dispatcher with the necessary information. However, as the gunshots sounded in the background, she began to scream and hyperventilate. Finally, the line went dead. In his confession, Allred recounted that after he gained his release from Roberts, he entered the bathroom. Then, without saying a word, he fired multiple shots into Barwick. She collapsed in the tub and died.
While hidden in the master bathroom, Cochran heard the others yelling and running, and she heard the gunshots. Finally, she heard Barwick’s screaming, followed by more gunshots and then silence. Soon, Roberts returned to the house. He saw Ruschak lying face down in the front doorway and then found Cochran still hiding in the bathroom at the back of the house. Roberts told her that Allred was gone. The police arrived shortly thereafter.
After leaving the crime scene, appellant called 911. He reported that he had killed two people and threatened to commit suicide. When Deputy Sheriff David Kohn arrived at Allred’s home, Allred was standing at the end of his driveway near the road, with a cell phone in his hand and his gun on the ground. Upon initial contact, Allred told the officer, “I’m the guy you’re looking for.” After the officer secured him, Allred asked “if the people were dead,” but the officer told him he could not provide that information. Then, in the patrol car, Allred stated, “I knew I killed someone, I shot fourteen times.”
Allred was turned over to the Oviedo Police Department, and he was interviewed by two detectives after he was advised of his Miranda 4 rights. In his confession, Allred largely admitted the above factual description as to the actual murders. He admitted firing fourteen shots during the incident, emptying the clip, but he denied sending any threatening messages. He stated that he bought the .45 pistol only because he “could” after he turned twenty-one. Although he usually left his gun at home unless he was going to target practice, he gave no reason for taking it with him that night. He acknowledged using Barwick’s picture for target practice earlier in the month, but he claimed that he did not think of killing her until the night of the murders. He denied, however, that he went to the house that night with the intent to shoot Barwick and Ruschak and stated that he went there solely to ram her car. He explained that he killed Ruschak because his “ex-best friend” was “an asshole” who sided with Barwick in their breakup, but he gave no reason for the murder of Barwick. Allred did not speak to either victim before he shot them.5
The medical examiner, Dr. Predrag Bulic, performed the autopsies on the victims. He testified that Ruschak had four gunshot wounds but there was no way to determine the order in which the shots were fired. Two wounds were nonlethal. One wound was potentially lethal if not treated within an hour. That bullet passed through the vertebral column, nicked the vena cava, and exited through the upper abdomen. Finally, the cause of death was a shot that entered the middle chest and travelled through the sternum, heart, and left lung.
Barwick had six gunshot wounds, and again the medical examiner was unable to determine the order in which the rapid shots were fired. Four of the wounds were nonlethal. The fifth gunshot wound would have been lethal if not treated quickly; the bullet collapsed a lung. The sixth wound, however, was immediately lethal. That bullet traveled diagonally through her left lung, heart, diaphragm, abdomen, and liver.
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