Jonathan Arce Murders Neighbor

Jonathan Arce was a fourteen year old from Florida when he murdered his elderly neighbor

According to court documents Jonathan Arce would break into his neighbor’s home and when he was interrupted by the elderly woman he would proceed to stab her more than a hundred times causing her death.

Jonathan Arce would be arrested and later convicted of the murder

Jonathan Arce was initially sentenced to life without parole however it was later reduced to seventy five years

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Jonathan Arce Guilty Of Murder

Jurors took only an hour Friday to find an Oviedo teenager guilty of first-degree murder in the stabbing and bludgeoning death of his 68-year-old neighbor. Jonathan Arce, 16, was immediately sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for the slaying of retired librarian June Stillman Because he was 14 at the time of the slaying, that was the only sentence possible. The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that no one under the age of 17 should be given the death penalty.

Arce, who had spent much of the weeklong trial with his head bowed, showed no emotion. He did not testify. In fact, defense attorney Landon Miller offered no evidence. He had listed a Maitland psychologist, Michael K. Johnson, as a witness but did not call him. Johnson would have testified that Arce had an IQ of 70, Miller said. Although the trial is over, key questions remain: Why did Arce kill Stillman, his neighbor who lived two doors down, and why was the attack so brutal? What made a slight boy who stood just 4 feet 9 inches tall so angry that he left Stillman with 115 wounds, more than 80 of them cuts and punctures? Stillman bled to death on her garage floor March 10, 1998.

Later that morning, Arce was discovered behind the wheel of her Toyota Corolla, trying futilely to back out of her driveway. Police found the victim’s money, including a 1925 silver dollar, in his pockets. They found her jewelry and blank checks in his house. Two knives and several garden tools, including an ax, a hoe, a shovel and shears, many with blood on them, were found scattered near the body. Medical Examiner Sara Irrgang said it was impossible to say which ones had been used in the killing. The victim’s blood proved to be an effective weapon for prosecutors, who used DNA analysis and bloody shoeprints to prove that Arce was the only possible killer. A trail of blood indicated the attack started in the kitchen, then moved to the garage, where it appeared Stillman either touched or was pushed into three walls and may have twice tried to get outside.

After she pressed unsuccessfully against the main garage door, she circled back to a side door near her washer and dryer, said Leroy Parker, a crime scene expert with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. That door was covered with blood from someone pressing against it, Parker said. There also was a bloody smear on the doorjamb. That smear suggests Stillman may have gotten partway out the door but was dragged back inside, said Assistant State Attorney Charley Tabscott. “I knew my mother was a courageous person,” said daughter Beth McGreggor. “This just reinforces that.” Miller on Friday conceded that Arce was the killer.

However, he argued that the boy went into a killing “frenzy” and was guilty only of second-degree murder or manslaughter. A second-degree murder conviction would have sent Arce, whose only previous crime was skipping school, to prison for as little as 22 years. It is not clear now exactly what will happen to Arce, who has grown 4 inches since his arrest but is still a tiny 5 feet 3 and 110 pounds. He is being put on suicide watch at the Seminole County Jail. He will be transferred to a state prison in the next few weeks. Arce’s pastor, Hector Santiago of Mision Christiana Hispana, visited the defendant Thursday. “Spiritually he is strong,” Santiago said. “Sometimes he cries, but he’s clear in terms of whatever decision comes, he knows God is with him.” Asked if the boy had expressed any remorse, Santiago said, “The only thing he continues to say is that God has forgiven him.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-2000-08-26-0008260424-story.html