William Tulenko is a convicted killer who was sentenced to death in Florida for a prison murder
According to court documents William Tulenko was serving a length sentence for armed robbery and was due to stand trial for another prison murder in Santa Rosa County when he would murder his cellmate James Howze. At the time of his death Howze was serving time for a home invasion
William Tulenko would be charged in the death of James Howze and would later plead guilty
William Tulenko would ultimately be sentenced to death
William Tulenko Case
A man convicted of the first-degree murder of an inmate at the Charlotte Correctional Institution has been sentenced to death.
William Tulenko murdered James Lindsey Howze on February 29, 2024, when both men were incarcerated at the facility.
At the time of the murder, Tulenko was already incarcerated for an armed robbery in Hillsborough County and was pending trial for a murder in Santa Rosa County.
Tulenko had been planning the murder for several months since he was placed in a cell with Howze.
Tulenko pleaded guilty to the murder, and a penalty phase trial was held to determine whether he would receive a sentence of life in prison or the death penalty.
His execution date has not yet been set
William Tulenko News
State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
William Tulenko was charged with strangling fellow inmate James Howze to death.
This happened in February.
Tulenko already had another case pending for the death of a different inmate in another county.
Howze was serving time for homicide home invasion and also had a charge for an inmate death in another county.
“Due to the defendant’s prior history, it is highly likely we will seek the death penalty in this case,” said Fox during a press conference on Friday afternoon.
The state attorney’s office told WINK News they are not taking questions at this time since this is an active case.
