Police: Death was part of plot

Jimm Underwood planned to kill former boss Eddie Gomez and then kill himself, authorities say.

By CHRISTOPHER GOFFARD, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 13, 2002

TAMPA -- When Jimm Underwood launched his scheme to kidnap former boss Eddie Gomez, authorities say, he intended it to end with two deaths: Gomez's and his own.

Underwood planned to kill Gomez and then kill himself, leaving ransom money to his wife and 2-year-old daughter, according to a suicide note found by detectives.

Those details emerged in court Friday as the Hillsborough State Attorney's Office argued to keep Underwood in jail without bail.

Police say Underwood, 35, donned a ski mask Wednesday and scaled the wall of the gated Cheval community in northwest Hillsborough, confronting Gomez and his wife at gunpoint.

Police say he forced Gomez into the trunk of Gomez's Acura and drove him to a Largo storage shed, where he shackled Gomez to the floor. Underwood also demanded that Gomez's wife, Cheryl, withdraw ransom money from a Tampa bank, police say.

Gomez escaped, and police tracked the Acura to the Pinellas Park Library, where they arrested Underwood. Underwood told police he was on his way to see his wife and daughter one last time. Detectives found the suicide note when they searched the Acura.

Gomez, 50, is the manager at Ferman Chevrolet in Brandon, where Underwood worked for nine months until last September. Underwood told authorities he blamed Gomez for the loss of his job as manager of the detail department.

Underwood faces charges of armed robbery, armed burglary, false imprisonment and carjacking. In arguing that Underwood should be held without bail, Assistant State Attorney Adam Gould said Underwood gave a confession and that he could receive life in prison if convicted.

Authorities say he addressed the suicide letter to his wife, and in it, he apologized to her.

Judge Walter Heinrich ordered Underwood held without bail. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office declined to say whether Underwood was on a suicide watch.

-- Christopher Goffard can be reached at (813) 226-3337 or goffard@sptimes.com.

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