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Mordenti found guilty - again

The verdict in the 1989 murder case ends an odyssey that resulted in three trials.

By CANDACE RONDEAUX
Published August 16, 2005

TAMPA - Michael Mordenti was going to leave it all far behind. He was going to move to Alaska, start a new life. The murder, the appeals, the years on death row would be miles and miles away.

He was this close to freedom four months ago, but then the jury couldn't decide. He hoped this time it would be different, that jurors in his third trial would see his side.

They didn't.

On Monday, a jury convicted Mordenti of murdering Thelma Royston in her Odessa horse barn on June 7, 1989. The guilty verdict ended a 16-year odyssey that resulted in three trials and eventually eliminated Mordenti's earlier death sentence.

"Justice took a while, but it happened," said prosecutor Pam Bondi.

The verdict came nine months after the Florida Supreme Court ordered a retrial for Mordenti after ruling that prosecutors withheld crucial evidence during his first trial in 1991. The jury in Mordenti's third trial reached its decision in a little more than four hours. That's about half the time it took the jury to deadlock during Mordenti's second trial in May.

But the case appeared to be just as puzzling to jurors this time around. About a half-hour before the verdict was delivered Monday, jurors asked a court reporter to reread the testimony of two Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies who said Mordenti's ex-wife, Gail Milligan, told them Mordenti had shot Royston in the head.

The deputies said Milligan gave them details about the murder that no one but those involved could have known only after she asked them whether she would be granted immunity from prosecution. The jury's request to hear that testimony again briefly raised hopes for Mordenti's supporters that he might be acquitted this time.

"I just thought with that question they would let him go this time," said Mordenti's girlfriend, Theresa Ballard.

Instead, Mordenti, 64, was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. He faces life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years. He has already served 14 years, which means a prison parole board could free him after he serves 11 more years.

It appeared that it was the words of his ex-wife that sent him back to prison. Last week, Milligan repeated what she has said all along - that Mordenti agreed to kill Thelma Royston, 54, as part of a murder-for-hire scheme concocted by the victim's husband, Larry Royston. Milligan said she approached Mordenti about the murder after Larry Royston said he'd pay $10,000 for someone to kill his wife.

"Larry Royston put in his order, and this defendant delivered the goods," said prosecutor Scott Harmon. "Without mercy, without hesitation, without remorse, he murdered Thelma Royston."

After the murder, Mordenti asked for an extra $7,000, Milligan said. He told her the extra money would cover the cost of hiring a second person who helped him the night Thelma Royston was killed and who later dumped the car used during the murder at the U.S.-Mexico border, Milligan said.

Larry Royston committed suicide in 1991.

During the weeklong trial, Mordenti's attorney, Marty McClain, tried to undercut Milligan's testimony. He pointed out that Milligan approached several people about Larry Royston's proposition before she turned to Mordenti.

Although Milligan, 56, repeatedly denied having had any romantic ties to the slain woman's husband, McClain accused her of lying about her relationship with Larry Royston. McClain said she agreed to arrange the murder because Larry Royston was rich and she was in dire financial straits.

"Can you believe her - the woman who needs money more and who says, "What's in it for me'?" McClain asked the jury during closing statements Monday.

Prosecutors gave Milligan immunity after she agreed to tell them what she knew about the murder. She told them Larry Royston had approached her about the murder scheme during a business lunch at her house in April 1989.

Mordenti's girlfriend and others said Monday that they were appalled that the jury believed Milligan's story.

Monday's verdict is not likely to be the last time the courts hear from Mordenti. His family and friends say they plan an appeal.

"We'll hang in there and do it again," Ballard said.

--Candace Rondeaux can be reached at 813 226-3337 or rondeaux@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 16, 2005, 01:28:10]