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Testimony obtained, trial begins
By CHASE SQUIRES © St. Petersburg Times, published March 26, 2001 DADE CITY -- After five years, three attorneys, repeated delays, hearings, theories and scientific reports, former pizza deliveryman Michael Peter Fitzpatrick is expected to go on trial for his life today. Fitzpatrick, 38, has said he is innocent of the murder charge against him and has been waiting for his day in court since his 1997 arrest. He got close in November. But halfway through the second day of jury selection, a surprise witness -- missing since the 1996 murder -- turned up in Indiana. Appointed defense attorney Bill Eble said the witness' testimony could clear Fitzpatrick and insisted the trial be delayed until he met with her. Jurors were sent home. Fitzpatrick went back to jail. Eble and prosecutor Phil Van Allen on Tuesday flew to Indiana to interview the witness, Cindy L. Young. They had to bring Fitzpatrick along so Young's testimony could be used in court even if she doesn't make it to this week's trial. Fitzpatrick is accused of killing Laura Lynn Romines, 28. Romines was found wandering, half-nude, along Parkway Boulevard in Land O'Lakes at about 3:45 a.m. Aug. 18, 1996. Her throat was slashed, and she had been the victim of rape and sexual torture. She died weeks later at a Tampa hospital. Prosecutors said her left breast had been punctured several times, she had been raped and sodomized, and she had burn marks on her genitals. Fitzpatrick was arrested in February of 1997 after Pasco County sheriff's deputies reported that they had interviewed about 200 people in Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and Colorado. "It was a real whodunit from the beginning," Pasco County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Charlie Calhoun told the Times in 1997. One nugget that proved vital was a security videotape taken from the 7-Eleven at 18902 N Dale Mabry Highway in Lutz. Romines was last seen at the store. The camera showed her leaving the store carrying a laundry basket, several bags of clothing and food, and a black backpack. Fitzpatrick is among 150 people who appear on about an hour's worth of the tape, Calhoun said. But Eble has raised questions about the evidence and the investigation. Under Eble's questioning last year, DNA expert Martin Tracey said DNA connects Fitzpatrick to evidence found on Romines' body. But he also said tissue lodged under Romines' fingernail did not come from Fitzpatrick and does not match anyone linked to the case. Eble said it belongs to an as-yet unidentified person: the real killer. Eble also grilled sheriff's deputies. Deputies admitted in court that they told Fitzpatrick as they were questioning him that they had satellite photos of him at the crime scene taken by Russian and Canadian satellites. Those photos didn't really exist. And a probation officer, again under Eble's questioning, admitted that he ordered Fitzpatrick to cooperate with the investigation -- even to submit to polygraph and blood tests -- if he wanted to stay out of prison. Fitzpatrick was on probation for hitting a man with a hammer during a tequila binge. A paramedic, William Arnold, testified that Romines told him at the scene that someone named Steve was responsible. For his part, Fitzpatrick told a judge at a November hearing that he didn't kill anyone. "I will take responsibility for things I've done," he said. "I won't take responsibility for someone else, especially with such a heinous crime." After this week's flight to Indiana to interview Eble's final witness, Van Allen, who is seeking the death penalty, said he sees no way the trial could be delayed. Eble agreed Friday. Then again, witness Young is due to fly here on Comair. The airline's pilots threatened to go on strike over the weekend if a dispute with pilots was not solved.
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From today's Pasco Times |
