Suitcase killer Sarah Boone shows no emotion as jury finds her guilty of second-degree murder
Sarah Boone has been found guilty of manslaughter after her boyfriend, Jorge Torres, was found “stiff and purple” in a suitcase.
Boone, 47, of Winter Park, Florida, is on trial in the 2020 death of her boyfriend.
During her sentencing, Boone remained emotionless as Judge Kraynick read the guilty verdict. Her attorney James Owens said outside the courthouse that Boone was “in shock.”
Sarah Boone, 47, has been found guilty of manslaughter in the death of her boyfriend
Jorge Torres, 42, was found dead in 2020 after being zipped into a suitcase by his girlfriend Boone
Before the trial, Boone had rejected a plea deal for 15 years in prison for manslaughter.
State’s Attorney Andrew Bain said, “This is a most gruesome murder… Today, justice was served with the conviction of Sarah Boone.”
Boone had claimed the couple had played a drunken game of hide and seek, with Torres willingly getting into the suitcase.
On Tuesday, Boone testified, “I looked over and saw him in the trunk. I zipped it up. We thought it was funny and joked about the fact that it was small enough to fit in the suitcase.”
Boone told the court how she hit her boyfriend’s hand with a baseball bat to stop him from getting out and withdrawing his hand
Boone demonstrated the chilling way she zipped her friend into the suitcase
Boone had taken two videos of Torres trapped in the suitcase, in which he was lying around and can be heard screaming “I can’t breathe” as she laughed.
In the videos you can hear her say: ‘Yes, that’s what you do when you strangle me… Oh, this is what I feel when you cheat on me… For everything you’ve done to me, f*** you stupid.”
Boone had claimed that she did not release him because Torres had tried to escape by force and that he was angry, saying she was “always in fear.”
She told the court: ‘His hand started to come through, so I shook the suitcase to try to get his hand back in. I told him don’t do this to me again.’
Boone then went upstairs to go to sleep before waking up the next morning to find Torres “stiff and purple” with blood pouring from his mouth.
It was later determined that Torres died due to positional asphyxia.
During the 911 call to police, Boone was heard telling an emotionless story about what happened.
When asked about the nature of her emergency, she had said calmly, “My friend is dead.”
She is expected to be sentenced on December 2.