Killer Sarah Boone ‘shocked’ jury found her guilty despite video showing her trap boyfriend in suitcase

Convicted murderer Sarah Boone was left ‘shocked’ after a jury found her guilty of murdering her boyfriend, despite a video showing her locking him in a suitcase.

Boone, 47, of Winter Park, Florida, was found guilty Friday of first-degree murder in the February 2020 death of her boyfriend Jorge Torres, 42.

Her attorney, James Owens, who “strongly” encouraged his client to consider a settlement, said this NewsNation she was ‘shocked’ by the jury’s decision.

“She and I didn’t expect to be found guilty, you know, we felt that maybe the jury would convict her of a lesser charge,” Owens said. ‘She was in shock. They found her guilty as charged.”

During her trial, gruesome cellphone video showed Torres in a large blue suitcase, begging for his life, as Boone giggled.

Jorge Torres, 42, was found dead in luggage after Boone zipped him in during a wine-filled game of hide-and-seek, she told police

Convicted killer recorded two clips of herself laughing and taunting Torres as he begged for help in suitcase (pictured), prosecutor’s evidence revealed

She told police she zipped it into the bag during a wine hide-and-seek game at their home.

However, footage from her phone shows him thrashing around in the suitcase and telling her: “I can’t fucking breathe” as she shouts at him.

The convicted killer recorded two clips of herself laughing and taunting Torres as he begged for help, prosecutors’ evidence showed.

Torres repeatedly called for Boone and she responded with a laugh, “For everything you did to me, f**k you, stupid.”

“I can’t fucking breathe, baby, seriously,” Torres said.

“Yes, that’s what you do when you strangle me,” Boone replied.

Torres kept calling for her help, pleading that he couldn’t breathe, and Boone told him, “That’s how I feel when you cheat on me.”

Her attorney, James Owens, “strongly” encouraged his client to consider a plea deal that would have seen her serve only fifteen years behind bars for manslaughter, but she declined. (photo: Boone and Owens in court on October 14)

“I can’t breathe, Sarah,” Torres said. Boone replied, “Then you should probably keep your mouth shut.”

The videos showed two different angles of the suitcase: one with the front of the bag facing up next to a slipper and another with the front on the ground.

Interrogation footage showed investigators wondering how Torres suffocated in the suitcase, which Boone said was an accident as they drunkenly played a game of hide-and-seek.

Boone said she and Torres were painting pictures, completing a puzzle and drinking Woodbridge Chardonnay when they decided to play the game.

Boone said she hid in the shower upstairs, but Torres never went upstairs to look for her.

When she got downstairs, she found Torres in the living room, and together they decided to let her zip up Torres in the suitcase, and she claimed she left two of his fingers sticking out of the zipper.

She initially pleaded not guilty, rejecting a plea deal that would have given her only 15 years in prison for manslaughter.

When she came downstairs that day, she found Torres in the living room, and together they decided to let her zip Torres into the suitcase, and she claimed she left two of his fingers sticking out of the zipper.

Boone demonstrates how she zipped Torres into the bag during her trial before the jury

Boone spent much of her time representing herself in court after eight previous attorneys were fired or fired.

After several complaints about her representation, Boone signed her own ad for an attorney, reading “Prisoner Wants Attorney.” On the hand-drawn advertisement she wrote: ‘Looking for a great challenge? Ready for your close-up on national television? Are you diligent with an edge?’

“Show the WORLD who you are with your original creativity, extraordinary expertise and confident ingenuity,” the ad continued, ending with the words “epic opportunities await” and “invest in the oppressed.”

During her trial, Boone also made a daring request, which was denied, for professional hair and makeup while she was on trial.

Boone had alleged that her boyfriend abused her. She told the court that Torres threatened to make her “unrecognizable” or she would have “lost my life.”

A former neighbor testified that she saw marks on Boone’s arm and neck, and Boone would discuss the abuse during a conversation, reported Orlando news 6.

She testified that she did not release him because he had tried to escape by force and that he was angry, saying she was “always in fear.”

“His hand started coming through, so I shook the suitcase to try to get his hand back in.” I told him stop doing this to me,” she told the court.

“He always told me he would make me unrecognizable or I would have lost my life,” she added before explaining that she used a baseball bat to put his hand back in and hit his hand.

Under cross-examination, she admitted that she wanted Torres to know how she felt living with his alleged abuse.

Boone then went upstairs and “passed out” before waking up the next morning to find Torres still in the suitcase.

A detective had pointed out to her that she had refused to release him while he was “begging for you to release him,” to which she replied, “I didn’t mean to.” I’ll lay my hand on the Bible. It wasn’t intentional.’

During the 911 call, which was played during the trial, she described him as “stiff and purple” and with blood pouring from his mouth. It was later determined that Torres died due to positional asphyxia.

During the conversation, Boone was heard telling an emotionless story about what happened.

When asked about the nature of her emergency, she said calmly, “My friend is dead.”

The 911 operator then coached Boone through CPR as she protested that she had already tried and asked them to “hurry up.”

She told the court she was ‘stunned’ and could not describe the ‘feeling of fear’ when she discovered his body.

According to the arrest report, the autopsy showed Torres had scratches on his back, a large scratch on his neck, a cut lip, bruises on his left shoulder and bruises on his forehead due to “blunt force trauma.” Fox 35.

Boone was arrested in 2018 on a battery charge for the strangulation of her boyfriend, and Torres was charged with battery stemming from an alcohol-fueled altercation in their home.

Both Boone and Torres had a history of violence. She was arrested in 2018 on a battery charge following Torres’ attempted strangulation, and he was charged with battery caused by an alcohol-fueled altercation in their home.

According to the affidavit, Boone put her hands around his neck in an attempt to strangle him, prompting Torres to kick her.

A year later, Torres was arrested twice in one month on battery charges.

As closing arguments concluded Friday, Boone’s attorneys requested a mistrial after members of Torres’ family walked out while the images of him zipped into the suitcase were shown.

The motion was denied.

When asked, Attorney Owen said Boone was “convinced in her mind” that she did not intend to kill Torres and that “this was merely a circumstance.”

He continued, “I think she felt bad about any murder conviction or about pleading in any kind of murder that she was somehow criminally responsible for Jorge’s death, and I think that made her mentality.’

After she was found guilty of the bizarre murder, State’s Attorney Andrew Bain said: “This is a most gruesome murder… Today, justice was served with the sentencing of Sarah Boone.”

After four years of legal disputes, unforeseeable setbacks and several pre-trial hearings, Boone is expected to receive her sentencing on December 2.