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Rory Enrique CONDE
A.K.A.:
"The Tamiami Trail Strangler"
Classification:
Serial killer
Characteristics: Sex
anal with
corpses - Blamed
his split from his wife Carla as the catalyst for the killings
Status: Sentenced to death on March 7, 2000. Pleaded guilty
to the murder of five others and was sentenced to five consecutive
life terms without parole on April 5, 2001
Judge Issues Death Penalty to 'Tamiami Trail Strangler'
March 7, 2000
MIAMI (APBnews.com) -- A judge today sentenced to
death accused serial killer Rory Conde, the "Tamiami Trail
Strangler" who has allegedly killed six prostitutes since 1994,
authorities said.
Judge Jerald Bagley issued the death penalty to Conde
during a 9:30 a.m. hearing today after Conde's conviction nearly four
months ago in one of the slayings, the 1995 murder of 21-year-old Rhonda
Dunn.
Lawyers for Conde, a married, 34-year-old building-supply
salesman, had argued that he should be spared death because the killing
spree was the result of sexual abuse he suffered as a child at the hands
of his uncle.
Defense lawyer: 'His life fell apart'
In a court filing, the attorneys said the spree
started Sept. 17, 1994, when Conde encountered cross-dressing male
prostitute Lazaro Comesana. Conde's shock at discovering that Comesana
was man during their sexual encounter was such that he flashed back to
the abuse he suffered between ages 6 and 12, the lawyers said.
"His life fell apart when he went to a prostitute
who turned out to be a man," defense lawyer Jeffrey Fink said.
"In a very real sense, he was put on a track when he was abused as
a child that was impossible for him to turn away from anymore."
Bagley issued the death sentence without comment at
the hearing today. Assistant State Attorney Abraham Laeser, who tried
the case, declined comment.
Alleged six-month spree
Conde was found guilty in October of Dunn's murder,
the only one of six alleged slayings for which he has been tried.
The killing spree, which allegedly began in September
1994, lasted roughly six months. In addition to Dunn, who traded sex for
drugs in the Tamiami Trail area, and Comesana, other alleged victims
included Elisa Martinez, Charity Fay Nava, Wanda Cook Crawford and
Necole Schneider.
The alleged series of slayings was discovered when
neighbors heard banging on the walls from inside Conde's apartment and
called police, who found a woman there bound and gagged with duct tape.
An appeal of the ruling automatically will be filed
for Conde. No decision has yet been made on when or if he will be tried
for the other deaths.
Rory Conde
April 5, 2001 - Miami's "Tamiami Strangler" who
was sentenced to death for killing a prostitute pleaded guilty to the
murder of five others as part of a plea agreement. Rory Conde agreed to
the plea agreement and was sentenced by Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jerald
Bagley to five consecutive life terms without parole.
Rory CONDE
The Tamiami trail is the nickname given to the
final section of Highway 41 from Tampa through to Miami. It was
also the dumping ground of Rory Conde, given the moniker of the
Tamiami Strangler.
Six
victims were slain by the hands of the recently separated Conde, the
first being cross dressing male prostitute Lazaro Comesana. His body was
found on September 16th 1994, he had been strangled to death
and dumped at the roadside. Elisa Martinez was identified as victim
number 2 after she was also found strangled to death on October 8th
1994.
Victim number 3, Charity Nava, was found dead again just off the trail
on November 20th 1994, as with the other victims she had been
strangled. Charity’s killer had left his mark on her back, he had
written several taunting phrases including ‘Third’ and ‘if you can catch
me’. Wanda Crawford was added to the list after being recovered on
November 26th 1994. The fifth victim was identified as Necole
Schneider, the sixth Rhonda Dunn, both were found strangled on December
17th 1994 and January 12th 1995 respectively.
After Rhonda’s discovery Miami police had connected the six victims to
one unknown suspect via DNA analysis.
The
case took a dramatic turn when on June 19th 1995, frantic
banging could be heard from a house belonging to Rory Conde. Inside
officers found the gagged and bound Gloria Maestre. Gloria pointed out
her attacker via photos found in the house. Conde was arrested on June
24th 1995 at his Grandmother’s house in Hialeah.
During questioning, Conde confessed to the six murders and blamed his
split from his wife Carla as the catalyst for the killings. He explained
that he killed Lazaro after discovering, during sex, that the prostitute
was a man. In each of the six murders, Conde strangled his victim from
behind at his house, then performed anal sex on the dead body before
dumping their bodies on the Tamiami Trail. On July 12th 1995,
Conde was charged with 6 counts of first degree murder.
Conde faced separate trials for each murder, the first of which would be
for the murder of Rhonda Dunn. In October 1999, the jury heard Conde’s
confession and found him guilty. Judge Jerald Bagley concurred with the
jury’s recommendation and sentenced Conde to death.
In
April 2001, as part of a plea bargain, Conde pleaded guilty to the
remaining five murders, in return he was sentenced to 5 consecutive life
sentences. Conde would return to court on September 4th 2003 to find
that he had failed to get his death sentence, for the murder of Rhonda
Dunn, overturned.
CONDE, Rory (W/M)
DC# M25274
DOB: 06/14/65
Eleventh Judicial
Circuit, Dade County Case # 95-19816
Sentencing Judge: The
Honorable Jerald Bagley
Attorney, Trial: Jeffrey
Fink & J. Rafael Rodriguez – Special Assistant Public Defenders
Attorney, Direct Appeal:
Benjamin Waxman – Special Assistant Public Defender
Attorney, Collateral
Appeals: Gustavo Garcia-Montes – Registry
Date of Offense:
09/16/94 – 01/10/95
Date of Sentence:
03/07/00
Circumstances of
Offense:
On 01/13/95, Rory Conde
picked up a prostitute, Rhonda Dunn, and took her to his
apartment. After twice engaging in sexual relations, Dunn got
up to go to the bathroom. Conde followed her and began to
manually strangle her from behind. Dunn and Conde struggled and
fell to the floor, but Dunn eventually died from asphyxiation.
Conde disposed of her body by driving it to another location and
leaving it on the side of the road.
In June of 1995, fire
rescue personnel found a woman, who was naked and bound in duct
tape, trapped in an apartment. While investigating the
kidnapping, police found evidence in the apartment that linked
the tenant to the six prostitute murders. The apartment was
rented by Conde, and he became a suspect in the murders. After
his arrest, Conde consented to searches of his apartment and car
and the taking of saliva and blood samples. The day after his
arrest, Conde confessed to the murders. DNA evidence linked
Conde to six murders.
The sequence of events
in the Dunn murder occurred on five prior dates. On each
occasion, Conde picked up prostitutes, engaged in sexual
relations, strangled them, and disposed of the bodies.
The five
previous victims (and date of death) are: Lazaro Comesana
(09/16/94), Elisa Martinez (10/08/94), Charity Nava (11/20/94),
Wanda Crawford (11/25/94), and Necole Schneider (12/17/94).
Conde stated that after each murder, he knelt over the body and
verbally blamed the victim for his marital problems. The
murders were preceded by the break-up of his marriage. Conde
also engaged in post-mortem sexual relations with each of the
victims.
07/26/95Count VI severed from the other counts of the indictment
10/19/99
Jury returned a guilty verdict on Count VI of the indictment
12/14/99
Jury recommended death by a vote of 9-3
03/07/00Sentenced as follows:
Count VI:
First-Degree Murder (Dunn) – Death
04/03/01Sentenced as follows:
Count I:
First-Degree Murder (Lomensana) – Life
Count II:
First-Degree Murder (Martinez) – Life
Count III:
First-Degree Murder (Nava) – Life
Count IV:
First-Degree Murder (Crawford) – Life
Count V:
First-Degree Murder (Schneider) – Life
Case Information:
Conde filed a
Direct Appeal with the Florida Supreme Court on 04/10/00, citing
the following errors: denying challenges to six jurors; granting
the State’s motion to strike a prospective juror; denying a
motion for judgment of acquittal; admitting evidence of the
prior murders; admitting testimony of collateral crimes,
admitting evidence of police warnings to Dunn about a series of
murders and Conde’s flight at the time of arrest; failing to
limit prosecutorial comments during opening and closing
arguments; denying a motion to suppress a confession; finding
the aggravating circumstances; failing to find mitigating
circumstances; admitting evidence about prior violent felonies;
excluding mitigation testimony on the basis of a discovery
violation; lacking proportionality regarding the death sentence;
and Florida’s unconstitutional death penalty statute. On
09/04/03, the court affirmed the convictions and sentences.
Conde filed a
Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court on
02/02/04 that was denied on 04/05/04.
Conde filed a
3.851 Motion with the Circuit Court on 03/24/05 that is pending.
