6 Killed over an Xbox

Solauren · Post by **Solauren** » 2004-08-08 04:48pm

(CNN) -- Authorities in Deltona, Florida, have arrested and charged four people in the killings of six people in a rental home, Volusia County's sheriff said Sunday.

Sheriff Ben Johnson said the murder was organized by a man who was angry because he believed his Xbox video game system and some clothes had been stolen.

Alleged ringleader Troy Victorino, 27, has not confessed, but three teenagers Johnson said Victorino recruited to assist him have, Johnson said. The three were identified as Robert Cannon, 18; Jerone Hunter, 18; and Michael Salas, 18.

All are charged with first degree murder and armed burglary.

The Associated Press reported that Victorino has a criminal record.

The four killers, armed with aluminum baseball bats, forced their way into the home where the victims were in beds early Friday morning, and beat them to death -- just as Victorino planned, Johnson said.

The victims, four men and two women, also sustained knife wounds, but autopsies showed the blunt force trauma from the bats killed them, the sheriff's office said.

The victims had no chance to arm themselves or fight back, Johnson said. "There was no way they could really defend themselves."

All of the victims experienced severe trauma -- and one body was so badly mangled that it has not yet been officially identified, he said.

"This is the worst thing I've ever seen in my career," Johnson said.

Johnson called for all four to face the death penalty, although that usually is decided by a prosecuting attorney.

Five of the victims were identified as Jonathan Gleason, 18; Roberto Gonzalez, 28; Michelle Nathan, 19; Francisco Roman, 30; and Anthony Vega, 34.

Investigators believe the attack occurred about 1 a.m. Friday. The bodies were found Friday about 6:30 a.m. when a co-worker, alarmed because one of the people failed to show up for work, went to the home and found the blood-spattered crime scene.

Victorino and Hunter were taken in for questioning on Sunday. Hunter confessed, and led authorities to Cannon and Salas, said Johnson.

Johnson said he does not believe any other people were involved in the incident.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2004-08-08 04:53pm

There are some twisted fucks in this world.

I sure hope these guys face the death penalty for what they did. No theft is worth killing someone over, much less the loss of a hundred bucks worth of property. I wish that these guys would get their priorities straight, right before they fry.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2004-08-08 04:54pm

i predict this being used as more fodder for the war against 'violent' videogames. . .

Mange · Post by **Mange** » 2004-08-08 04:56pm

Terrible. Where will this end?

The Cleric · Post by **The Cleric** » 2004-08-08 04:57pm

Mange the Swede wrote:Terrible. Where will this end?

Ummm... probably with the eradication of stupidity. Which will be right before the world ends.

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2004-08-08 06:56pm

I gotta wonder, is this good or bad publicity for Microsoft?

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2004-08-08 07:04pm

The Kernel wrote:I gotta wonder, is this good or bad publicity for Microsoft?

I can't imagine it's front-page news, or that it would affect Microsoft at all. As far as the X-Box goes, I have one, and it's a nice enough machine. While I have no love lost for Microsoft, closed proprietary software and licensing is the norm in console gaming machines, so their practices are actually right in-line with the industry standard in that market.

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2004-08-08 07:06pm

Darth Wong wrote: I can't imagine it's front-page news,

Actually, it is. CNN has it as their front page article.

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2004-08-08 07:06pm

EDIT: They are already calling these the "Xbox Killings" so I imagine Microsoft's PR department might be a little concerned.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2004-08-08 07:07pm

The Kernel wrote:
Darth Wong wrote:I can't imagine it's front-page news,
Actually, it is. CNN has it as their front page article.

Gah. Spoke too soon. I guess it's a slow news day for this kind of garden-variety thuggery to make national headlines. I wonder if it would have made headlines if it were a bag of crack instead of an XBox.

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2004-08-08 07:09pm

Darth Wong wrote: Gah. Spoke too soon. I guess it's a slow news day for this kind of garden-variety thuggery to make national headlines. I wonder if it would have made headlines if it were a bag of crack instead of an XBox.

I think it might also be the body count; six people is a pretty big murder spree, especially with baseball bats.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2004-08-08 07:13pm

It may also be that the locals are freaking out, because I just looked up Deltona Florida and it's a small town of only 70,000 people.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2004-08-08 07:31pm

It's a combination of the slow news day and the brutal nature of the crime.

The Cleric · Post by **The Cleric** » 2004-08-08 07:35pm

It'll be replaced soon and forgotten about. Tis the nature of the world.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2004-08-08 08:15pm

Darth Wong wrote:It may also be that the locals are freaking out, because I just looked up Deltona Florida and it's a small town of only 70,000 people.

Another article said that the last time something happened like that in that town, it was because a guy got pissed that his car got repoed.

Post by **Steve** » 2004-08-08 08:28pm

Darth Wong wrote:It may also be that the locals are freaking out, because I just looked up Deltona Florida and it's a small town of only 70,000 people.

Deltona! *hiss* We hates them! Nasty, tricksy little suburbanites!

I grew up in Osteen, which is a small town (founded in the 1890s by the Osteen family, members of whom were neighbors of mine) that is right beside Deltona. Deltona people are really frickin' irritating. They incorporated some years back (late '95 IIRC) and have been going around annexing local unincorporated areas ever since, trying to find room to attract commercial ventures. My hometown will probably be swallowed up if they don't incorporate...

I went to school with Deltona kids and they were all pricks. Since incorporating they've come up with the absolute worst bullshit codes and ordinances, plus they got into bitch fights with the Volusia County government over police and fire coverage.

Fuck 'em all.

Post by **Kuja** » 2004-08-09 01:42am

Good fucking lord. You know, we have police stations for a reason. If someone steals something, fucking report it and have them thrown in jail for a while. That'll teach them. You can't walk over to somebody's house and beat them with a fucking baseball bat.

And there's something even more disturbing about this. The articale says that the guy believed his X-box was stolen...he and his cronies beat six people to death becasue he BELIEVED his Xbox was stolen? Wasn't he certain? Was he even fucking right?

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2004-08-09 02:01am

This is a terrible and stupid incidents. Terrible because no one deserves to die because of a video game. Stupid because the killers should have known the police would have captured them.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2004-08-09 02:04am

Anybody with friends who will help him in that manner probably has a loooong record of run-ins with the law.

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2004-08-09 08:24am

aaaactually, the way it goes is that the dude went to jail and his friend's held some of his shit for him. So apprently he thought they stole them (The story goes he didn't even ask if he could have the shit back) got these three teenagers to go over to their house and went "Manhunt" on six of them- and their dogs. Now, the story, according to the local news guy here in J-ville that when the police caught the four guys they said they were sorry.

That they got caught.

They used aluminum baseball bats, too. Sick, man, just sick.

(Point is it wasn't over JUST an Xbox- it was clothes, too...You know how those Cons are about their "Kicks" Yo.)
Oh, and if you are the type who LIKE seeing killing with baseball bats, get Manuhunt. It has now replaced GTAIII as number one on my list of "Most Cathartic Game Ever"

The Cleric · Post by **The Cleric** » 2004-08-09 11:13am

Hmmm... Manhunt is undeniabley more graphic, but GTAIII allows for sheer volume. And you can drive around in cars.

Setzer · Post by **Setzer** » 2004-08-09 01:26pm

Well, their cellmates will be using their joysticks to play a lot of fun games.

Hope it was worth it, guys.

Xenophobe3691 · Post by **Xenophobe3691** » 2004-08-09 01:40pm

Hell. My friend chilled with one of the guys that was killed. This sucks.

Mitth`raw`nuruodo · Post by **Mitth`raw`nuruodo** » 2004-08-09 01:44pm

=/ This was front page news in Florida Today... I think they were beaten so bad dental records had to be used to identify them.

Sean Howard · Post by **Sean Howard** » 2004-08-09 04:09pm

When I first heard the story I was outraged, but upon learning more details, I became even more sickened.

here's my understanding of what happened:

There were 6 young people living in a house, and they all worked at the same Burger King. This house was owned by a granparent of one of the occupants.

The house (next door, or maybe down the street, but close), was also owned by the same grandparent. This second house was vacant. This second house also had a pool that the kids living in the first house would occassionally go over and use.

One time, the kids go over there to swim, and discover several people squatting there. The kids call the police and have the squatters removed. One of the squatters was in jail while this occurred. One of the kids removed all of the crap the jailed squatter had left in the house, including the Xbox. She boxed all this crap up and was going to hand it over to the cops.

The guy gets out of jail, and him and his cronies go over and murder the sleeping kids because they "stole" his stuff.

I hope these animals get executed.