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Virginia Larzelere
NSB News photo by Sera King |
Timeline for Virginia Larzelere saga
March 8, 1991 -- Dr. Norman Larzelere is shot dead in his Edgewater dentist office by a lone masked-gunman. His wife, Virginia, calls 911.
May 24, 1991 -- Virginia Larzelere is indicted on a charge of 1st-degree murder with the state announcing it is seeking the death penalty, if convicted. The state alleges she is the mastermind behind a murder plot to collect on a $2.1 million life insurance policy. A separate indictment charges accuses Larzelere's 18-year-old son, Jason, with 1st-degree murder, alleging he was the shooter. He and his sister were adopted by Norman after marrying their mother, Virginia.
Aug. 17, 1992 -- Virginia Larzelere is found guilty of capital murder in th death of her husband. The jury by a 7-5 vote, recommends the death penalty as punishment. Seven months later, Jason Larzelere is acquitted by a jury of 1st-degree murder and accepts a $70,000 insurance settlement from his adopted father's estate.
May 11, 1993 -- Virginia Larzelere is sentenced to die by electrocution by Circuit Judge John W. Watson. She is sent to Florida's Death Row.
Dec. 15, 1995 -- Virginia Larzelere's defense attorney, Jack Wilkins is sentenced to 54 months in federal prison on convictions for laundering drug money and obstruction of justice.
Feb. 28, 2008 -- The Florida Supreme Court vacates Virginia Larzelere's death sentence (which would have been by lethal injection after the state did away with the electric chair) and orders a new sentencing hearing -- with either life or death as punishment.
Aug. 1, 2008 -- Circuit Judge Joseph Will sentences Virginia Larzelere to life in prison with eligibilty for parole after 25 years, but because of time already served, she could be released in eight years or less.
Fast Facts
The Oxygen cable network's hour-long program "Snapped" highlights the Virginia Larzelere story. Appearing on the show is Henry Frederick, editor/publisher of NSBNEWS.net
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DAYTONA BEACH -- Virginia Larzelere, the condemned mastermind behind the 1991 shotgun slaying of her Edgewater dentist-husband for a $2.1 million life insurance payout was all smiles Friday at the Justice Center because even though she was sentenced to life in prison, the death penaty was no longer at play.
As if that was not reason enough to smile, Larzelere, now 55, could get out of prison in eight years or even sooner because of gain time under the old Florida sentencing guidelines that were in effect at the time of her conviction.
Because of the passage of time, both the state and defense attorneys told Circuit Judge Joseph Will they were in agreement on the life sentence as opposed to a full blown hearing and the possibility of seeking a new death sentence.
Still, Larzelere maintaind her innocence, telling the judge: "Whatever sentence you impose today doesn't alter the fact it is the wrong conviction."
Larzelere, however, told the judge she was ready to be sentenced as agreed by opposing counsel: "There's nothing you can do for me today that will be worse than the last 15 years for something I didn't do."
Before handing down the new sentence, Judge Will responded, "I understand. Thank you."
Dr. Norman Larzelere was shot to death by a masked intruder armed with a shotgun. Shot through the door to his inner office, the victim cried out for "Jason" as if he knew the shooter was his adopted son, Jason Larzelere, 18.
Virginia and her natural son, Jason, were indicted and tried separately on charges of capital murder -- she as the mastermind and he as the triggerman.
The trial was portrayed by media then as one of greed and infideility. She was tried and convicted with a jury recommending death in the electric chair by a 7-5 vote, which Circuit Judge John W. Watson subsequently handed down.
Jason Larzelere was acquitted of first-degree murder seven months later when his trial was moved to Polk County because of the adverse publicity surrounding the case.
Much of the state's evidence in both cases hinged on testimony from Jason's friend, Steven Heidle, who led the police to a shotgun and handgun in a river basin, claiming it was the murder weapon he dumped into the river on Jason Larzelere's behalf.
At Virginia Larzelere's trial, Jason Larzelere was called as a defense witness with the sole purpose of standing side by side with Heidle before the jury. Both were strikingly similar in physical appearance.
Heidle later committed suicide and Jason Larzelere moved to Europe several years ago.
An alternative theory of how Norman Larzelere was killed, possibly by Heidle, was presented at Jason Larzelere's trial that enough reasonable doubt was planted in the jury's mind for an outright acquittal. Still, Virginia Larzelere sat on Florida's Death Row for 15 years until her death sentence was tossed out by the Florida Supreme Court under the provision of innefective assistance of counsel. Her defense attorney, Jack Wilkens of Polk County, was convicted of laundering drug money and obstruction of justice in unrelated matters two years after her sentence and sent to federal prison for six-plus years.
Tom Mott, a Daytona Beach criminal defense attorney hired by Larzelere's family, was at her sentencing hearing Friday. He said afterwards that he had been retained to present new evidence that could lead to a new trial or a prdon from the governor, including the ossibility that Heidle was the triggerman acting on behalf of a motorcycle gang out of Orlando that was intent on robbing the dentist's safe of rare gold coins that later trned up in a pwn shop in West Palm Beach.
"I'm going to try and re-create what actualy happend that day," Mott said.
