Local News Now

A ruling by Circuit Judge William Parsons, chief judge of the 7th judicial circuit, denied condemned death row murderer Jerone Hunter, shown here, a chance in January at having his death sentences set aside for his role in the 2004 Deltona Xbox murders of six people in a Telford Lane home, the largest mass murder case in Volusia County's history.

DAYTONA BEACH -- Mass murderer Jerone Hunter is not getting off Florida's death row anytime soon, if ever, after a circuit judge's Jan. 25 ruling that he failed to prove ineffective assistance of counsel at his capital murder trial six years ago.

The judge's ruling comes in at No. 66 in the countdown of Headline Surfer's top 100 local stories of 2012.

PORT ORANGE -- The "why" is not always defined when it comes to a murderous rampage. Such is the case of a Port Orange man who shot and killed a Canadian tourist at an RV Park in Deerfield Beach on Feb. 9, then stabbed his own autistic son to death, tried to do the same to his wife and younger son before killing himself with a knife.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Alleged serial arsonist James Bates admitted to setting fires as far back as the 1970s, but said he managed to suppress the urge for some time, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office in announcing his arrest in March.

That all ended back in December 2011, when Sheriff's investigators said Bates returned to old habits. In a span of less than seven weeks starting in early December, five fires were intentionally set in the New Smyrna Beach area. Bates' arrest comes in at No. 68 in Headline Surfer's countdown of the top 100 local stories of 2012. 

Resignation shows on the face of 45-year-old Fredrick Bardell of New Smyrna Beach, in his June 20 booking mug before beginning a lengthy prison sentence for downloading and hoarding more than 20,000 photos and movies of small children engaged in lewd sex acts. 

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Fredrick Bardell, who served in the U.S. Coast Guard, is now serving time in prison for downloading and hoarding 16,500 photos and more than 400 movies involving pre-adolescent children, the US Attorney's Office said.

The 45-year-old New Smyrna Beach man had been collecting the kiddie porn for two decades and even shared the content with others online.

Judge Roy Dalton, Jr. sentenced Bardell in June to a dozen years in prison, followed by 20 years of sexual offender probation. Bardell's sentencing comes in at No. 69 in Headline Surfer's countdown of the top 100 local stories of 2012.

New Smyrna Speedway is a lot closer to where Ed Bennett was reared compared to the world famous Daytona International Speedway, home to the Great American Race, the Daytona 500. Despite the aded weight of the big responsibilities he has to carry on his shoulders as a rising star in NASCAR's corporate offices in Daytona, Bennett has his priorities straight with his emerging family, as shown in the inset. As a side note, his wife, Mindy France Bennett, was 'Miss NSB HS 1997.'  

DAYTONA BEACH -- NASCAR executive Ed Bennett has a saying from Mark Twain that he tries to live his life by: Give every day the chance to become the most beautiful day of the your life.

A DeLeon Springs man was shot and kiled by a deputy after refusing to put down a rifle while a warrant was being served at his residence as shown in the ocator map.

DELEON SPRINGS -- A Volusia County Sheriff's deputy who was part of a team serving a search warrant early this morning, shot and killed a man on June 29, who armed himself with a rifle and refused orders to put down the weapon.

The shooting occurred at 5:44 a.m., inside a home on State Road 11 in DeLeon Springs. It comes in at No. 71 in Headline Surfer's countdown of the top 100 local stories of 2012.

Daytona and Port Orange chambers co-hosts

Benjie Molina, shown here from his time with the Texas Rangers, is the oldest of the trio of Molina brothers, a trio of catchers.  The brothers are principals in Molina Impact Training.

PORT ORANGE -- The Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Port Orange Chamber will co-host a 2 p.m. Friday ribbon cutting for Molina Impact Training.

This new business, a direct result of the Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce Brawl at the Beach Softball Tournament, has hired three employees to run an 8,000 square foot training facility. Initially for baseball, the facility will also offer individualized instruction, and eventually softball and other sports. At the very least, Former San Francisco Giant and Texas Ranger Bengie Molina will be present for autographs and interviews.

Gerry Burkatovsky, shown in the larger photo, is charged with murder in the 2011 throat-slash slayings of Michael Shaffer and Danny Edwards, whose bodies were dumped in Edgewater, according to law enforcement.

EDGEWATER -- Police Chief Dave Arcieri remembers the bodies like it was yesterday -- two stabbed men with slashed throats found in a remote area of the edge of the city near Interstate 95. It was obvious they were killed elsewhere and discarded here.

Buzzards flying overhead drew the attention of passersby on Opossum Road and the grisly find, which led to Edgewater police response. That was Aug. 22, 2011. Gennadiy "Gerry" Burkatovsky, 36, was being held without bail on Jan. 18, one day after an Orange County grand jury handed up two indictments charging him with tow counts of first-degree murder in the slayings of 46-year-old Michael Shaffer and Danny Edwards, 49.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Six-year-old Nakya Jones is wise enough to know the real Santa Claus rides a sleigh when he comes to town. The so-called Santa she saw Saturday came to town in a train.