The jury recommends death for 2 condemned in the “Xbox Murders” case

Deland, Florida-a jury of Volusia County, voted to recommend the death penalty on Wednesday for Troy Victorino and Jerone Hunter, who were condemned in the so-called Xbox murders in Deltona in 2004.

Victorino (48) and Hunter (38) were viewed by many as the deadliest mass murder in the history of the district of Volusia, which were killed with baseball rackets because of strokes by six people and a dog in 2004.

At that time, the investigators said that the men took revenge on one of the victims, Erin Belanger, the Troy Victorino thrown out of her grandmother's house. The investigators say that Victorino and a group of people crouched there and he accused Belangers of stealing some of his things, including an Xbox.

Two other people who were involved in the murders, Michael Salas and Robert Cannon, were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Victorino and Hunter were sentenced to death in 2006 for their roles, but according to the public prosecutor's office for the seventh judicial district, their punishments were lifted in 2018 after the Florida dishes unanimous jury recommendations for the death penalty.

“On April 20, 2023, a jury was sitting for the sale of the accused,” said the public prosecutor in a statement. “On the same day, however, Governor Ron Desantis signed a draft law that approved a new non -unanimous condemnation standard of 8 to 4 in capital cases, which caused a mistical.”

Last month, a jury was sitting again to condemn Victorino and Hunter according to the new law.

While the jury recommended death sentences for the couple, none of the decisions were unanimous:

For Hunter's first victim, Michelle Nathan, the jury voted 11-1 for Hunter to be sentenced to death. And for the second victim, Anthony Vega, the jury voted 8: 4 for the death penalty.

For Victorino's first victim, Francisco Ayo novel, the jury voted 10-2; And for the second, Erin Belanger, the jury, also voted 10-2 for the death penalty.

The two were both convicted of killing Jonathan Gleason and Roberto “Tito” Gonzalez. For Gleason, the jury voted 11-1 for the death penalty for Hunter and 9: 3 for Victorino. For Gonzalez, the jury voted 9: 3 to recommend the death penalty for both men.

In the statement by the public prosecutor's office it was found that “although the jury makes this recommendation, the final conviction was the judge.”

This decision is made at a later date, the explanation says.