Evidence of Murder
Page 30
“The court concluded that death is the appropriate sentence in this case for the murder of Carla Larson.
“Therefore, John Steven Huggins, having adjudged you guilty of the first-degree murder of Carla Larson, I hereby sentence you to death. It is the order of this court that you, John Steven Huggins, be taken by the proper authorities to the Florida State Prison or any other facility of the Department of Correction and there be kept in close confinement until the date of your execution is set.
“That on the date set for your execution, you shall be taken to the death chamber and you shall be put to death in the manner prescribed by law, until you are rendered dead.”
Judge Perry also pronounced sentence on Huggins for Count II, the carjacking, for which he gave thirty years.
For Count III, the theft of the jewelry, the sentence was sixty days.
For Count IV, kidnapping, Judge Perry sentenced him to life imprisonment.
Judge Perry concluded his long dissertation by announcing for the second time, “John Steven Huggins, may Almighty God have mercy on your soul.”
When Judge Perry completed his painstaking presentation, a hush fell over the courtroom. Everyone seemed to be overwhelmed by the solemnity, the finality of the sentence, even though it was not unexpected. Judge Perry looked at the assembled group owlishly, then began to gather up his papers.
As soon as Judge Perry exited, the courtroom came alive, the press scrambling to get near the principals, hoping to record their reactions.
John Huggins sat very still, his face as expressionless as it was throughout the entire proceedings. It was impossible to gauge what he was feeling, whether the sentence was expected or if he had hoped for prison. He turned to look at his family, trying to summon a smile for them. His mother was in tears. His children were visibly disappointed and crying. Their hopes were that their father’s life would be spared.
John Huggins was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs, to be transported to the Florida State Prison at Raiford, to death row, to await his fate.
Outside the courtroom a reporter asked for Jim Larson’s feelings on the sentence. Larson said in his usual quiet voice, his deep blue eyes focused into space, “I think it’s fair.” He added, “I just wish it could have been a little quicker.” He brushed back his brown hair and said sadly, “I’m not looking to hang this guy. I just don’t want him walking around so he can hurt anybody else.”
Larson turned away from the reporter, obviously finished with this brief, unwanted interview.
The reporters pressed on to the nearby parents of Carla Larson. Dabbing her eyes, Phyllis Thomas murmured through her tears, “It’s not a happy day. But it’s a relief. It’s what we hoped for.”
When questioned, ASA Jeff Ashton stated that the United States Supreme Court’s ruling should not affect the Huggins case, because jurors voted unanimously on the aggravating factors that led to his sentencing. With the strong confidence that Ashton displayed throughout the trial, he said that he did not see a third trial on the courthouse calendar.
Ashton explained, “It all depends on what the Florida Supreme Court says. But I am very confident that the guilt issue will not have to be readdressed.”
Public defender Bob Wesley, Huggins’s former defense lawyer, on the other hand, stated, “Perry’s decision will likely give Huggins an appeal opportunity.”
The Larson and Thomas families left the courthouse to try to pick up their lives, hoping that this was finally the end to their long, harrowing experience. Now all their lives would revolve around the care and rearing of Jessica.
John Huggins sits on death row. As his automatic appeal goes through the channels, the Florida Supreme Court has not yet reached a decision on the constitutionality of Florida’s death penalty.
Meanwhile, the state of Florida resolved to proceed with the long-delayed execution of convicted murderer Rigoberto Sanchez-Velasco, which was effected on October 2, 2002.
With this execution precedent established, on Wednesday, October 9, 2002, the infamous Aileen Wuornos, one of the nation’s first-known female serial killers, the so-called “Highway Hooker,” who pleaded for the cessation of her life, was granted her wish by means of lethal injection.
After twenty-one years on death row for the murder of elderly Eatonville postmistress Catherine Alexander, Linroy Bottoson was executed on Monday, December 9, 2002.
All executions were on signed order of the governor of the state of Florida, who could at some future time sign the order to execute John Huggins.
However, the issue remains in limbo until the ultimate resolution is handed down by the United States Supreme Court.
Carla Thomas, grade school photo.
(Courtesy of James Larson)
Carla Thomas’s high school yearbook photo from Pompano Beach, Florida.
(Courtesy of James Larson)
The future Mrs. James Larson in her wedding picture on December 1, 1990.
(Courtesy of James Larson)
Blissfully happy, Carla and Jim Larson in Orlando, Florida.
(Courtesy of James Larson)
Jim Larson, his daughter Jessica, and his stepmother Ada Larson.
(Courtesy of James Larson)
Deputy Tom Woodard of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department was the first officer responding to the report of the disappearance of Carla Larson.
(Courtesy of Orange County Sheriff’s Dept.)
The Publix grocery market in Kissimmee, Florida, the last known location where Carla Larson was seen.
(Author’s photo)
Detective Cameron Weir, co-lead Orange County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Detective in the Huggins case.
(Author’s photo)
Detective John Linnert, co-lead Orange County Sheriff’s Department investigator in the Huggins case.
(Author’s photo)
Jim Larson joined the search for Carla Larson with Carla’s Rottweiler. (The Orlando Sentinel
, June 13, 1997)
Portion of the vast area searched where Carla Larson’s body was discovered.
(Courtesy of Orange County Sheriff’s Dept.)
Carla Larson’s leg extending from beneath a large palmetto bush, as discovered by searchers.
(Courtesy of Orange County Sheriff’s Dept.)
Detective Tom McCann, who represented Orange County Sheriff’s Department in the America’s Most Wanted telecast.
(Author’s photo)
Side view of victim Carla Larson’s burned Ford Explorer.
(Courtesy of Orange County Sheriff’s Dept.)
Riverfront site of Carla Larson’s burned Ford Explorer.
(Courtesy of Orange County Sheriff’s Dept.)
Larson’s Ford Explorer at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department garage where technicians examined it.
(Courtesy of Orange County Sheriff’s Dept.)
Interior of gutted Ford Explorer.
(Courtesy of Orange County Sheriff’s Dept.)
Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger cooperated in the investigation of the Huggins case.
(Courtesy of Seminole County Sheriff’s Dept.)
Lt. John Thorpe of the Seminole County Sheriff’s department worked with the investigators in the Huggins case.
(Author’s photo)
John Huggins was arrested as a suspect in the murder of Carla Larson.
(Courtesy of Seminole County Sheriff’s Dept.)
John Huggins in the Seminole County Sheriff’s Department jail.
(Courtesy of Seminole County Sheriff’s Dept.)
The electrical wall box in the shed behind Huggins’s mother-in-law’s house where Carla Larson’s jewelry was found.
(Courtesy of Orange County Sheriff’s Dept.)
The Centex Rooney pendant Carla Larson always wore.
(Courtesy of Orange County Sheriff’s Dept.)
The motel in Kissimmee, Florida, where the Huggins family stayed on June 10, 1997.
(Author’s photo)
Gatorland, a tourist attra
ction visited by the Huggins family in June 1997.
(Author’s photo)
Public Defender Bob Wesley, who represented John Huggins.
(Courtesy of Bob Wesley)
Assistant State Attorney Jeff Ashton prosecuting John Huggins in his second trial.
(The Orlando Sentinel, July 26, 2002)
Angel Huggins, estranged wife of accused killer John Huggins.
(The Orlando Sentinel, January 27, 1999)
Chief Judge Belvin Perry presided over the John Huggins trials.
(Author’s photo)
Carla Larson’s parents, Mert Thomas and Phyllis Thomas, seated with Ada Larson and Jim Larson at the second Huggins trial in Tampa, Florida.
(The Orlando Sentinel, July 24, 2002)
John Huggins being escorted into the Orange County courtroom for his sentencing.
(The Orlando Sentinel, September 20, 2002)
Phyllis Thomas, mother of murder victim Carla Larson, hugs prosecutor Jeff Ashton after the jury recommended that John Huggins be executed.
(The Orlando Sentinel, July 27, 2002)
Some names have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals connected to this story.
PINNACLE BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
850 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Copyright © 2003 by Samuel Roen
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the Publisher and neither the Author nor the Publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
Pinnacle and the P logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
ISBN: 978-0-7860-1923-6