Thank goodness they caught him. Trying to nail down a random killer is so hard.
Friend says suspect in Seminole Heights killings was happy and affable days before first murder
http://www.tampabay.com/news/publics...rder_163182220TAMPA? About a week before police say he killed a stranger for no reason, Howell "Trai" Donaldson III spotted a childhood friend in the cafeteria of his office building.
Donaldson called out his name then ran up to chat with Jacob Peters for the first time in about 8 years. Donaldson seemed "totally, completely normal," Peters, 26, told the Tampa Bay Times. He laughed and smiled as he bombarded Peters with questions about what he had done with his life since high school.
"Now I get the chills just thinking I talked to this dude," Peters said.
Days later, on Oct. 9, a neighbor found 22-year-old Benjamin Mitchell lying by a HART bus stop on E. Frierson Avenue in Seminole Heights. He was bleeding from his stomach, where he had been shot by the same gun, Tampa police said, that Donaldson inexplicably handed to a manager at the Ybor City McDonald?s where he worked. That?s what led to his arrest Tuesday, after investigators matched the gun to four murders that terrorized Seminole Heights over a 51-day span.
Donaldson, 24, confessed to buying the gun Oct. 3, but police say he has not confessed to the murders. At his bond hearing Thursday, he wore a suicide-prevention jacket. His parents haven?t returned phone calls or answered knocks on the door of their Old Bay Crest home. They don?t want media attention, their attorney said.
But that day in October, on the first-floor cafe in the "Spectrum" office building at 3101 W Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard, Peters was so happy to see his old friend he paid for his lunch ? a buffalo chicken wrap.
"No joke, he was still the nicest dude," Peters said. "You can?t make this stuff up. Growing up with the kid he was always respectful, he knew my family and I knew his family. I never would have thought he was capable of this."
They laughed at the odd coincidence of once again being neighbors ? Peters works at the PricewaterhouseCoopers? office in a building next door to the Ultimate Medical Academy office where Donaldson began a customer service job in January.
But it struck Peters as odd that Donaldson wasn?t dressed in the usual business attire worn by others in the company cafeteria. He was wearing a red sweatshirt and basketball shorts. It was odd, too, that he didn?t reveal any personal information, Peters said. When Peters began walking towards a table to eat his lunch Donaldson simply walked away, ending their conversation after just a few minutes of reminiscing, Peters said.
RELATED: Police chief: McDonald?s worker to receive ?every penny? of $110,000 reward
Thinking back, Peters said it seems strange he knows so little about Donaldson?s parents. Donaldson only invited his tight group of friends ? they called themselves the Bay Crest Bunch ? to his house once, sneaking them in when his parents weren?t home. Peters said the parents never seemed to engage the boys or their parents in conversation.
UMA confirmed after Donaldson?s arrest that he was fired in May for absenteeism.
"I guess people change, but this was unexpected," Peters said.
The two boys and a handful of others who lived in their Old Bay Crest neighborhood off Memorial Highway grew up together. Their parents treated them all as their own. But in high school the boys began to drift apart. Donaldson played basketball at Tampa Catholic and Alonso High while Peters played basketball at a private Christian school. After graduation both boys eventually lost touch completely. Peters moved to St. Augustine to attend Flagler College and Donaldson moved to New York, where he attended and eventually graduated from St. Johns University in New York.
Naiboas thank McDonald's manager who helped solve Seminole Heights case: 'She is our hero'
http://www.tbo.com/news/publicsafety...se-she/2345533TAMPA ? There were big hugs all around, said Casimar Naiboa, as he and his family finally got a chance to meet the woman whose discovery of a gun in a McDonald's bag helped end a 51-day of terror in southeast Seminole Heights.
"It was fantastic to meet her," said Naiboa of Delonda Walker, the manager of the McDonald's restaurant in Ybor City who discovered a 40. caliber Glock pistol in a bag handed to her by Howell Emanuel Donaldson III.
On Oct. 19, Naiboa's son ? Anthony, 20 ? was gunned down, police say, by Donaldson. It was the third in what would eventually be a series of four murders that Donaldson, 24, is now charged with committing.
"We hugged her and told her she is our hero," said Naiboa.
When Naiboa and his family arrived at the McDonald's on Thursday to thank Walker, she wasn't there. But her co-workers recognized the family and contacted Walker, who showed up about a half-hour later.
Walker, he said, explained what happened Tuesday that ultimately led the arrest and charging of Donaldson.
Some time around 2 p.m., Donaldson walked out of the restaurant and, seeing police outside, quickly ducked back in, Naiboa said. Then Donaldson handed Walker a McDonald's bag, and told her not to look inside. Then he walked outside of the restaurant again.
Walker felt the bag was heavy, said Naiboa. She felt something hard inside. She took it into a back room, opened up the bag and saw the gun. Then, seeing a policewoman outside, she handed the bag with the gun over.
The officer called in for backup and soon, police were swarming all over, Naiboa said Walker told him.
A while later, Donaldson returned and police began to question him, Naiboa said Walker told him.
Walker, he said, described Donaldson as "weird.
"She told us he never talked to anyone but her," said Naiboa.
Other workers, whose names he did not get, said they thought that Donaldson, who had been working there for about four months, could be the man seen in the videos released by police, but were unsure.
"They told me they thought they might be thinking too much," said Naiboa.
The family ? his wife Maria, and children ? were all wearing T-shirts with Anthony's picture. They thanked Walker profusely, Naiboa said.
"If it wasn't for her," he said, "that guy might still be out there."
At first, Walker didn't know the extent of what she had done, said Naiboa.
She didn't realize until several hours later, when media began to show up, that the man with the gun was thought to be connected to the Seminole Heights killings.
"She is kind of overwhelmed," he said. "She didn't want the publicity and all this attention."
Days later, Naiboa said she is still having a hard time comprehending it all.
"She did such a good thing," he said. "But she said it still hasn't sunk in yet."
http://www.baynews9.com/content/news...ents_show.htmlDoes accused serial killer, Howell ?Trai? Donaldson III have ties to the Seminole Heights neighborhood?
Did family as a whole have any connection to neighborhood?
Court documents point to a 2016 connection
Connection involves former boyfriend of suspect's sister
In a press conference a day after his arrest last month, Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan said they were trying to figure out his ties to the area.
?We have not been able to find a connection his connection to the neighborhood yet. I always felt whoever was doing it was very familiar with the neighborhood,? Dugan said. ?We have not been able to determine why he picked southeast Seminole Heights. We?re not sure if he had a friend there that he was staying with. There?s a lot of unanswered questions.?
Days after his arrest, court documents show investigators asked the suspect?s father, Howell Donaldson Jr., if his son had any connection to the Seminole Heights neighborhood, and that Donaldson Jr. refused to answer.
He was then asked if his other two children had ties to the area, and again he refused to answer, according to documents. Investigators say the suspect?s mother Rosita refused to answer questions, too.
Last week the couple had to go before a judge after refusing to answer investigators questions. The couple?s attorney Ralph Fernandez says his clients were put in a bad position.
?Would you testify against your child in a criminal prosecution where your child would face death?? Fernandez said.
After investigating the family?s history, we discovered there is a connection to Seminole Heights.
Court documents show in 2016, Donaldson Jr. filed a petition for injunction for protection against stalking, also known as a restraining order, against his daughter?s boyfriend.
Donaldson Jr. accused the boyfriend of threatening their family and telling Donaldson Jr. if he had a gun he would shoot him. The document also shows that the suspect?s mother, sister and brother were listed on the order of protection, but the suspect?s name is not listed.
We?re not naming the boyfriend because the injunction was denied by a judge. The judge cited that the facts as alleged didn?t meet Florida statues definition of stalking.
However, we did look into the boyfriend?s background and several of his arrest records. Those records show his most recent arrest lists his address at a home in Seminole Heights.
Further, the boyfriend's address is a five-minute walk from where the first victim, Benjamin Mitchell was killed. It?s an eight-minute walk from where the body of the second victim, Monica Hoffa, was found, a four-minute walk from where the third victim, Anthony Naiboa, was murdered and an eight-minute walk from where the fourth victim, Ronald Felton was gunned down.
We asked the state attorney?s office if they were looking into this connection. A spokesperson said they couldn?t confirm or deny if they were looking into this because they don?t reveal case strategy.
Had to delurk to post this bullshit. Donaldson complained to a judge that prison is making him sick in some unspecified way and he feels old: “"I'm an ex-college athlete. It's hard for me to stand right now. I shouldn't feel like I'm 90-years-old right now. If they don't find anything, they can shove me back in the cell," Donaldson said."I think they are going to find some not so good things."
https://www.wfla.com/news/hillsborou...urt/1736604076
Hope I didn’t fuck the formatting all up. I am interested to learn more about this dude.
He should have listened to his friend in 2011
No mask like open truth to cover lies, as to go naked is the best disguise.
oops
No mask like open truth to cover lies, as to go naked is the best disguise.
Apologies. The image wouldn't go through. It was a 2011 screenshot from his FB page where his friend told him to "stop kiling people"
No mask like open truth to cover lies, as to go naked is the best disguise.
What is up with the parents? That childhood friend said the only time he was at Donaldson's house was when he snuck him in when his parents weren't home. Weird. I'm thinking he might have a touch of the schizo.
Last edited by raisedbywolves; 11-10-2019 at 03:53 PM.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida...-four-murders/
Florida serial killer pleads guilty to 4 murders
I WANT TO KNOW WHY!!!
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