Man on trial accused of murder-for-hire of Deltona veteran news-journalonline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from news-journalonline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Benjamin Jaquaric Antonio Bascom, 28, is on trial this week charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of Carlos Cruz-Echevarria, 60, on Nov. 11, 2017. He is also charged with witness tampering because prosecutors said he tried to get his girlfriend not to help investigators in the case.
Timothy Lee Whistler avoided a possible death sentence for beating a psychic to death with a Champagne bottle in Cassadaga a quarter century ago.
Whistler pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree murder in Volusia County Circuit Court, served about 20 years in state prison and was released in 2016. He then moved to Missouri to live with his wife and began serving his 20 years of probation.
But in February, he was arrested in Missouri on a charge of driving while intoxicated, a violation of his probation.
The 49-year-old Whistler was extradited back to the Volusia County Branch Jail and that’s when COVID-19 became a death sentence he could not avoid.