Latest news with #St.PetersburgPoliceDepartment
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Family of teenage girl allegedly tortured and murdered by man she met on Grindr sues app
The family of a Florida teenager who was allegedly tortured, murdered and dismembered by a man she met on Grindr has filed a lawsuit, claiming the girl would still be alive if she had never met the man on the dating app. Miranda Corsette, 16, met Steven Gress, 35, on the app on February 14. Gress and his girlfriend, Michelle Brandes, 37, allegedly held the teen against her will inside Gress' St. Petersburg home before killing her. Corsette suffocated to death after the couple allegedly shoved a billiard ball in her mouth and wrapped her head in plastic before chopping her up and stuffing her body parts in the trunk of their car. Months later, a representative of Corsette's estate filed a lawsuit against Grindr, alleging that the features of the app and lack of safeguards for minors contributed to the girl's death. 'Without Grindr, we believe that Miranda would have never met this Steven Gress character, and she'd still be alive,' Attorney Lorne Kaiser said. 'This was a completely foreseeable event. Grinder has been warned for years and years about children and minors getting on this platform, and it's obviously a dangerous platform for children.' It was alleged that Gress was able to target Corsette through the app because of its 'lax age verification and hyper-precise geolocation.' 'The trauma inflicted upon M.C. (Miranda) and the irreparable harm to her family are direct consequences of Grindr's reckless disregard for the safety of minor children who are routinely preyed upon by adult predators who use Grindr's platform and design as a trap,' the suit states. According to the St. Petersburg Police Department, Gress and the teen first hung out at the couple's St. Petersburg home on February 14. He drove her home, and then she returned the next day. Gress told detectives that he was told she was 21 but later learned she was 16, according to an arrest affidavit. It wasn't long before Gress accused her of stealing his ring, which sparked the weeklong abuse and torture, the warrant states. As Gress allegedly continued to torture Corsette in their home, his girlfriend reportedly found the missing ring in Gress's car. Police said there is no evidence Corsette took the ring. The torture ended on February 23 when Brandes allegedly shoved a billiard ball into the teen's mouth and wrapped her head in plastic, a witness said. Gress reportedly told her not to cover her nose, but Brandes did, the witness said, and Corsette suffocated. After she was killed, Gress allegedly put her body in a car and drove to a house in Largo, where police say Gress used a chainsaw to dismember her body. They put the remains in trash bags and tossed them into a dumpster, and police later learned that the contents went to the county's incinerator. The new lawsuit claims the LGBTQ+ dating app failed to implement safeguards to prevent minors like Corsette from using it. 'Long before February 14, 2025, it was clear to Grindr that it was only a matter of time before its app, as Grindr marketed it and designed it, would cause the torture, rape, and murder of a child,' the lawsuit states. According to the suit, the app only requires a self-reported birthdate to confirm users are at least 18, with no cross-checking against official documentation or third-party verification at sign-up. The lawsuit claims the teen's murder 'exposes the platform's gross negligence in relying on a farcical self-reported age verification system. This performative gesture, as absurd as a bar or strip club asking teenagers to state their age without checking ID, allowed a minor to access an adult-oriented platform with foreseeable catastrophic consequences.' It's also claimed that the app's geolocation services 'deliver hyper-precise, real-time geolocation tracking — accurate to within a few feet — designed to facilitate immediate sexual encounters. As such, Grindr arranges user profiles based on their distance from other users for instant and spontaneous sexual hookups creating a uniquely hazardous environment for minors.' Corsette's family member is seeking $750,000 and is asking the court to order Grindr to implement more robust age verification measures, like government-issued identification verification or facial age estimation system, and to stop what the suit claims are misleading claims about the app's safety. Grindr LLC has not yet filed a response to the suit, according to Gress and Brandes are facing first-degree murder charges for Corsette's death and are being held at the Pinellas County Jail without bond. Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty in the case.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Political rival of Anna Paulina Luna gets 3 years in prison for threats
TALLAHASSEE — A onetime congressional opponent of Republican U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna was sentenced to three years in prison Wednesday for threatening to have her killed. William Braddock, 41, was secretly recorded in 2021 saying he had access to a 'hit squad' and that he could make Luna 'disappear,' according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Braddock briefly ran against Luna in the Republican primary for Congressional District 13 before she was first elected. According to court evidence, Braddock said he would be the next representative for the district and said Luna was 'ignorant so I don't have a problem taking her out, but I'm not going to do that dirty work myself obviously.' The St. Petersburg Police Department investigated Braddock's comments in 2021 but initially closed their investigation without any criminal charges. That same year, a Pinellas-Pasco circuit judge denied Luna's temporary stalking injunction against Braddock. At the conclusion of those cases, Braddock flew to Thailand and then settled in the Philippines until he surrendered to authorities there in June 2023. Upon his return to the United States in 2024, he was federally charged with interstate transmission of a threat to injure, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. He pleaded guilty earlier this year. Luna has since won election and reelection to office as the representative for Florida's 13th Congressional District.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Yahoo
Ex-FBI agent's account of notorious Tampa Bay murder irks retired investigators
TAMPA — The crime was notorious and extraordinary. The victims: a mother and her two teenage daughters vacationing from Ohio, their bodies found one morning in 1989, bound and weighed down with concrete blocks in the waters of Tampa Bay. The ensuing murder investigation was unlike any other by local law enforcement. The eventual arrest and conviction of the killer became a point of pride for the many investigators who worked the case, most especially the St. Petersburg police detectives. So when a retired FBI agent published a book in late 2023 in which she wrote of having played a key role in solving the case, retired cops took notice. Jana Monroe, a former FBI agent, had little involvement in the case, the investigators contend. Yet, in one 11-page chapter of her memoir, 'Hearts of Darkness,' Monroe discusses the case and portrays herself as having been deeply involved in the investigation from the beginning. She takes credit for motivating local police to pursue the evidence that ultimately led to the killer. Her account contradicts memories of those who worked the case locally. They were so troubled that they brought their concerns to the St. Petersburg Police Department, which last year sent a letter to Monroe's publisher and her attorney. The letter expressed concern that Monroe was 'overstating her involvement and contributions' and alleged inconsistencies between her account and what's reflected in police records. 'While the department is certainly grateful to Ms. Monroe for her minimal assistance with the case, it was due to the combined effort of many individuals ... that this case was ultimately solved,' the letter stated. Monroe's attorney, John Gatti of Los Angeles, later sent a brief reply, saying the department's letter 'contains inaccurate references that mischaracterize Ms. Monroe's FBI work.' He did not elaborate. Reached by phone, Monroe told a Tampa Bay Times reporter she knew of the investigators making claims about her book and called it 'unfortunate.' 'I think the problem is I have more of a memory of this than they do because I took such copious notes,' she said. Those who spent much of their careers in solving the case take offense to Monroe's account. The historical record, they say, is being distorted. 'They believe that she is taking credit for work that they did, and they have a certain amount of outrage,' said Jim Ramey, a retired FBI agent and former St. Petersburg police officer who assisted in the investigation and helped present the case to the agency's behavioral science unit. 'There's a real sense of injustice here.' The murder investigation began the morning of June 4, 1989. The bodies of Joan Rogers, 36, and her daughters, Michelle, 17, and Christe, 14, were found at different locations in Tampa Bay, close to St. Petersburg. They were nude below their waists and had ropes attached to concrete blocks around their necks. The family had driven from their Ohio dairy farm for a weeklong Florida vacation. Their Days Inn motel room off State Route 60 had been abandoned. Their car was found parked at a boat ramp along the Courtney Campbell Causeway. The investigation lasted three years and culminated in the arrest of Oba Chandler, an aluminum contractor with a criminal history. Chandler was convicted and sentenced to death. He was executed in 2011. The story was the subject of the St. Petersburg Times narrative series "Angels & Demons" by Thomas French, which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1998. Part 4 of the series documented how police released images of an unknown person's handwriting, taken from a brochure found in the Rogers' car. One of Chandler's neighbors recognized the handwriting as his. She also believed he resembled a composite sketch of a suspect in the rape of a Canadian tourist in Madeira Beach, which was similar to the Rogers' case. Her tip ultimately put police on Chandler's trail. Jana Monroe spent more than two decades in various roles with the bureau. In her book, she writes about time spent assigned to the FBI's Tampa field office in the late 1980s, and how she joined the behavioral science unit in the early 1990s. She led the cyber division shortly after its creation following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, serving as an assistant director for the agency. Her name was mentioned as a possible successor to former FBI Director Robert Mueller. A single chapter of Monroe's book discusses the Rogers case. Titled 'Thinking Big,' it includes a criminal profile of the then-unknown murderer and recommendations that were made to St. Petersburg police detectives, including advice to enlist the media to publicize the case, in their efforts to identify the killer. Monroe helped create the profile in 1991 in her job with the FBI's behavioral science unit. Monroe writes that she was standing on a dock the morning the bodies were brought ashore. At one point, she mentions a report from two Canadian women about having been physically assaulted while on vacation in Florida, similar to the Rogers' case. She writes that a follow-up visit from investigators 'put an end to that.' She later discusses the handwritten directions that investigators found in the Rogers' car. She writes that the notes were 'the only and very slim clue we had to go on,' and that investigators believed the handwriting was that of Joan Rogers. She quotes a conversation with unnamed St. Petersburg police detectives in which she asks if they'd compared the notes to samples of Joan Rogers' handwriting and whether they'd asked her husband if the writing was hers. She also writes it was her idea to feature the handwriting on billboards in the Tampa Bay area, to see if the public might recognize the penmanship. 'Within 48 hours,' Monroe writes, 'calls had come in from two unrelated people, both naming Oba Chandler as the writer of the directions.' The people closest to the Rogers investigation were 'astonished' at Monroe's account, said Ramey, the retired FBI agent. Contrary to what's in the book, multiple people involved in the case told the Times they have no memory of her being there the morning the bodies were brought to shore. A portion of the St. Petersburg police report, provided to the Times, includes lists of the investigators who went to the U.S. Coast Guard dock the morning the bodies were discovered. The documents name personnel from the St. Petersburg and Tampa police departments, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, the Florida Marine Patrol, local firefighters, prosecutors and a medical examiner. No one from the FBI is listed. 'She was not at the dock,' said Glen Moore, the retired St. Petersburg police homicide sergeant who oversaw the Rogers investigation. 'There's no evidence that she was at the dock. No one saw her there.' The investigators also took issue with Monroe's account of the conversation about featuring the unidentified handwriting on billboards. 'She's making it sound like the St. Petersburg Police Department were a bunch of inept people,' Moore said. 'Making us sound like a bunch of buffoons, yeah, that hurts.' The idea to put the handwriting on a billboard did not come from Monroe, the investigators said. News accounts at the time credited former Pinellas County Commissioner Barbara Sheen Todd with the idea. Todd, in a recent interview with the Times, said that she was so disturbed by the murders, having three daughters of her own, that she indeed suggested to police that they might solicit tips by placing the writing on billboards. When told they had no money for billboard space, Todd said she worked a connection with a local advertising company to make it happen. After Chandler was arrested, Todd said, the police invited her to a ceremony and awarded her a plaque. But she insisted the case's resolution was the result of the work of the St. Petersburg police. She, too, took offense to what Monroe wrote. 'She's obviously very creative,' Todd said. 'It's not the truth. I respect anyone who's a writer. I like to write myself, but I don't think it's right to claim something that's not true.' Todd is also mentioned in French's 'Angels & Demons' series as the person who suggested putting the handwriting on billboards. French said he didn't start reporting on the case until after Chandler's arrest, but he has no reason to doubt what the retired investigators say about Monroe's work. 'They're not show-boaters,' French said. 'They're straight shooters.' Craig Pittman, who covered the Chandler case for the Times as a courts reporter in the 1990s, recalled that the FBI's involvement was limited, and the profile of the unknown killer wasn't especially helpful in solving it. 'Everybody wants to claim victory,' he said. 'The fact is this case was solved by one of Oba's own neighbors.' In any case, news accounts state that Chandler's neighbor saw the writing in the newspaper, not a billboard. A retrospective story that Pittman co-wrote in 2011, shortly before Chandler's execution, states that the neighbor, Jo Ann Steffey, realized a year after the murders that Chandler resembled the composite sketch of the suspect in the rape of a Canadian tourist who had been assaulted by a man on a boat in Madeira Beach. The rape would later become a key element in the Rogers murder case. It took a long time for Steffey's many tips about Chandler to reach investigators. Weeks before the handwriting went up on a billboard, she and a fellow neighbor faxed to investigators samples of Chandler's handwriting from documents he'd signed while doing work in the neighborhood, the 2011 story states. Monroe, the investigators say, didn't become involved in the Rogers investigation until 22 months after the murders. Even then, they say her involvement was limited to helping create the profile of the killer. After Chandler's arrest, she provided advice about interrogation techniques police could use to get a confession. Chandler, however, did not speak with them. Cindy Leedy, one of the case's lead detectives, said the profile led the investigative team to broaden the interviews they conducted to include police officers, firefighters, delivery people and others who would be considered trustworthy. Ultimately, though, the profile wasn't a key to cracking the case. 'I don't know why she would write things like that,' Leedy said. 'I'm sure her career was interesting enough without taking credit for things she had nothing to do with.' When reached recently by the Times, Monroe mentioned that her involvement in the Chandler investigation was not in an official capacity but as a 'coordinator.' She referred questions to Gatti, her attorney, but he did not respond to multiple subsequent emails and voicemails from the Times seeking comment. A spokesperson for the FBI in Tampa said federal privacy law prohibited them from commenting on or confirming Monroe's employment. A Freedom of Information Act request for documents detailing Monroe's involvement in the Chandler case remains pending. Her memoir isn't the only place where Monroe's account has appeared. The 1995 book 'Mindhunter,' by legendary FBI profiler John Douglas, gives an account of the Chandler case that credits her with the billboard idea, consistent with Monroe's telling. A representative for Douglas said he was unavailable to be interviewed for this story. Yet, those closest to the case remain unconvinced. Doug Crow, the former Pinellas County prosecutor who led the case against Chandler in court, sent a 14-page letter detailing his memory of the case last year to St. Petersburg police Chief Anthony Holloway and Assistant Chief Mike Kovacsev. He wrote about discrepancies in Monroe's account. He mainly wrote, though, to 'defend the diligence and competence' of the police officers 'who were responsible for bringing Chandler to justice.' After that, the department reviewed its own records and wrote to Monroe's publisher. Kovacsev, who drafted the letter, said he understands the frustration the investigators feel, as the Chandler case meant a lot to so many. 'I do feel their pain,' Kovacsev said.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Yahoo
Homeowner shoots & kills intruder, police searching for second suspect: SPPD
The Brief St. Pete police say a homeowner fired shots at two men who entered a home off 40th St. N early Wednesday. One suspect was hit and later died at the hospital, while the second suspect ran from the home, according to police. Police say the home invasion appears to have been targeted. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A suspect is dead and another is on the run after a homeowner opened fire early Wednesday during an apparent home invasion, according to the St. Petersburg Police Department. What we know SPPD says two men entered a home in the 3400 block of 40th St. N around 2 a.m. Wednesday. Police say the homeowner fired shots, hitting one suspect who later died at the hospital. The second suspect ran from the home, according to investigators. SPPD says the home invasion appears to have been targeted and there is no threat to the public. READ: St. Pete police officer arrested, accused of sharing confidential information with suspect What we don't know Police have not released any further details, including the names of those involved in the incident. Follow FOX 13 on YouTube The Source This story was written with information from the St. Petersburg Police Department. STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA: Download the FOX Local app for your smart TV Download FOX Local mobile app: Apple | Android Download the FOX 13 News app for breaking news alerts, latest headlines Download the SkyTower Radar app Sign up for FOX 13's daily newsletter
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Yahoo
St. Pete man gets gun back after suspected thief responds to Facebook post
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — A man was reunited with his stolen firearm after the perpetrator saw a Facebook post about the missing firearm and messaged him directly. According to an affidavit, around 3:40 p.m. on Wednesday a black bag was stolen from a property located on 30th Avenue North. The man accused of stealing it, Roberth Alexander Arroyave, 44, allegedly took the black bag which was placed on a vehicle parked in the driveway of that address. The affidavit said that surveillance video captured Arroyave grabbing the bag and heading to his car. Arroyave later noticed a post on Facebook by the victim about the stolen bag which was carrying his firearm. Lakeland police focusing on distracted driving during national awareness month The affidavit said that after observing the post on Facebook, Arroyave messaged the victim informing him that he had taken the bag and the firearm. The bag and firearm were returned to the victim but, according to the affidavit, his ID's, credit, and debit cards were not returned. St. Petersburg police arrested Arroyave after identifying him based on his tattoos which were located on both arms and visible in the video. The St. Petersburg Police Department has charged him with grand theft and possession of a firearm by a felon. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
