Denise Lee Murder

Michael King Trial

Florida

Denise Amber Lee was kidnapped on January 17, 2008 from her home in North Port.  Denise was 21 years and the mother of two sons, Noah and Adam.

January 17, 2008 started as any other day. Her husband, Nathan, left for work, and Denise, a stay at home mom, was left home with the children. She last spoke to her husband at approximately 11:00 A.M., yet that wasn’t the last phone conversation that Denise Amber Lee participated in that day. Unfortunately, it wasn’t with her husband. Nathan had continually tried to reach Denise Amber Lee, calling her several times at approximately 3:00 P.M. He would never speak with her again.

When Nathan Lee arrived home from work at 3:30 P.M., he found both Noah and Adam home alone, yet there was no sign of Denise. Searching the home, Nathan found Denise’s purse and her cell phone; he called 911. This would be the first 911 call made in the Denise Amber Lee case.

In what seems to be little more than a miracle, Denise Amber Lee managed to obtain her kidnapper’s cell phone. She called 911 at approximately 6:14 P.M. and managed to stay on the phone for nearly six and a half minutes. Denise’s wasn’t the last 911-phone call to be made that fateful day.

A neighbor of Denise Amber Lee’s saw a green Camaro drive up and down their street. At approximately 2:30 P.M., she reported seeing that same green Camaro pull into the driveway of Denise Amber Lee’s home. When Denise Amber Lee called 911, they were able to determine that the cell phone she used belonged to Michael Lee King. When police discovered the name of the kidnapper, they went to his residence, however there was no sign of Michael or Denise, yet they did find a piece of duct tape that still had long strands of brown hair attached to it. Then, Michael Lee King did a very disturbing thing. He went to his cousin’s home.

Michael King arrived at his cousin’s home, Harold Muxlow, and asked to borrow two items: a can of gasoline and a shovel. While there, Harold saw Denise Amber Lee in the back seat of the green Camaro, struggling and pleading for help. She screamed for Harold to call police, he didn’t and Michael Lee King drove away with a shovel, a gas can, and a panicked Denise Amber Lee, who was still screaming and begging for her life. Harold Muxlow did, however, tell his 17-year-old daughter about what he had seen, and Sabrina Muxlow decided to call 911. The call was received at approximately 6:23 P.M.

There was one more 911 call to be made on behalf of Denise Amber Lee, that fateful night of January 17, 2008. A Tampa based computer consultant, Jane Kowalski, just happened to have her window rolled down while driving U.S. 41 that evening. She happened to stop at a red light, where Michael Lee King pulled his camaro alongside hers. She heard loud noises coming from the car, and was startled to hear the screams of the passenger in the back seat of the car. Jane Kowalski witnessed Denise Amber Lee’s last cries for help. She looked at her and thought that she was a child, however, she did look directly at Michael Lee King and called 911 somewhere between 6:30 and 6:40 P.M.

Due to a dispatcher mix-up, the report of Jane’s 911 call was never relayed to officers who were currently in the area, searching for Denise Amber Lee. Police in the area never knew that the camaro was in their vicinity, even though they were utilizing a helicopter search, dog search, and ground search. The question remains today, “Would Denise Amber Lee have been saved, if the 911 dispatchers notified the police to look for the camaro?” Denise Amber Lee’s body was located nude and in the fetal position within three miles of the very spot where Janet Kowalski made the final 911 call. Denise Amber Lee had been sexually assaulted and shot in the head.

Resource...

http://www.examiner.com/x-7403-Tampa-Crime-Examiner~y2009m4d7-Denise-Amber-Lee-also-called-911

More about the accused...

http://www.sunnewspapers.net/articles/tsnews.aspx?ArticleID=433837&pubdate=3/18/2009

GREAT 4 PAGE ARTICLE...

Are Botched 911 Calls to Blame for Denise Lee's Death?

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/Story?id=5427068&page=1

UPDATES

To comment on this case Click Here!

911 TAPE...

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/crime/2009/08/26/sot.king.trial.cnn

 09-05-09

Death

All 12 jurors recommended Michael King be put to death Friday, ending a three-week trial in the kidnapping, rape and murder of Denise Amber Lee, the 21-year-old North Port mother of two young sons.

Denise’s family members cried and quickly smiled as the recommendation was read three hours after jurors deliberated, in the Sarasota County courtroom.

As jurors returned to the courtroom, North Port Police Chief Terry Lewis crossed himself. Holding his head in his hands, he prayed. Denise’s father, Rick Goff, who was wearing a cross, put his hand on his wife Susan’s knee.

Denise’s widower, Nathan Lee, prayed as his parents, who were on either side of him, locked their arms around the back of his chair. Several Lee and Goff family supporters prayed.

As the recommendation was read, one woman cried aloud; others wept. No one from King’s family in Michigan or Tennessee, who testified earlier in the week, or those who live locally, was in the courtroom.

After 12th Circuit Judge Deno Economou thanked the jurors, he said he would set a date in the next two months to return his verdict. Economou said in a written statement he “rarely” goes against jurors’ recommendations.

As he did throughout jury selection and the entire trial, King, 38, who wore a light blue shirt and dark pants, was unmoved and sat emotionless after the jury’s decision.

Economou said King was remanded to the Sarasota County Jail. He was handcuffed immediately by one of six bailiffs surrounding him and removed from the courtroom.

During a court-ordered competency test earlier this week, King told a psychologist he believed he was “innocent” and police officers were “against him” from the beginning. He said they created fictitious videotaped interviews with him in them.

King also said he was going to appeal his case.

According to Florida law, King’s attorneys must appeal as a mandatory procedure in a death penalty case. The appeal may be argued mostly on the process and strong objections of King’s three attorneys — Carolyn Schlemmer, John Scotese and Jerry Meisner — during the trial, and not so much on the facts or evidence in the case. The first appeal could take about two or three years for his attorneys to file, with several more planned over the next 20 years.

In her closing statement of the penalty phase Friday, Schlemmer vigorously argued that the state had not proved its case and that it did not qualify for the death penalty. Calling King a good father to his 13-year-old son, a hard worker and a good boyfriend, Schlemmer asked jurors to consider the “totality of King’s life” — including a brain injury he suffered in a sledding accident when he was 6 — when deciding his fate.

When the trial ended, Lewis hugged Lee and Goff and their families.

At first, Lewis said he was surprised about the unanimous decision.

“I expected it to be 10-to-2 or 11-to-1, but 12-and-0 speaks volumes about the quality of the prosecution,” said Lewis, who, along with at least four North Port police detectives, were in the courtroom with the family at all times during the trial. “It was a group effort on behalf of many community police agencies in our area.”

Officers from the North Port Police Department, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Highway Patrol and Florida Department of Law Enforcement testified in the case.

King’s attorneys quickly left the courtroom as Assistant State Attorney Lon Arend and prosecutors Suzanne O’Donnell and Karen Fraivillig spent time hugging family members, their friends and several law enforcement officers.

On the courthouse steps, as they have done several times during the trial, Goff and Lee spoke. They both thanked the jurors, prosecutors, law enforcement and everyone who supported them.

“Denise took another piece of trash off the street,” Goff said. “She put him where he belongs ... I’m sorry for (King’s) son’s loss, but we are without Denise — and the boys (young sons Adam and Noah) are without their mother.”

Lee said justice was served in King receiving the death penalty.

“I’m sick of going to court and hearing all of the horrific evidence,” he said, adding he wanted to “move on” and spend time with his boys.

King abducted Denise Lee at gunpoint from her North Port Estates home on Jan. 17, 2008. He drove her to his North Port home, where he raped her repeatedly, according to prosecutors.

Hours later, with Denise Lee trapped in the back seat of his Camaro, he drove to the home of his cousin, Harold Muxlow Jr., where he borrowed a gas can, a shovel and a flashlight. Using King’s cell phone, Denise Lee was able to make a single, frantic call to 911 dispatchers, where she can be heard pleading for her life and to be returned to her family. But King drove her to a remote area off Toledo Blade Boulevard, where he shot Denise Lee and buried her in a 4-foot hole.

King was arrested later that night. Denise Lee’s heart-shaped ring and hair were found in his Camaro.

Nathan Lee’s mother, Peggy, who has been beside him in the courtroom since the trial’s start, said she believed the jurors voted unanimously, “not because of who King was, but because Denise was so wonderful.”

Inside the courtroom, three jurors spoke. One juror, Marcia K. Burns, echoed Peggy Lee’s words.

“Denise was an amazing woman to have the presence of mind in the face of knowing what was going to happen to her,” Burns told reporters.

Burns said Denise Lee left enough evidence to allow them to “convict King of the heinous crime he committed.”

Nathan said last week that it was as if his wife was “holding his hand” throughout the guilt phase of the trial.

“She was with me today,” he said. “I know she was.”

Today's resource pick... check them out!

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2009/sep/04/jurors-recommend-death-murderrape-trial-king/AC

09-04-09

King Competent

Judge Deno Economou ruled Michael King is competent, and the sentencing phase of his murder trail will continue.

The judge made the ruling following testimony from psychologists about King's mental state.

Jurors heard from King’s two brothers, Gary King and Rodney King, who talked about Michael King’s life and how he struggled with odd behavior possibly brought on by a head injury caused by a childhood sledding accident.

Michael King was prone to exaggerate and hallucinate, Gary King said.

“He told me one time he saw ghosts and was shooting at ghosts,” Gary King said,

adding that when his brother said such things he would tease Michael about it.

Gary also said his brother would often complain about a “buzzing” in his head.

“He’d always say ‘I still have buzzing from my brain from the sledding accident,’” Gary King said.

Gary King also talked about the time Michael King brought a live chainsaw into the family house as a teenager.

The incident occurred in 1988, when Michael King was 16, Gary King said.

Gary and his girlfriend were watching the horror movie “Chainsaw Massacre” with Michael when without saying anything Michael walked outside. The next thing Gary King said he heard was his brother outside with a chainsaw cutting down branches of their father’s spruce trees.

Michael King then went into the house with the chainsaw buzzing and walked around the kitchen with it, Gary King said.he was in kitchen with chainsaw, lots of smoke, mike was twirling circles with the chainsaw.

“The next thing I know he started walking towards me with the chain saw,” Gary King said. “He had this ‘ghostlike’ look in his eyes.”

Rodney King, the youngest of the four King boys, testified via video from Michigan, where he lives. Rodney King said while growing up Michael suffered from nosebleeds, had trouble keeping up in school would sometimes make things up.

Rodney King talked about the time he and Michael were playing as children and Michael insisted he saw witches in the woods.

Rodney King said he attributed virtually all of his brother’s problems, including seeing things that weren’t there, going into a trance-like state, getting lost while driving and hearing buzzing in his head to a head injury Michael King suffered during a sledding accident as a child.

However, under cross examination from prosecutor Lon Arend Rodney King acknowledged he did not mention those ailments when asked by police about any strange behavior he saw from Michael King that was attributed to the sledding accident.

Rodney King said he has some memory loss and that police were going quickly during that interview shortly after Michael King’s January, 2008 arrest.

When the penalty phase resumes at 1:30, more of King’s family, including possibly his father also via video from Michigan, are expected to testify on his behalf.

Today's resource pick... Check them out!

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090903/KINGTRIAL/909039955?Title=Trial-breaks-after-hearing-from-King-s-brothers

09-03-09

Judge Orders Competency Evaluation

Two doctors were evaluating Michael King Wednesday night to judge his competence.  They'll go in front of the judge Thursday with their findings.

King already had a competency evaluation done before the trial began.  But due to his demeanor in court during the trial, the judge wants to make sure they cover all the bases.  In this particular case, it's the lack of emotion that Michael King has been showing that has the judge concerned.

Criminal defense attorney Derek Byrd says although King was evaluated before the murder trial against him began, in extremely rare cases a defendant could become incompetent during trial.  "I guess arguably the stress of the trial or whatnot...could make you incompetent."

Byrd says its not unusual for a defendant to fake it.  And he wouldn't be shocked if king was doing just that.  "He sits in the trial with this blank stare, with this lack of emotion, with this lack of affect, to maybe give the jury the impression that maybe he does suffer from head trauma...that he really is out of it.  To help him save his own life...that would not be a stretch."

The doctor's evaluation into Kings competency could be threatening to this trial.  If he is found to be incompetent, there is a potential for a mistrial.  "You don't have to be Einstein to go to trial, you just have to have a clue of what you are doing in the room."

Read resource details...

http://www.mysuncoast.com/Global/story.asp?S=11037996

09-02-09

Expert Testimony

Michael King's defense attorneys are claiming the killer suffered a brain injury as a child.  But will that defense be enough to keep King from being executed?

Inside the courtroom Michael King's lawyers are fighting for his life.  The defense is hoping his injury could keep King from receiving the death penalty.

Tuesday, defense expert Dr. Joseph Wu took the stand testifying that King has abnormalities in his brain, possibly caused by an accident while being pulled by a snowmobile when he was six years old.  Wu believes the injury could cause psychotic tendencies and the inability to express normal emotions and logical behavior.

He went over different episodes throughout his life where King acted out.  "He took a real chain saw, which he started and he started chasing family members in the house," said Dr. Wu.

Dr. Dean Southerland says a brain injury causing violence might sound far fetched, but with the help of modern technology, doctors can see how the brain is functioning.  "We know that brain injuries can lead to violent behavior.  People that have frontal lobe injuries can have behavioral changes that can be long lasting."

Read more article details here...

http://www.mysuncoast.com/Global/story.asp?S=11029689&nav=menu577_2

08-28-09

Guilty on all charges! Court will resume at 10:00am Tuesday Morning

Thursday's Testimony

Day four in the Michael King murder trial started out with both sides talking about the defense's tactics on day three, and ended with gruesome details from the medical examiner's report.

On Wednesday, Michael King's public defender, Jerry Meisner, accused one of the witnesses in the case of being the one who killed Denise Lee.  Robert Salvador has admitted he went shooting with King the day Denise Lee was killed. He says they then separated.  Meisner began to ask questions to Robert Salvador.

Meisner: "Before you left, before you parted ways with Michael King, you arranged to meet him later that day, didn't you?"
Salvador:  "No sir."
Meisner: "And didn't you go over to his home on Sardinia that day, January 17th, 2008?"
Salvador: "No sir, I did not."
Meisner: "And wasn't the purpose of going over there to bring a lawnmower and a gas can?"
Salvador: "Absolutely not."
Meisner: "To help him cut his grass?"
Salvador: "No, sir."
Meisner: "And didn't you meet him out on Plantation Boulevard during the evening hours of January 17th, 2008?"
Salvador: "No, sir."
Meisner: "And Mr. Salvador, didn't you fire the shot that killed and took the life of Denise Lee?"
Salvador: "Absolutely not."

The judge has thrown out all, but the last question about Salvador pulling the trigger, and on Thursday the state tried to get the judge to even throw that out, but was denied.

On Thursday, King's lawyers filed a motion for a mistrial, but were denied.

The state then came back and wanted to call Robert Salvador's wife to answer questions about his alibi. King's lawyers say they haven't been given enough time to prepare, and the state should have had Betsy Salvador listed as a witness from the start.

"Judge they are calling this witness to help establish his whereabouts. They have not listed this witness. We are prejudice by them doing it at this time. They should have listed this witness before trial. They were on notice from my opening statement that the direction the defense would take. That is my problem to it," says Meisner.

Meisner is basically saying that during his opening statements that they would prove that Michael King was not the one who shot Denise Lee and the state should have then began the process of making sure both Robert Salvador and King's cousin Harold Muxlow had alibis.

The judge ruled to disallow the witness, so Salvador's wife will not be taking the stand.

Also Thursday, the jury heard more from detectives and DNA experts.  They were shown photographs of the hole that Lee's battered body was buried in, as silence filled the courtroom.

The medical examiner then showed the jurors bruising all over the body...likely from a struggle, and then showed how a single bullet took her life.  "Cause there's a punched-out hole where the bullet went through the skin, and it literally cuts it out like a cookie cutter."  It was determined that the bullet went through the top of her right eye and out the back of her head.

That was the last testimony the jurors heard Thursday.  They will reconvene Friday morning, and it is expected that the state will rest it's case and closing arguments will be heard.

Today's resource pick...Check it out!!!

http://www.mysuncoast.com/global/story.asp?s=11002508

08-27-09

Defense Point Finger At Another Man

The trial of Michael King for the murder of Denise Amber Lee took a stunning turn today when the defense accused another man in open court of killing Lee.

King is on trial in Sarasota for the January 2008 kidnapping, sexual assault and killing of the 21-year old mother of two young children. He was arrested the night of the murder and prosecutors feel they have strong witness and forensic evidence connecting him to the homicide.

That includes the testimony of Robert Salvador (left), a contractor who says he was target shooting with King just hours before the abduction. Salvador says the defendant brought his own 9mm semiautomatic handgun to the pistol range.

"He opened the door, got it out from under his seat, and that's when -- I was already there, and I told him, you can't just walk up there with your gun out of a case so I put it in my bag," Salvador said.

But defense attorney Jerry Meisner pointed out several inconsistencies in information the witness initially provided detectives, even getting him to use the word "lied".

Then Meisner launched a series of questions suggesting Salvador met up with King later that day. The final question:

"Didn't you fire the shot that killed and took the life of Denise Lee?" Meisner asked.

"Absolutely not," Salvador responded.

Judge Deno Economou instructed jurors to disregard all of the questions except the last one.

Earlier Wednesday, he let jurors go to a secured courthouse parking lot and look at Michael King's green Camaro. Much of the state's case relies on evidence from that vehicle.

Resource pick...

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/local/sun_coast/King_trial_defense_accuses_salvador_082609

More...

http://www.mysuncoast.com/Global/story.asp?S=10998985&nav=menu577_2

08-25-09

911 Calls Center Of Testimony

The first words jurors heard in the Michael King murder trial Monday came from the victim herself, who managed to get King's cell phone and plead for her life after calling 911.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I just want to go. I just want to see my family. I just want to see my family again, please. Oh, please," Assistant State Attorney Lon Arend read from a transcript to start the opening statements.

The courtroom was still. Denise Lee's mother and sister cried. Tears welled in the eyes of Lee's father, Rick Goff, who leaned forward with elbows on his knees. He glared at King after the reading was over.

"It's tough sitting in there with him," Goff said afterward.

Prosecutors plan to play the actual recording of the 911 call in court today, a six-minute glimpse into some of her last words before the 21-year-old mother of two was shot and buried in a wooded area in January 2008, prosecutors say.

It has never been made public, and is expected to be the emotional crescendo of the trial as well as the evidence that reverberates most with the jury.

The rest of today's testimony will focus on crime scene technicians and officers from North Port Police, but some of the family plan to leave when Lee's 911 call is played.

Nate Lee, the widower of Denise Lee, said after Monday's court proceedings that he's glad the case is going over the hurdles to get justice for his wife.

"The most difficult part is listening to the defense trying to make excuses for the evidence," Nate Lee said.

In the face of strong evidence, King's defense attorneys focused their attacks on the murder charge, but did little to address the abduction or rape accusations.

Only the first-degree murder charge carries the possibility of a death sentence, and King's attorneys have made it clear that their main goal is avoiding that ultimate penalty.

Prosecutors told the jury about the overwhelming evidence of King's guilt: sperm found inside Lee's body matches King's, Lee's blood was splattered on the front of King's car, and Lee's 911 call made from King's phone.

There are also a number of witnesses who say they saw King drive the dark green Camaro. Lee's neighbor at the time testified the car circled their block four to six times before pulling into the Lee's driveway.

State Trooper Eddie Pope testified about how he stopped the Camaro on Interstate 75 and arrested King. He identified King's cell phone, which he took from King's pocket that night.

Day one of the trial included key testimony from King's cousin, Harold Muxlow, who saw him struggling with a woman in his car on Jan. 17, 2008, the day Lee was shot and killed.

He said King showed up at his home about 5:30 to 6 p.m. saying his mower was stuck and he wanted to borrow a gas can, a shovel and a flashlight. Those items were entered as evidence after police found them in King's car.

After Muxlow retrieved the tools, King put them in the car. A few moments later, Muxlow heard a woman's voice say, "Call the cops."

Muxlow said he walked toward the car and saw King reach into the back seat and shove someone's head back down. It was a woman with shoulder-length hair, and Muxlow said he caught a glimpse of her knee as she was pushed.

King then took off.

Assistant Public Defender Jerry Meisner's opening statement and questions during testimony largely centered on what evidence was missing. Most importantly, the murder weapon.

Police never found a 9mm handgun, any bullets, or any blood on King's clothing when he was stopped about two miles from the spot where prosecutors say Lee was shot and buried, Meisner said.

The medical examiner will say she was shot at point blank range, but will not be able to say who shot that gun.

"The question of identity will be left to you," Meisner said at the end of his opening statement. "The evidence will show Michael King did not fire the shot that ended Denise Lee's life."

Day two of the Michael King murder trial revealed more about the heinous crime, and for the first time, the 911 call Denise Lee made while abducted was heard.

It was the last call made before she was raped and killed; A desperate 911 call made on what prosecutors say was Michael King's cell phone.

Whether you know Denise Lee or not, listening to her struggle and pleas for help can strike an emotion.  Her 911 call brought many to tears Tuesday.

Lee: "I am sorry.  I just want to see my family.  I want to see my family again please."

As her father listens, emotions nearly take over.  Michael King, the man accused of being the other person heard on the tape, sits emotionless...looking down.  Lee tries to give details about where she is.  Her eyes are concealed.  She's trying to give as much as she can without letting her abductor know she's on the phone.

Operator: "Can you tell at all what street you are on?"
Lee: "No."
Operator: "Do you know this guy that is with you?"
Lee: "No."
Operator: "You don't know him from anywhere?"
Lee: "No.  Please, oh God, help me."

Another 911 call was heard Tuesday, one from Jane Kowalski.  She was trying to alert authorities to something she knew wasn't right, describing in detail what she saw and heard at a stop light in North Port the same night Lee was killed.

On the stand, she described what she saw that night.  "It's not going to sound like glass, but 'bang, bang, bang'.  Even harder then that.  It was very loud."  She said it was King and King alone in the car next to her.  "I am sitting at the light and looked over I made eye contact...wonder what on Earth is going on in that car with...with that man over there.  He turned around and started going like this in the back seat...pushing like this...something down in the back seat."

The calls for help couldn't save the mother of two from a horrific death.

Lee: "Are you going to hurt me?"
Male voice: "Give me the phone."
Lee: "Are you going to let me out now?"
Male voice: "If you give me the phone."
Lee: "Help me."

It was a call that her family says should not be what Denise Lee is remembered by.  "I want her to be remembered for the person she was and all the other things that she did to get this person caught.  Hopefully convicted.  I don't want her to be remembered for the horrifying 911 call that she made," says Denise's husband Nathan Lee.

Tuesday we also heard from detectives and search crews who ended up finding Denise Lee buried.

Today's resource choices... Check them out!!!

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/aug/25/jurors-hear-911-call-michael-king-murder-trial/news-metro/

http://www.mysuncoast.com/Global/story.asp?S=10989099&nav=menu577_2_1

 

 

 

 

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