Jury gets Manors double murder case
Two versions of Peter Avsenew were presented to a Broward jury Tuesday afternoon. The first was, in his own words, “a stone cold killer” responsible for the brutal murders of a Wilton Manors couple in 2010.
The second was a terrified man who walked in on a bloody scene and made a hasty, unwise decision to flee rather than call police.
Avsenew’s freedom and his life will depend on which version the jury accepts as true.
Prosecutor Shari Tate began Tuesday’s round of closing arguments by reminding jurors of a statement Avsenew, 33, made in a recorded phone call from the Broward jail where he has been held since his arrest in late 2010. In the call, recorded earlier this year, Avsenew tells a woman he’s a “stone cold killer.”
Defense lawyer Gabe Ermine brushed off Avsenew’s statement as jailhouse bluster, but Tate portrayed it as the casual confession of a man who knows he’s guilty.
Avsenew is accused of killing Stephen Adams, 52, and Kevin Powell, 47, at their Wilton Manors home while robbing them two days before Christmas 2010. Adams was shot nine times in the head, Tate said. Powell was shot twice in the head and beaten with a blunt object, she said. “There was a fight,” Tate said. “They fought for their lives.”
After the men were dead, Tate said, Avsenew tried to clean parts of their home, covering their bodies with sheets so he could go about removing some traces of his presence from the home Adams and Powell rented. Some items were left behind, including Avsenew’s clothes and copies of Craigslist classified ads that may explain how the couple met Avsenew. Avsenew then stole their credit cards and their car, Tate said.
Avsenew was captured several days later in Polk County after his mother turned him in.
Adams had been scheduled to visit his sisters in Ohio on Christmas night, and they called Wilton Manors police when he didn’t show up. Their bodies were discovered on Dec, 27, 2010, and Avsenew’s mother contacted local law enforcement when her son was named a person of interest in the case.
Ermine said Avsenew was worried because he hired himself out as an escort — his Craigslist ad was sexually suggestive and appeared to indicate he was offering his services as an attractive man open to experiences with an older male couple.
According to Ermine, Avsenew came home on Dec. 23, 2010 to find Powell and Adams already murdered, but having no explanation for his presence in their home as a male prostitute, he took their credit card and car and fled.
“Peter Avsenew is a survivor. He was in survival mode,” Ermine said. “Yes, a crime was commited. But no, Peter Avsenew did not commit that crime. Peter Avsenew is not guilty.”
Avsenew faces the death penalty if convicted. The 12-member jury began deliberating shortly before 5 p.m. and will be sequestered until a verdict is reached.
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