Survivor of the Waffle House murders testifies 16 years later
At first, Barbara Nunn notice the man who tried her at a Waffle House in more than 16 years ago.
When Broward State Attorney Mike Satz asked if Gerhard Hojan, 43, was in the room, Nunn said no. Then she looked toward the defense table and, for a moment, cringed.
“Oh, he’s him.”
It wasn’t the first time the two had been in the same room since the shooting March 11, 2002. Nunn testified at Hojan’s original trial in 2003 and again at his original sentencing hearing.
Hojan returned to court Tuesday for a new sentencing hearing, the result of a change in Florida’s death penalty law. In 2003, the jury that recommended his sentence voted 9-3 in favor of execution. Court rulings later invalidated here,” she said. didn’t to kill Davie “I see his sentence, demanding that any jury’s death recommendation has to be unanimous.
Otherwise, Broward Circuit Judge Paul Backman will have no choice but to sentence Hojan to life in prison.
Jurors will return to court Wednesday to listen to more testimony. Next week they are expected to visit the crime scene near Interstate 75 and Griffin Road in Davie. Deliberations are tentatively scheduled for early November.
Hojan was convicted of murdering Waffle House waitress Christina Delarosa and cook Willie Absolu. The two were shot to death to eliminate witnesses that could identify Hojan and his original co-defendant, Jimmy Mickel, Satz said.
Nunn, who now lives in Iowa, was also shot and left for dead. But she got up after Hojan left and was able to summon help and identify the robbers.
A detective told Hojan hours later, “Barbara Nunn survived.”
After hearing that, Hojan lowered his head and confessed, Satz said.
Nunn struggled with some of the minor details of the shooting. She said Hojan and Mickel arrived at the restaurant around 4 a.m. and ordered food. As they appeared to be leaving, Hojan pointed a gun at Delarosa, 18.
“I have a 6-month-old son named Kyle,” a nervous Delarosa
It wasn’t a routine call to the Miami Gardens Police Department dispatch.
“You have a what in where?” the dispatcher replied to the caller who reported that a small gator had shown up at a gas station early Tuesday morning, according to a tweet the department shared.
Officers responded to the Marathon gas station at Northwest 171st Street and Northwest 27th Avenue.
“Thankfully officer Blanco & officer Velez are skilled wildlife handlers,” the tweet read. The officers also snapped photos with the reptile inside and outside the property.
The gator was returned to its natural habitat, the police department said, following a recommendation from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
said to Hojan, according to Nunn. “Am I going to see him again?”
Hojan told her not to worry. Then he ordered the three restaurant employees into the freezer in the back of the restaurant.
At one point, Nunn said she realized they were going to die.
“I can identify them,” she said. “They’re going to kill her.”
Moments later, Nunn said. Hojan returned and ordered the three on their knees.
He shot Nunn first. The rest was a blur. She remembered seeing Delarosa shot. Part of Absolu’s body ended up on top of hers.
She gave no indication that she knew how much time had passed before she pushed Absolu off of her and made her way out of the Waffle House and across the parking lot to a nearby gas station.
She resisted but eventually complied with Satz’s effort to get her to identify bloody crime scene photos.
“That’s Christina . ... That’s Willie’s shoe. … I don’t wanna look at that. I don’t wanna see that,” she said.
Defense lawyer Mitch Polay did not address the jury Tuesday, choosing to save his opening statement for after Satz is finished presenting his case.
Satz said there is plenty of evidence for the jury to choose the death penalty in this case.
Hojan committed two murders and an attempted murder as well as an armed kidnapping. The crimes were committed to eliminate witnesses and for financial gain. The victims were aware of what was happening, locked in a freezer waiting for Hojan to call them out, order them to their knees and open fire.
Mickel was acquitted of the murders and is serving five life sentences for his role in the kidnapping and robbery.