Former death row inmate Peter Avsenew convicted after murder retrial

WILTON MANORS — Former death row inmate Peter Avsenew was found guilty, again, for the murders of Kevin Powell, 52, and Stephen Adams, 47, a Wilton Manors couple who took him into their home during the 2010 holiday season only to have him beat and shoot them to death as Christmas approached.

The verdict was announced Friday morning after 4 ½ hours of deliberation that began Thursday evening.

Prosecutors went into the trial without a key piece of evidence — testimony from the defendant’s mother, who said in his first trial that Avsenew came to visit her in Polk County shortly after the murders, driving the victims’ stolen SUV and confessing he had done something wrong.

Her search of a computer Avsenew was using led her to believe he was a suspect in the Wilton Manors murders. She had a friend call police to arrest her own son.

The current jury heard only bits and pieces of that account — the Florida Supreme Court found the mother’s testimony inadmissible on a technicality in January and vacated his conviction. Before the mother could testify again, she died.

But prosecutors Molly McGuire and Stephen Zaccor still had sufficient evidence to proceed — Avsenew was already a suspect before he even reached his mother’s home. Her testimony helped solidify the case at his first trial in 2017, but the 2022 jury found the case was strong enough without her.

Defense lawyer Gabe Ermine argued during closings on Thursday that Avsenew was not the killer, and that he would have been a victim had he been home at the time the murders took place. McGuire argued that if the defense is correct, then Avsenew took the victims’ SUV knowing they were dead, in which case he inexplicably failed to call 911. If he did not call, he inexplicably did not call the victims to see how their holiday was going. Common sense, she said, should lead to the conclusion that Avsenew committed the murders. Through its verdict, the jury agreed. Avsenew will now face the same jury for a penalty phase before Broward Circuit Judge Martin Fein starting on Aug. 4. The jury will either recommend a death sentence or decide that life in prison without the possibility of parole is an adequate punishment.

After losing his first trial, Avsenew began behaving erratically. He fired his defense team, sent a threatening note to Broward Circuit Judge Ilona Holmes, who was handling the case, flipped off the families of the victims, and told the judge he would likely kill again if he’s not executed.

There was a hint that this trial is headed down part of the same path. Avsenew said he does not want the Public Defender’s Office to continue representing him because he opposes the presentation of mitigating evidence, which the jury must consider in deciding whether to spare his life.

The judge ordered Assistant Public Defenders Rachel Newman and Phyllis Cook to prepare its presentation in case Avsenew changes his mind. The judge ordered a competency evaluation to be completed before he allows Avsenew to represent himself for the penalty phase.

Avsenew