Sarah Boone, 47, is on trial for second degree murder in the death of her boyfriend, Jorge Torres Jr, 42, in February of 2020.
It is alleged that Boone zipped Torres into a suitcase where he suffocated to death in their Winter Park town house
READ: After a week long delay, the jury has been selected in the “suitcase murder trial”
On Tuesday, Boone testifies, claiming her actions were the result of a battered spouse. She detailed her day with Torres before his death.
Boon says the day started off normal ,as the couple spent the first few hours cleaning up the house, doing crafts, and completing a puzzle.
Boone says the two spent most of the day drinking while completing these activities. The couple is seen purchasing a bottle of wine at Publix together in the morning, and Torres is seen purchasing another bottle later in the day. Boone also added that they already had some wine in the refrigerator.
Towards the end of the night, Boone says she ran out of ideas too entertain themselves. She says that when Torres tapped her on the leg saying “tag you’re it”. Boone ran upstairs to hide in the primary bedroom shower. She says Torres never came after here to seek her, so she went back downstairs to find him.
Boone says that when she walked downstairs, Torres was entering an old suitcase they intended on donating. The two were laughing as she zipped him up in the suitcase.
Boone describes Torres as 5 foot 3 inches, and 100 pounds. “we thought it was funny, we were joking about, I guess, how he’s small enough to fit in the suitcase,” says Boone.
Sarah said she paraded the suitcase with Torres in it around the room, when it flopped over, they were both laughing.
Boone said that while the suitcase was flipped over, she believed it was a good time to discuss with him some of the problems they have been experiencing. Boone claims Torres was abusive and previous slashed her leg with a knife, slammed her head against a door, and hit her repeatedly.
Boone says she wanted to “take the time to talk to him while he was not able to get out”.
“I have the ability to speak to him in a manner I ordinarily would not have the ability to” she says.
Boone admits she wanted him to feel uncomfortable
At 11:12 pm, video evidence shows Boone made a first recording on her cellphone to show him later on. In the video, she says " for everything you’ve done to me” and curses at him, calling him stupid. Torres is heard pleading “Sarah” and says he can’t breathe. She says “that’s on you.”
After he repeats himself that he cant breathe, she says “that’s what I feel like when you cheat on me”
Boone claims she doesn’t remember the videotape.
READ: An Orange county judge will decide if evidence will be tossed in a murder trial
There was another video taken just 11 minutes apart.
Sarah says that in those 11 minutes between videos, they were speaking to each other when it turned into arguing.
“He was frightening me,” she said.
Boone said that Torres got frustrated, and angry, and he tried to get out of the suitcase. He was able to get one of his hands free, when Boone says she shook the suitcase, and poked his hand and body with her sons baseball bat. “My fear was that he was going to break out of the suitcase knowing that it was a broken suitcase,” said Boone.
She recalls that Torres told her “he was going to f-ing end me”
Boone says once she got his hand back inside, she left Torres in the suitcase because she thought it would prevent him from attacking her.
“He would’ve made me unrecognizable or I would’ve lost my life,” she claims.
When asked is she was in fear, Boone responded, “always”.
Boone says did not know he couldn’t breathe, and never meant to kill him.
Text messages on Sarah’s phone also show hat the two have been fighting for month leading up to the incident, one of them reads, “I’ll get rid of him”.
Boone lacks emotion while watching the videos and reliving the incident, however she says that she still loves Torres.
The trial continues today.
UPDATE 10/24/24
Wednesday, witnesses were brought out to back up Boone’s claims that she was traumatized by her boyfriends typical drunken actions.
Boone’s neighbor supports her assertion, claiming that Boone was abused.
“Sometimes I would see that she’s been choked around her neck or her arms or her arm be hurting her, there’s a mark in her arm,” says Pearl Walker, who was Boone’s neighbor.
Psychologist, Dr. Julie Harper took stand after interviewing Boone. She states that she believes Boone has some narcissistic personality traits, but she did not diagnose Boon with narcissistic personality disorder. Dr. Harper diagnosed Boone with Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Deputy Jessica Ramirez- Delgado of Orange County Sheriffs Office says she responded to a domestic abuse call on July 25th 2018 where she met Boone and Torres. “She had swelling and bruising in her right eye,” says Ramirez- Delagado.
She also noted that Torres had physical marking, indicating abuse. The deputy says when Boone was detained, she asked why she was in trouble, saying “‘Why? because I f-ing fought back?’”
The defense is expected to rest today, and closing arguments are likely to begin tonight or Friday morning.
UPDATE 10/25/24
On Thursday, psychiatrist Dr. Tonia Werner testifies that she did not believe she had enough information from the 2 and a half hour interview at the jail with Sarah Boone to diagnose her with PTSD. This opposed claims made by the defense.
Werner agrees that Boone has battered spouse syndrome, however she does not believe it can be used to explain the death. She says that for those with Battered Spouse Syndrome, taking actions against partner aren’t necessarily justified.
Multiple body cam footage videos from police and 911 calls reveal that Torres and Boone’s relationship was often physical and escalated into both parties turning aggressive.
“He beat the f- out of me,” says Boone in a 911 call.
But Torres says ”she snaps out of nowhere” during a conversation with police when he was asked why Sarah called the cops on him.
In the same video, Torres responds, “all the time” when asked if Boone hits him.
Closing argument are scheduled for today.
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