A Florida woman was convicted of second-degree murder Friday after authorities said she stuffed her boyfriend in a suitcase and left him for dead in 2020.
Sarah Boone, now 47, told authorities her boyfriend got stuck in a suitcase and died during a game of hide-and-seek, according to court records. The Florida couple drank chardonnay and solved puzzles in their Winter Park apartment.
They thought “it would be funny” to jump into a suitcase as part of the game, according to an Orange County Sheriff’s Office arrest affidavit.
When Boone zipped Jorge Torres Jr., 42, into a blue suitcase, two of his fingers came out, so she assumed he could open it, according to the affidavit.
She went upstairs to bed and thought he would come out of the suitcase and join her, only to wake up and find him still in it and not breathing, the affidavit states.
“Evidence presented during the trial included videos found on Boone’s phone where Torres could be heard frantically begging to be released while Boone laughed and repeatedly scolded him,” a statement from the prosecutor’s office said Andrew Bain.
“In the videos she recorded, the victim could be heard telling the accused that she could not breathe and asking to be let out of the suitcase,” the statement added. “Boone responded, ‘That’s what you get,’ ‘That’s how I feel when you cheat on me,’ and other taunts.”
“I can’t breathe, seriously,” her boyfriend said in the phone video.
The video shows Torres pushing the suitcase and trying to get out, the affidavit states.
During the 10-day trial, Boone’s defense said she suffered from “battered spouse syndrome” and feared for her life, CNN affiliate WFTV reported. Boone also said she thought Torres might come out of the suitcase, the affiliate said.
She testified in her own defense for nearly five hours, CNN affiliate WESH reported.
Boone’s attorney said he was very disappointed following the verdict, while Torres’ family was emotional and declined to speak to the media, CNN affiliate WESH reported.
“Just a shock. She’s shocked, you know,” James Owens said, according to WESH. “She felt like, you know, she had a defense, as you know.”
Boone is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 2 at 1:30 p.m., according to the release from the State Attorney’s Office.
CNN’s Faith Karimi contributed to this report.
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