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A former prison guard trainee in Florida was recommended for the death penalty by a jury for the execution-style murders of five women in a bank in Sebring. Zephen Xaver, 27, showed no emotion as the jury recommended the death penalty in a 9-3 vote. The final decision on sentencing rests with Circuit Judge Angela Cowden, who could impose a life sentence without parole.
Xaver pleaded guilty to the murders and his trial was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Prosecutors argued that the massacre was long-planned and fulfilled Xaver’s desire to experience killing, while his defense attorneys stated that he was mentally ill and had been hearing voices since childhood urging him to kill himself and others.
Xaver’s victims included customer Cynthia Watson, bank teller coordinator Marisol Lopez, banker trainee Ana Pinon-Williams, bank teller Debra Cook, and banker Jessica Montague. Xaver ordered them to lie on the floor before shooting each one in the head as they cried out “Why?”
During the trial, Xaver was portrayed as a cold and calculated killer who pretended to hear voices to cover for his violent impulses. His attorneys claimed he had a history of psychotic episodes. Xaver had displayed homicidal thoughts since his adolescence and expressed a desire to kill multiple people.
The focus was shifted to the victims and their families, with the local state attorney emphasizing the loss felt by those who knew the five women who were brutally killed in the 2019 massacre.
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