Authorities have apprehended a suspect in the slaying of a gay couple in Wilton Manors, Florida over Christmas weekend. Twenty-six-year-old Peter Serge Avsenew was arrested driving the couple's stolen vehicle near Dundee, reports the Sun-Sentinel and the Orlando Sentinel.
"Peter Serge Avsenew, 26, of Hollywood, was taken into custody Tuesday night in Polk County, with charges pending against him in the killings of Kevin Mark Powell, 47, and Stephen Duane Adams, 52, said Alesia Furdon, spokeswoman for Wilton Manors police. Powell and Adams, partners for 29 years, were found murdered inside their Wilton Manors home early Sunday. The victims' black 2003 Saturn Vue also had disappeared, officials said. Avsenew, a convicted felon, was taken into custody without incident."
Avsenew is no stranger to the criminal justice system:
"Avsenew was being held without bond in the Polk County Jail on Wednesday on an unrelated violation of probation charge, jail records show. The probation violation stemmed from a grand theft case in Monroe County. Across the state, Avsenew has been taken into custody more than a dozen times since 2003, state records show. He has been convicted of vehicle theft, robbery, grand theft and engaging in fraud through bounced checks. He also has pleaded no contest to marijuana possession, loitering, possession of drug paraphernalia, criminal mischief and resisting an officer without violence."
Police have not released how the two men died or what the motive may have been, adds NBC Miami.
Joe Jervis has followed the case and links to Avsenew's Facebook page, which includes shirtless pics and an indication that he is a new father: "'Below a recent posting of the boy's photo, a woman with the same last name (probably the suspect's mother) warns: 'Peter, Look at these pictures does this baby deserve anything but the best? then think before you do anything stupid.'"
How awful. I truly hope justice is served. 29 years together and then this. Its heartbreaking and senseless.
Posted by: Isis | 30 December 2010 at 09:53