On late Friday, a Florida judge released 1,700 documents pertaining to last year’s serial killings in Tampa—which included evidence that the suspect watched pornography after carrying out three of the four murders.
According to The Tampa Bay Times, recent records stated that data from suspect Howell Donaldson III’s cellphone showed a “significant amount of Internet activity” within close proximity to the shooting deaths of Benjamin Mitchell, 22, on October 9, Monica Hoffa, 32, on October 11, and Anthony Naiboa, 20, on October 19. The fourth victim, Ronald Felton, 60, was shot and killed on November 14.
The recently-unsealed records also gave a timeline of what led to Donaldson’s alleged killing spree. On October 3, the same day his girlfriend got a new job, Donaldson reportedly went to Shooter’s World and purchased a .40-caliber Glock 27 handgun. By October 7, he passed a background check, picked up the gun, and bought 20 rounds of ammunition, according to the newspaper.
Days earlier, on October 5, is when Donaldson, now 25, reportedly began viewing the porn website.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, police arrested the McDonald’s employee in late November after he allegedly gave manager Delonda Walker the handgun in a fast-food bag before leaving for Amscot. Walker alerted an officer who happened to be in the Ybor City restaurant at the time.
During a police interview, Donaldson told investigators that he was going back to St. John’s University in New York and didn’t want the weapon to be left home with his little brother, according to The Tampa Bay Times.
Further, police interview records obtained by the newspaper captured detectives accusing Donaldson of doing “a number of searches on the Seminole Heights case” before his arrest. The pressing question led Donaldson to ask detectives to let him see his family and speak with a lawyer.
He reportedly said minutes before the interview abruptly ended, “I just want to, I guess talk to my attorney, or talk to who I need to talk to.”
[Featured image: Emanuel Donaldson III/Tampa Police Department]
