Woman Found Guilty of Leaving Boyfriend to Die in Suitcase

A jury in Florida has determined the fate of a 47-year-old woman on trial for leaving her boyfriend to die in a zipped-up suitcase, Fox 35 Orlando reported. On Friday, a jury took less than two hours to find Sarah Boone guilty of murder in the second degree.

Boone was arrested in Feb. 2020 after Jorge Torres Jr., 42, was found dead in their Winter Park condo zipped inside a compact suitcase. Boone contended that Torres had zipped himself into the suitcase during a game of hide-and-seek, and that the two were laughing about how he could fit into such a small space. Boone’s recollection of who zipped the suitcase fluctuated; she at first said Torres zipped himself in, and then allowed that she had zipped him up but not all the way, leaving a space between the zippers where his fingers could get out. She eventually went to bed with Torres still in the suitcase and woke the next morning to find Torres dead.

Boone summoned investigators, to whom she repeatedly gave statements including a two-hour interview the day after Torres’ death. In these statements, Boone repeated that the offense was “not intentional.” “No malicious [intent],” she told detectives several times during her interrogation.

But authorities discovered several videos on Boone’s phone taken on the night of the incident which cast doubt on her version of events. Shot by Boone on her cell phone, the videos show the suitcase in different parts of their apartment. Sometimes the case is flipped right side up; at others, it’s flipped completely upside down.

“For everything you’ve done to me,” Boone can be heard saying in the video as Torres cries out, “Sarah! Please, baby. I can’t f---ing breathe.”

“Yeah, that’s what it feels like when you choke me,” Boone tells Torres. He can be heard pleading her name on the video.

“That’s my name,” Boone responds. “Don’t wear it out.”

Boone cycled through nine different attorneys, most of them public defenders, which is why the case took nearly five years to go to trial. Several of her former attorneys implied that Boone wanted to pursue a defense which was not legally acceptable. Through a letter-writing campaign in which she lambasted her lawyers, calling them “dud[s]” and accusing them of having “snotty attitude[s],” Boone was also successful in having the original judge removed from her case.

In June, the second judge, Hon. Michael Kraynick, found that Boone had effectively refused her right to counsel and announced he would not appoint another public defender. Boone then drew a help wanted ad seeking a lawyer, which resulted in attorney James Owens representing her at trial.

Vegas has set the over/under at 9.5 for #sarahboone appeal attorneys she go through. pic.twitter.com/nJt1wiSTjl

— The Docket (@ChasingPaper89) October 26, 2024

Somewhat controversially, Boone and her attorneys pursued a battered spouse defense. Boone argued that she and Torres were in a mutually abusive relationship and that she was in fear for her life on the night of his death. Boone presented photos in which she could be seen with black eyes and other injuries allegedly caused by Torres; but prosecutors showed texts which seemed to illustrate that Boone had financial and emotional control of Torres. In one text exchange after he had briefly left their home, Torres begged for the return of his birth certificate. Boone responded by sending a picture of the birth certificate torn into four pieces.

On the stand, Boone’s story changed substantially from what she told investigators. She admitted that her actions had been intentional, and that while it had begun as a game she decided to take advantage of Torres’ being trapped to teach him a lesson. She further admitted to using a baseball bat to beat Torres around the face and hands when he tried to escape from the suitcase.

The jury took just 90 minutes to find Boone guilty on Friday night. She faces a minimum of 22.5 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life without parole. Just before the trial, Boone refused a plea deal of 15 years which likely would have seen her released within the next decade. Boone’s sentencing is scheduled to take place on Dec. 2 at 1:30 p.m. local time.