The triple murder in Frostproof, Florida shocked the nation. However, one of the most surprising aspects was that the primary suspect, Tony “TJ” Wiggins, 26, (left) was out of jail to commit the murders. Wiggins has a record of 230 felony charges and was awaiting trial on a violent assault with a crowbar that left a man with a broken arm. That record included 15 convictions and two prison stints. Even as a criminal defense attorney, I am surprised that Wiggins was released on that earlier assault given his record and the violent element of that crime.
Wiggins is accused of killing of 23-year-old Damion Tillman, 30-year-old Keven Springfield, and 27-year-old Brandon Rollins.
There is surveillance footage showing Tillman making purchases when the suspects were in the store. The police reported:
The clerk told detectives that Damion said he was going fishing. The clerk also saw the suspects in the store at the same time, and they are also seen in the video. The clerk told detectives that the suspects heard Damion say he was going fishing, and that Keven would be with him, as the clerk listened to all of them talk to each other about it.
…
Robert followed the trucks to Lake Streety Road in Frostproof. Robert stayed in the truck with Whittemore, while TJ got out and confronted Keven Springfield, punching him and yelling at him, accusing Keven of stealing his truck. Brandon Rollins and Damion Tillman get out of their truck, and TJ continues to scream at all of them. Robert told detectives he watched as TJ shot all three victims. TJ then asked Robert to help him put Damion into the back of one of the trucks.
Police later arrested Wiggins’ girlfriend, Mary Whittemore, 27, and his brother Robert Wiggins, 21. They are charged with three counts of accessory to a murder and one count of tampering with evidence. Whittemore previously had no criminal record and Robert Wiggins only had a misdemeanor. They are now looking as serious time if convicted.
Whittemore allegedly bought the ammunition used in the murders for Wiggin despite his being barred from possessing weapons as a former felon. That would seem to raise the possibility of charged of being an accessory both before and after the fact. Under Florida law:
“Any person who maintains or assists the principal or an accessory before the fact, or gives the offender any other aid, knowing that the offender had committed a crime and such crime was a capital, life, first degree, or second degree felony, or had been an accessory thereto before the fact, with the intent that the offender avoids or escapes detection, arrest, trial, or punishment, is an accessory after the fact.”
The punishment for such crimes can go as high as life in prison: “If the felony offense committed is a capital felony, the offense of accessory after the fact is a felony of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.”
This is a case begging for a plea bargain. Not only is there considerable evidence tying the three to the victims and the scene, but there is the damaging image of the three driving to McDonalds to order 10 cheeseburgers right after the murders. That is not something you want the jury to contemplate in a capital murder case. It reminds me of the Leopold and Loeb case when they went get sandwiches with the victim’s body in the car.
Wiggins has little reason to plead since the prosecutors are likely to seek the death penalty. However, the real question will be the charges against the two alleged accessories and whether prosecutors will add to these charges or seek the maximum sentencing (which seems likely).
And here I thought Florida was supposed to be a tough law and order state. Our only hope is a new POTUS who really is a Russian operative.
Years ago I was appointed to defend a nine-times convicted felon in a federal drugs and guns case. The AUSA offered and the judge allowed all nine convictions to come in. The jury found him guilty after twelve hours of deliberation. I appealed to the Fifth Circuit and the case was reversed and remanded, holding that the government could use only two or three prior convictions. The case was retried and only three convictions came in. This time the jury took three hours to find him guilty.
Never won a civil case for a convicted felon
Funny that it took less time to reach a verdict with 3 priors instead of 9.
Young– the first jury may have been overwhelmed and put the convictions aside for awhile, but with only three they could focus on # 1 (robbery with an explosive device), # 2 stabbing his pregnant girlfriend) and # 3 (dealing meth). He actually was caught in a prison van doing LSD he had hidden in his bel. During the trial, my wife and mother-in-law dropped by to watch some of the proceedings. As they brought my client in, handcuffed and shackled, he raised his arms and waived at them. At one point I asked him about his record. He readily admitted he was a career criminal but then quickly added, “I’m not very good at it.” He was referring to his nine convictions. His one saving grace was his sense of humor. He is now deceased. His obituary said “he spent most of his life as a handyman.” Well, sort of…
Honest– Great story. Sounds like he was friendly and fun to visit with. Dangerous, though. Makes you wonder who you are getting when you call for a handyman from an ad. Just what all is he handy at?
Young– I needed a sense of humor too. Federal courts here paid a pittance for appointed cases and civil lawyers like me had to learn everything from scratch. But I tried the case, appealed the bad verdict to the Fifth Circuit, won the appeal, and tried it again, all for $3,000. Then, he sued me for malpractice.
honestlawyermostly:
What a strange dichotomy – friendly/self deprecating…and stabbed his pregnant girlfriend.
https://youtu.be/lbOtyWTRZ_g
Karen S– There was irony too. Although he was a career criminal, I became convinced he did not do this particular crime. He was charged with possession of a firearm by a felon (there were six rifles and a shotgun) and possession of enough meth to make most of the city high. I learned though that none of his prints were on the drugs, drug paraphernalia or guns. He said he got a call asking him to come to the hotel room and wait for another guy. Shortly after he got there, the DEA and FBI burst in. I could never prove it but I became convinced they wanted to get him off the street because he had been through the system so many times he could burn any undercover operation they tried. And they knew what to say.
I loved the clip. I should have said something like what Jim Carey said but I didn’t. During closing arguments, the rifles and shotgun were leaned against the jury box for all to see. So what did I say to get the jury to hold firm if they had reasonable doubt? “Stand by your guns!” I heard the court reporter snicker behind me as I watched every juror look down and stare at the guns. The court reporter transcribed that part of my argument, had it framed and gave it to me. It hangs on the wall of my office to this day as a reminder that I’m not nearly as smart as I think I am.
Yeah, sometimes the best phrases are left unsaid. But it sounds like the jury took an easy road and convicted him for his previous crimes while doing a “who cares about these guns” approach, though they wouldn’t put it that way. Really does sound like a setup.
Karen…LOL!….I’ve never seen that movie…
Imagine, the DA in Frostproof, Florida, doesn’t enforce the law just like the U.S. Supreme Court doesn’t enforce fundamental law.
The 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms (and ammunition) shall not be infringed yet the unconstitutional, anti-American CA legislature in the one-party, communist state of CA has placed a plethora of obstacles in the way of citizens enjoying their rights per the 2nd Amendment including, but not limited to, age restrictions and a 10-day waiting period – the CA legislature should be in prison.
Further, the Supreme Court does nothing about the violation of the constitutional restriction on Congress to tax only for “…general Welfare…” not individual or specific welfare, redistribution of wealth or charity.
And the Supreme Court has not struck down any and all unconstitutional regulation beyond that which is enumerated in Article 1, Section 8, the value of money, the “flow” of commerce among nations, Sates and Indian tribes and land and naval Forces.
Also, the Supreme Court nullified the 5th Amendment right to private property, which is not qualified by the Constitution and is, therefore, absolute precluding any form of governmental or Congressional interference in the “…claim to or exercise of dominion over private property…,” by not striking down, with extreme prejudice, the entire unconstitutional American welfare state, including but not limited to affirmative action, quotas, Fair Housing, Non-Discrimination, minimum wage, forced busing, etc.
The Frostproof DA and the Supreme Court should be sharing prison cells in Supermax for nullification, denial of constitutional rights, adhering to and abetting the communist enemy, and treason.
It is long past time for President Trump, a la Lincoln, to suspend Habeas Corpus.
________________________________________________________________
America is in a condition of hysteria, incoherence, chaos, anarchy and rebellion.
President Abraham Lincoln seized power, neutralized the legislative and judicial branches and ruled by executive order and proclamation to “Save the Union.”
President Donald Trump must now seize power, neutralize the legislative and judicial branches and rule by executive order and proclamation to “Save the Republic.”
Florida should consider enacting a tough, no-nonsense “235 strikes, you’re out” law! 🤣
That’s the ticket!
With this much ample warning, the justice system is primarily at fault here. The purpose of the justice system is to first, protect society. Then debate about penalty all you want. This mutt should have been a permanent resident at some prison or mental facility.
I just looked at the comment box under the story to which the Prof. links. It’s difficult to believe that people whose attitudes are that repulsive are all around you.
It seems like a high volume of commenters are actually from Floriduh, This Is Absurd.
The brain trust around here is incredibly spiteful and cantankerous.
Natacha’s the ‘brain trust’?
Is this story below true?
Has not the govt’s of the US total collapsed in corruption?
& why haven’t we been able to rid yourselves of these Pedos?
But the wife’s pool is up & running, so my daily beatings have stopped.
Strange days have found us.
https://www.governmentpropaganda.net/top-fbi-intelligence-analyst-child-predator-arrested-and-fired-doj-will-not-publicly-identify-the-pervert/
I agree. We have largely become sub-human, it seems, and it is very, very sad. At times I think the Prof. and the regular commenters here are the last decent human beings on earth.
In “Opposite Land™️“ maybe, James.
Seems to me it’s a lot of “get off my lawn” angry old guy types.
Right now a string of Democratic mayors have insisted that sorosphere rent-a-crowd be permitted to riot, destroy property, and harass others (on specious grounds). The economy has been damaged by a set of ill-considered public health measures with no sense that state or local public health officials have sought to correct course. Congress has added gobs to the federal debt, as if fiscal stimulus mattered. Higher education embraces humbug causes, ruins its curriculum, and harasses dissidents. The tech platforms, which have discrete privileges written into statutory law, insist on harassing the political opposition. The press is filled with lies. A completely unscrupulous Democratic congressional caucus runs a sham impeachment proceedings (whose ultimate impetus was that some career officials thought the President should be working for ‘the Interagency’) and whose object was to divert attention from a Biden family scandal. This same Democratic caucus insists on public hearings so a transparently fraudulent accuser can smear a Supreme Court nominee. Officialdom of the Department of Justice and the security state run a sham special counsel investigation for two solid years, an investigation whose object was to manufacture perjury charges against administration officials and to charge the president with ‘obstruction of justice’ for obstructing their obstruction investigation. The supposed predicate was something they knew was nonsense and they lied repeatedly to the FISA court to get authorization to spy on the opposition’s campaign. This same crew manufactured bogus criminal charges against the incoming National Security Adviser (with the express blessing of the President and the VP), which a crooked federal judge is attempting to keep alive. All that’s apart from ongoing problems like the failure to prosecute criminal officials in the IRS, the refusal to enforce the immigration law, the constant officious interference of the Hawaiian judges in the federal judiciary, etc.
I can’t imagine why we might be dissatisfied.
Did anyone down there ask what the hell was the judge thinking?
Must be some of that white privilege I keep hearing about.
The judge who let that career criminal bast@rd out on bond needs to be charged too.
mespo – everybody is out on OR these days except G. Maxwell.
He’d had 15 convictions but had only two stints in prison. Quite a number of judges have been delinquent with this man. Probably a few prosecutors as well. Forget it jake, it’s Floriduh.
TIA:
“He’d had 15 convictions but had only two stints in prison. Quite a number of judges have been delinquent with this man.”
********************************
It’s successive negligent judging to be sure, but the last guy had all the information when he/she set ’em free to massacre. That’s reckless conduct warranting investigation for reckless homicide. Even a child knows to close an open gate on a charging bull.
You ever notice how often the name of the judge is omitted in news articles on these travesties?
That’s a good point. The judges should be named. No more hiding behind the curtain.
I never knew Florida was so permissive. Would have thought CA.
It’s just more proof of the citizens negligent of their 2nd amd duty to arm up with weapons.
Had they done so maybe it would be more likely at some point between the 1st to the 230th felony a citizen, with a weapon would have rid society of that piece of trash.
I see this morning Tulsa news someone kicked the door of a 90 year old & his 80 something wife & beat the crap out of them. Secure yourself people Arm up. It’s no longer safe to even drive to town. Welcome to Nancy Pelosi’s 3rd world dystopia! Disgusting, but some of us a feeling great as even the idiots can no long ignore these problems of so many decades.
And thanks to 5 “justices” of the USSupremeCt they will have quite a time deciding whether the feds or the state of OK or the native americans have jurisdiction over this crime/criminal.
Yes, & what about all those Laws & property titles from way back then, til today?
Oklahoma is still using abstracts for land title & those go back to where title originated from.
I was hoping Prof Turley would comment on the recent Scotus.
The SC’s decision made little sense to me.
I think that SC decision was based off a 1866 treaty between the US & Muskogee tribe?
That’s post Civil War.
But I seem to recall reading abstracts here & I believe the 1st page says at around 1820 under treaty between the US & the Cherokee Tribe…… something/something… From then on, that as long as the Grass is Green, That the Rivers Flow & the Winds Blows all this ground described there-in belongs too the Cherokee Nation.
Then on the 2nd page of the abstract says…. something… 20 yrs later, 1840’s… by an Act of Congress… Never mind all those original promises the US govt made in that deal as Congress has a brand new deal.
So at this point I/m not sure who the hell the courts might claim to be the title owner/authority over much of Okla?
Now you’re talkin’!
Charge the Supreme Court too, with not striking down wholly unconstitutional Obamacare, CA guns laws, interference by Congress in the “…claim and exercise of dominion over…” private property, regulation beyond the “value” of money, the “flow” of commerce among jurisdictions and land and naval Forces, and the rest of the unconstitutional communist American welfare state.
If 230 felony charges does not entitle you to a one way trip in basket tied to a weather balloon, it entitles someone else.
Perhaps you should proof read better?
Florida needs to tune up Ole Sparky for each of these sub humans. This guy is noted in the community for violence and trouble. According to reports they were living in an old trailer without water and sewage. The other two watched and did nothing to try and stop this guy nor did they report to police of the murders.
No point in unnecessary use of technology. The chief of the state militia should pick the names of a dozen enrolled out of a hat and summon them to the county in question. They’ll each be issued a rifle, half filled with blanks, half with bullets, and told to aim at the head or the heart. The prisoner shall be marched out to a public square and chained to a pole. The sheriff will then read off the indictment and verdict and instruct the squad to shoot. Everything will be public, but nothing announced in advance.
firing squads are more humane than the electric chair and is certainly more reliably immediately fatal lethal injection
but we have a twisted mass media which likes to protect people from the gory reality of death. and life.
in so doing, by always evading the existential reality of pain, they actually just make things worse
hence jail is said to be more humane than proper corporal punishment, but it is actually often worse
and lethal injections supposedly more humane than firing squads, sometimes go wrong, and torture the condemned on the way out
an execution must not be torture. torture harms not only the object of it but also the torturer who does it, and also us as a society more than letting the condemned die in jail from natural causes
The Russians have it down, the most humane and without the 20 circus usually performed in the US. The criminal is brought before an official who reads out the charges and the results of the last appeal. Then less than a second after finishing with the death penalty a soldier shoots him or her in the back of the head with a small caliber pistol. No muss, no fuss, no torturing the criminal; just done quickly and humanely.
Again, execution is proper for the murderer. The accomplices get prison time.
Do you think a lifetime of poverty played any role in his maldevelopment?
I don’t. most of humanity has been poor nearly all of history even now, but most people are not criminals.
poverty is a social problem we can address, perhaps never escape entirely, but using it as an excuse for crime is a dead end.
You know the official poverty line the federal government uses? In real terms, 2/3 of the population was below that line 90 years ago.
No.
1. The man is 26, born in 1993 / 94. People of his vintage may suffer a great deal of insecurity growing up. Poverty as it was understood the year by uncle was born (1927) is exceedingly unusual and not found much outside of the vagrant population.
2. You’ve confounded cause-and-effect. The set of character and personality traits which attend a propensity to commit violent crimes don’t stand you in good stead in the labor market. That will have influenced his earning power and his brother’s. If he came by his dispositions honestly, it influenced the previous generations as well.
Do you believe that the majority of poor people are triple murderers? Murderers? Thieves, etc?
There are some IMO issues with the judicial system, which perpetuates poverty.
The main one is Collection Court. I believe that this one is unconstitutional but will never be ruled on by the Supreme Court.
Here’s why I think it’s unconstitutional:
Poor person is charged with a misdemeanor.
Person goes on trial but is not entitled to an attorney since jail time is not one of the penalties.
Person has to defend himself, so either pleads out or is found guilty.
Issued a fine and payment, but the fees are merciless and accumulate more than a high interest credit card.
If person gets behind a warrant is issued and he goes to jail. Fees for the warrant are added to his account.
It then becomes a revolving door of the person going to jail and going further in debt, all without ever having representation provided for them.
A downward debt spiral with jail is untenable.
Do you believe that the majority of poor people are triple murderers? Murderers? Thieves, etc?
No. Why do you believe it is apt to gin up weird and accusatory non sequiturs?
No clue the source of your fictional scenarios.
The huge number of people who have grown up or lived as adults in poverty – but neither murdered nor committed violent crimes – suggest it is not a matter of being “poor.” It is just plain evil!!
It’s grossly amusing that these types seem never to have trouble attracting women.
Serial killers in prison sometimes get scores of love letters from women.
Young – Ted Bundy and Charlie Manson were sex gods.
it’s called the “dark triad” of personality characteristics. look it up
suffice to say, the dna of the deep inner woman wants a caveman not a powderpuff
a million years of humanoid evolution before Jesus only rewarded strength and cunning and not charity and altruism
stuff like that doesn’t just get educated away
and we can all get in touch with the shadow
https://youtu.be/co_dhIKUtGs
Kurtz— I thought the same thing partly accounted for the attraction some Western women for macho, homicidal Muslim terrorists.
Not only that. The endless Saudi princes have an easy time of it in CA and NY.
We want the caveman who can defend us and our children against any and all dangers. A protector and provider who can build us whatever we need. Not a doormat, but not someone who is a threat to us, himself. One of the most appealing aspects is the protective instinct, and the capability to act on it. A true diamond in the rough is very appealing. It’s a common archetype in romance novels.
There must be something that appeals to this instinct, while still getting it wrong. A couple of boxes get checked, but some major turnoffs get skipped over. The diamond in the rough really is just a chunk of coal.
Modern feminists, i.e. men haters, disparage this archetypal good male, yet studies show that Liberal women are most attracted to rugged, capable, strong men. Feminists clamor for the metrosexual city boy who faints at spiders and won’t get dirty, but they instinctively friend zone them.
Karen S– Good call. Made me think that none of the Harlequin Romance books have a busty woman with gorgeous, long hair and a billowing dress leaning back with full, expectant lips in the arms of a willowy soy boy. Kind of a funny image, actually.
I think, but don’t really know, that intelligence combined with a little ruthlessness might also be appealing to women, as is wealth and power. All fit in with the feed me, dress me, protect me and my young instinct.
Young – I am always embarrassed on behalf of my gender that serial killers have fan clubs. Then there is the whole Beauty and the Beast phenomenon so common with teenage girls.
I don’t get it. My Daddy would have laid anyone out like that if I insisted on associating with them. As a former military man, he put the fear of God in boys, which weeded out those who needed to beat feet. Maybe that’s it. If their fathers did not value them, they rush to seek out men who won’t, either. Too Freudian.
Maybe that’s it. If their fathers did not value them, they rush to seek out men who won’t, either. Too Freudian.
No, they seek out men who have properties they find enticing. The properties correlate with criminality. They might want that even were their father perfectly ordinary.
Karen– The abusive relationship has been a puzzle to me. I know women who will provoke their man into hitting them. I concluded, and I could easily be wrong, that it is nothing more pathological (unless you lose a tooth) than spanking or latex or any other fetish. Just a fetish and no deep psychological issue.
But what type of women? Yuck!
Often attractive and obedient.
There must be accountability. Hard left morons want to sue police officers. Ok, let’s discuss it, along with personal liability for magistrates and others who release serial felons who commit violence. I consider myself to be the enemy of those morons who are being so gentle with violent offenders. I want them held accountable for unforgivably putting innocent people in danger.
For any defendant over 25, three murders should result in a capital sentence without exception. For a defendant under 25, it should be contingent on his precise age, the length of his rap sheet &c. And can we cut the time squandered on lawyerly tap dancing? The overwhelming majority of defendants should be executed within seven years of when the indictment is secured.
This case is another example, in case you needed one, of the suckitude of the Florida court system.
Florida triple murder, not Texas.
I am not surprised. The criminal justice system is a joke. People should be executed after their third felony conviction. But we execute very few of our thugs, and so we breed millions more in the prison system. I think this is a systemic problem for democracies and republics. They evolve to a point where their “goodness” starts to kill them. It becomes harder and harder to punish and put down crime.
We need a king or tyrant to come in and take out the trash in America, in a big way. To heck with trials by jury and legal games. You can’t get rid of the mob, or gangs, or even repeat offenders thru a jury system. Look at how long the FBI has been after the Mafia. Gazillions of dollars and decades and decades and no real success.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Squeeky– When I grew up many years ago in south Florida it was widely known that the safest place to be was Miami Beach because organized crime occupied the territory. The families killed each other and enough criminals so the others would know they could be next. You could walk anywhere at any time. We’ve gone from that form of illegality to today’s form in which the government protects the criminals at the expense of law abiding citizens. Who would ever have imagined there would come a time when we would long for the Mafia.
why I believe i wrote about five different posts here over last month making the same point about Chicago
there is no order without law
and law is merely the rules by which the strongest gang aka government applies its force
now, government is failing and we have anarchy at the doorstep
Government has collapsed and the armed Latin Kings gang defended its neighborhood from Antifa in Cicero.
I have begun to think conservative or patriotic rallies should bring their own muscle and tell the cops to go home, they aren’t wanted or needed–useless uniforms in leftist cities and all universities.
No, the Sicilianate mob is a shadow of it’s former self. They’ve lost control of the unions, lost control of local industries, and whole families have broken up. Even 30 years ago the majority of made guys were over 60.
That’s true. For a while there, all the mob heads were in prison. It was a running joke that the brains of the mob were incarcerated, leaving underlings to flounder around.
They used to have an iron grip on so many institutions, including some unions, though the unions still use organized crime tactics, such as attacking “scabs.”
Cosa Nostra, like other criminal organizations, have been romanticized by Hollywood. They even help spread the lexicon, like “rat,” and general aversion to police. They make movies and TV shows like Mob Wives. All the real thugs had a goomah, which renders the very idea of a show about the wives ludicrous. These are all women attracted to criminals who cheat on them for the duration.
The realty of Cosa Nostra was ugly. That whole honor code thing was basically a myth.
The question is: Do the need a plea deal with someone?
230 Felony charges at 26 years of age – TJ Wiggins has been very busy.
Never let these three loose again.