Man arrested in Orange County triple homicide

Ex-boyfriend of victim charged with first-degree murder

ORLANDO, Fla. – Orange County deputies arrested on Thursday the person of interest in the March triple homicide.

Leonard Lewis, 47, the ex-boyfriend of one of the victims, was arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Richard Button, 65; Todd Lemme, 57, and Deborah Watson, 54.

Their bodies were found in a shed in the woods near Curry Ford Road and Excalibur Court last month.

Deputies were searching for Lewis for nearly two weeks.

Deputies said before she was killed, Watson called 911 and Lewis' voice can be heard in the background.

"We do have him on the 911 call that Mrs. Watson made that evening, and our opinion, it's pretty incriminating," said Sgt. Mike Ruggiero of Orange County Sheriff's Office.

When deputies responded to that call for help, they ran into Lewis who they say was acting strange, but didn't arrest him.

After two hours of searching, deputies couldn't find the crime scene and Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said he blamed the 911 call operators.

"There was information that was provided to call takers that should have been given to those responding deputies, had they had the information, they likely would have narrowed in on the barn- that particular night- they were never provided that information," Demings said.

Deputies are still searching for the gun used in the murders.

Check back for more on this story.


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