DELTONA, Fla. – The defense for two men convicted in the so-called Xbox murders, the deadliest mass murder in Volusia County’s history, presented its case Thursday in the resentencing trial.
Troy Victorino and Jerone Hunter were convicted of breaking into a Deltona home and beating six people to death with baseball bats and stabbing them in a Deltona home in 2004 in a case that drew national attention.
Prosecutors rested their case Wednesday, using graphic testimony to show why the men should die for killing the six people and a dog.
[Watch coverage as Hunter’s defense presents case resentencing trial]
Jerone Hunter’s defense team went first. They argued he was intimidated by Troy Victorino who was the alleged mastermind.
“At every turn Troy Victorino planned this, told everybody what to do,” said Hunter’s attorney Garry Wood during his opening statement.
His team said Hunter met Victorino when he was 17 years old and Victorino was 10 years older than him and took him in.
Hunter had just turned 18 in 2004 when he, Victorino, and two other men beat and stabbed six people and a dog to death. Victorino had been squatting in one of the victim’s houses, got kicked out, but left items behind that he was upset he had not gotten back, including an Xbox.
“After I asked him if he had any remorse, he said that he went home, took a shower, read his bible and went to sleep,” said a defense witness, Eunice Miller.
Victorino and Hunter were the only two originally sentenced to death. Hunter’s team brought in witnesses to argue his mental state at the time and that his upbringing was rough, hoping to convince this jury to spare him.
“Your sentence should be legally, morally with mercy life without possibility of parole where he will die in prison,” said Wood.
Victorino’s team is expected to start their argument Friday afternoon.
Out of four men convicted of the murders, Victorino and Hunter were the only two sentenced to death.
[Watch coverage as state rests case in resentencing trial]
Michael Salas, whose testimony was read, was found guilty of murder, while another co-defendant, Robert Cannon, pleaded guilty. Both are serving life sentences.
[Watch coverage from day 3 of the resentencing trial below]
Prosecutors argued Victorino, who was squatting in a victim’s home, wanted his Xbox back, leading to the tragedy.
Prosecutors opened their case this week against Hunter and Victorino with the argument that death should be their penalty.
[Watch coverage from day 2 of the resentencing trial below]
“No matter how detailed I am, no matter what vocabulary I use, my words will not adequately describe what you’ll see and hear,” prosecutor Andy Urbanek said in his opening statement.
It’s been called the “Xbox murders” because it involved a dispute about some of Victorino’s belongings, including an Xbox system. Prosecutors said Victorino and Hunter were living in one of the victim’s grandmother’s houses before getting kicked out, but left items behind.
“They believed that Erin had their personal belongings, and they intended on getting them back no matter what the cost of doing so. The cost ended up being six human lives,” Urbanek argued.
Prosecutors brought several witnesses to the stand.
[RELATED: Opening statements in resentencing of Florida Xbox murders]
The defense teams of Victorino and Hunter decided to hold off their opening statements until the state is done with their case.
Jury selection had started in April 2023 in the resentencing of Victorino and Hunter when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new death-penalty law, which eliminated a requirement for unanimous jury recommendations before defendants could be sentenced to death. Under the law, death sentences can be imposed after 8-4 jury recommendations.
[Watch video below for previous coverage of the case]