DELTONA, Fla. – A Volusia County jury on Wednesday resentenced two men to death for their roles in the 2004 so-called Xbox murders, a crime that left six people and a dog beaten to death and shocked Central Florida.
Retired Volusia Sheriff Ben Johnson, who led the investigation into the massacre, said the brutality of what he found inside the Telford Lane home remains vivid more than 20 years later.
[Watch former sheriff recount massacre]
“It’s like they had taken a paintbrush, soaked it in red paint and just slung it around the house,” Johnson said in an interview with News 6. “There was no way that you could not touch physical evidence.”
On Aug. 6, 2004, deputies discovered the bodies of six young men and women, along with a dog, all killed with baseball bats.
Johnson recalled being awakened early that morning.
“My chief deputy called me and said, ‘Ben, get up. Get dressed and put on a uniform. We have a murder down here, and it’s bad. You need to get down here.’”
The attack was motivated by a personal grudge. In the months leading up to the murders, Troy Victorino had been squatting in a Deltona home owned by Erin Belanger’s grandparents.
After Victorino and his group were evicted by Belanger, he accused her of stealing his belongings, including an Xbox gaming console and clothes, which investigators say fueled his rage and desire for revenge.
“The crime was done because Troy Victorino felt disrespected,” Johnson said. “How can you explain it except he’s mean?”
The case, which drew national attention, resurfaced old wounds for investigators and families as the jury delivered the new sentences.
“If the death sentence was ever deserved, it’s deserved in this situation,” Johnson said. “They weren’t given the death sentences, they earned the death sentence. And they earn that in capital letters.”
[Watch more of Johnson’s interview]
Johnson said the pain remains for the victims’ families.
“What can you say to bring them back?” he said. “Except, ‘We’ll do our best to bring these people to justice and make sure justice prevails.’”
For Johnson and the community, the memories of that day remain fresh, even as those responsible are brought to justice.
[Watch video below for News 6 coverage of resentencing trial]