Florida Statesman news

Florida man stripped naked beaten and robbed at gunpoint during first date

A man in Florida has reported to the police that he was beaten, robbed, stripped naked and abandoned on the side of a road during a first date in Bunnell. Shaun Williams was spotted by the police on a state road in Bunnell, covered in blood, and was taken to a local hospital, the New York Daily News reported. According to FlaglerLive, Williams met a woman in a Daytona Beach convenience store ...
Feds Prison for Ohio woman who buried mom in yard

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Authorities say an Ohio woman who buried her mother in her yard and cashed the dead woman's Social Security checks for 14 years has been sentenced to 30 days in prison.Federal authorities say 66-year-old Marietta resident Patricia Hodges also was sentenced Wednesday in Columbus to six months of home confinement and ordered to repay more than $141,000. Hodges had pleaded ...
Man gets 35 years for killing former landlady

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. -- A Tampa Bay area man has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for strangling his former landlady and setting fire to her house.A Pasco County judge sentenced 49-year-old Charles Edward Dear on Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, first-degree arson and other charges.Authorities say 46-year-old Theresa Jones' body was found buried in a shallow ...
Facebook fans name Busch Gardens lion cub sisters

TAMPA -- Busch Gardens recently welcomed three lion cubs to the park, a boy and three girls. After a weeklong poll, 6,000 Busch Gardens Tampa Facebook fans voted to name the two lion cub sisters. The winning names for the three-month-old cubs are Shaba, meaning "brazen", and Shtuko, meaning "twitch." The Busch Gardens animal care team has started introducing the cubs ...
Hillsborough OKs $225K tax break for Amazon

TAMPA -- Hillsborough commissioners could be one step closer to luring the on-line retailer, Amazon, to Ruskin. The company is considering building a warehouse on a piece of land in the South Shore Corporate Park, off of State Road 674 and I-75. On Wednesday, commissioners gave their initial approval on $225,000 in tax breaks for Amazon. They approved the company as a Qualified Target ...

Movie Review

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Extended Edition) [DVD]

With The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Peter Jackson brought his stunning masterwork of an epic to a resounding conclusion. Grandly epic in scale, yet deeply human in emotion, The Return of the King is a fitting capstone to one of modern cinemas greatest gambles. The film works so well because it maintains the intensity and vigor of both The Fellowship of the Ring ... ...

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Analyst Defense should be faster in George Zimmerman traditional voir dire

Legal analyst Jaya Balani says when the attorneys are done questioning the jurors, they will determine if they will use their peremptory ...
VIDEO Edgewater burglar caught on camera

EDGEWATER -- Police have turned to Facebook to help catch a burglar caught on camera breaking into an Edgewater home. Surveillance video of the home, posted Wednesday on ...
Behind the camera Jurors worry about sequestration in George Zimmerman trial

George Zimmerman trial. Our courtroom reporter saw all 40 jurors in one room for the first time. They sat in three long rows together. We realized that some of the jurors were questioned before the judge made her decision to sequester them for the trial. One of the jurors, a young woman, had to ask what sequestration means. As the judge and attorney explained it, you saw the look on their ...
Summertime swimming can invite amoeba danger

Amoebas can be found in bodies of fresh water, like lakes or rivers. Experts suggest wearing a nose plug if you go swimming, holding your nose or keeping your head above ...
Woo Hoo Universal shows off new Simpsons expansion

Orlando -- For the first time since the new Simpson-themed expansion opened, Universal Orlando was finally ready to let our cameras in (just one day before Transformers: The Ride - 3D opens.) Wednesday morning, we toured the streets, the shops, and the restaurants we'd only seen as animated - until now. Springfield is anchored by the mega-attraction, The Simpsons Ride, and allows guests ...

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Quotable Quotes

Our nuclear programmes are completely transparent. But we are ready to show greater transparency and make clear for the whole world that the steps of the Islamic Republic of Iran are completely within international frameworks. The sanctions are unfair, the Iranian people are suffering, and our (nuclear) activities are legal. These sanctions are illegal and only benefit Israel.

Hassan Rouhani

Iran's president-elect was speaking after his historic election victory.

Hotel Review

Waldorf-Astoria Hotel New York

I clambered up the stairs with my luggage whilst two bell attendants chatted away. I entered the huge lobby of ...

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Florida man stripped naked, beaten and robbed at gunpoint during first date

A man in Florida has reported to the police that he was beaten, robbed, stripped naked and abandoned on the side of a road during a first date in Bunnell.

Shaun Williams was spotted by the police on a state road in Bunnell, covered in blood, and was taken to a local hospital, the New York Daily News reported.

According to FlaglerLive, Williams met a woman in a Daytona Beach convenience store about two weeks ago.

After some conversation, they exchanged phone numbers and decided to meet for their first date on Friday.

The woman agreed to pick Williams up from the convenience store where they first met, the report said.

The woman, whose real name has not been released, showed up in a dark blue sedan along with two other men, one she called her brother, and the other her brother's friend.

She told him that she needed to drop them before going on their date.

The girl drove for several minutes before the brother told her to turn into a side street, as he wanted to meet someone.

When Williams came out to take a bathroom break, a hard metal object hit him and he fell on the ground.

The attackers then allegedly pointed a gun and demanded for money and clothes.

The men forced him to hand over his prepaid cell phone, his Florida driver's license, 200 dollars in cash and all of the clothes he picked out for his first date, FlaglerLive stated. ...