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Nineteenth
Judicial Circuit, Indian River County Case # 97-754
Sentencing Judge: The Honorable
Robert A. Hawley
Attorney, Trial: Mark Harllee –
Assistant Public Defender
Attorney, Direct Appeal: Gary
Caldwell – Assistant Public Defender
Attorney, Collateral Appeals:
Suzanne Keffer & Christina Spudeas – CCRC-S
Date of Offense: 03/23/91
Date of Sentence: 06/16/99
Circumstances of Offense:
The murder of Alan Pfeiffer was
the result of a murder-for-hire conspiracy involving Connie Pfeiffer
(Alan Pfeiffer’s wife), Paul Evans, Sarah Thomas (Evans’ girlfriend),
and Donna Waddell (Evans’ roommate).
A few weeks prior to the murder,
Connie Pfeiffer approached several individuals regarding the killing of
her husband, but each individual refused. Connie Pfeiffer’s co-worker,
Donna Waddell, suggested that her roommate, Paul Evans, might be willing
to commit the murder.
On the morning of 03/23/91, Evans, Pfeiffer, and
Waddell arranged the Pfeiffer’s trailer to look as if a robbery had
taken place, stacking electronic equipment near the back door of the
trailer.
After the trailer was arranged,
Waddell and Evans went to Waddell’s house to steal her father’s gun.
Evans, Thomas, and Waddell went to the fair that evening, but later left
to go to the trailer. Thomas and Waddell dropped Evans off at the
trailer, where he was to wait for Alan Pfeiffer to arrive and then shoot
him. Evans arranged for Thomas and Waddell to pick him up at the
trailer one to two hours after they dropped him off.
On 03/23/91, Alan Pfeiffer left
work at 7:30 p.m. for the thirty-minute drive to the trailer. Neighbors
testified that gunshots were heard coming from the Pfeiffer’s trailer
between 8:00 and 8:30 p.m.
After picking up Evans at the trailer,
Evans, Thomas, and Waddell went back to the fair, where they met up with
Connie Pfeiffer. Early the next morning, police found Alan Pfeiffer’s
body on the living room floor with three gunshot wounds – two in the
head and one in the spine.
After an investigation in which
no arrests were made, the case grew cold and was eventually closed. In
1997, six years after the murder, the case was reopened and the
investigation focused on Evans, Connie Pfeiffer, Waddell, and Thomas.
Thomas first agreed to cooperate with police and wore a wire to get
incriminating statements from Waddell. Waddell was arrested, and when
presented with the tape-recorded statements, she also agreed to
cooperate with the police. As a result of the statements of Thomas and
Waddell, Evans and Connie Pfeiffer were implicated in the murder and
arrested.
Codefendant Information:
Connie Pfeiffer was convicted of First-Degree Murder and sentenced to
life imprisonment. Donna Waddell pled guilty to Second-Degree Murder
and was sentenced to ten years imprisonment. Sarah Thomas, who was 16
years old at the time of the murder, testified at the trial but was
never charged with a crime.
Prior Incarceration History in
the State of Florida:
At
the time of the murder, Evans was on probation for a Burglary charge.
Additionally, he had several property crime convictions and sentences of
probation.
Trial Summary:
08/06/97
Indicted on one count of First-Degree Murder
02/11/99 Jury returned a guilty verdict
02/12/99 Jury recommended a death sentence by a vote of 9-3
06/16/99Sentenced to death
Case Information:
Evans filed a Direct Appeal with the Florida Supreme Court on 08/30/99,
citing fourteen errors, many of which revolved around issues of witness
testimony and the delay between the crime and the indictment. The FSC
affirmed the conviction and sentence on 12/13/01.
Evans filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the U.S. Supreme
Court on 07/19/02 that was denied on 10/15/02.
Evans filed a 3.851 Motion with the Circuit Court on 10/03/03 that was
denied on 06/06/05.
Evans
filed a 3.851 Motion Appeal with the Florida Supreme Court on 09/06/05
that is pending.
