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Date of Sentence:
03/19/99
Circumstances of Offense:
Robert Rimmer was convicted and
sentenced to death for the murders of Bradley Krause and Aaron Knight.
On 05/02/98, Robert Rimmer and
Kevin Parker, possibly accompanied by a third individual, entered the
Audio Logic store in Wilton Manners, FL.
Bradley Krause and Aaron
Knight, employees of Audio Logic, were working in the installation bay. Rimmer and Parker ordered the two employees to lie face down on the
floor and then bound their hands with tape. Rimmer was armed with a
.380 caliber semi-automatic firearm.
The men stopped Joe Moore, a
customer, from leaving the store. They also ordered Louis Rosario,
another customer who was outside smoking a cigarette to come back inside
the store. The customers were also taken into the installation bay
where they were ordered to lie on the ground and their hands were bound
with tape.
Kimberly Davis Burke, a third
customer, was sitting in a waiting area with her two-year-old daughter
when she observed a purple-colored Ford Probe and a Kia Sephia pull into
the parking lot. A man, later identified as Parker, exited the Kia
Sephia, entered the store and headed into the installation bay area of
the store. He spoke for a moment with Burke and her daughter on his way
into the installation bay.
Another man, later identified as Rimmer,
then entered the store from the installation bay and told Burke that
Moore, her boyfriend, was looking for her. Burke went into the
installation bay and saw the four men lying on the ground. Burke
realized what was happening and sat down on the ground with her daughter
in her lap. She watched as Rimmer, Parker and an unidentified third
person placed stereo equipment in the Ford Probe.
Rimmer asked Knight for the keys
to the cash register and if anyone owned a weapon. Knight told him that
he kept a Walther PPK in the desk, and Rimmer retrieved the firearm.
Rimmer then asked if there were any surveillance cameras. The employees
responded that there were not surveillance cameras.
After the men completed loading
stereo equipment into the Ford Probe, Rimmer ordered Burke to move
further away to avoid getting anything on her. Rimmer drove the Ford
Probe partially out of the installation bay and then stopped the car.
He came back and spoke to Knight.
Rimmer claimed that Knight knew him,
but Knight said that he did not. He then shot Knight in the back of the
head killing him immediately. Moore got to his feet, and Rimmer ordered
him to lie back down on the ground. Rimmer then shot Krause in the back
of the head; Krause died later at the hospital. At this point, Rimmer
thanked the others for their cooperation and told them to “have a nice
day.”
On 05/04/98, Burke assisted
police in creating a sketch of the shooter. The sketch was then
distributed to the owners of the Audio Logic stores and other similar
stores. John Ercolano, an owner of another store, recognized the man
from the sketch as a previous customer. This customer had come to
Ercolano’s store to have his stereo repaired.
The customer had
complained that Audio Logic caused the problems with his stereo. Audio
Logic provided Rimmer’s personal information from their records on past
customers. Victims Burke and Moore were able to identify Rimmer in both
a photo lineup and a live lineup as the person who murdered Krause and
Knight.
On 05/10/98, Rimmer was arrested
after leading police on a high-speed car chase that ended at his home.
During the chase, Rimmer tossed items out of the car. The items
included Moore’s wallet, the stolen Wlather PPK and the firearm used to
kill the employees of Audio Logic. Following his arrest, Rimmer’s wife
arrived at the home driving the Ford Probe.
The police impounded the cars
that were identified as being used in the robbery and in the high-speed
chase, which included the Ford Probe identified by Burke and an
Oldsmobile driven by Rimmer during the car chase.
The police searched
the Oldsmobile and found a leasing agreement for a storage facility,
which was rented several days after the robbery and murders. The police
searched the storage facility and found the stereo equipment stolen from
Audio Logic. They also identified prints on the equipment as belonging
to Rimmer and Parker.
According to Rimmer’s wife,
Rimmer was supposed to be fishing with his son on the day of the robbery
and murders. Furthermore, she testified that she, rather than Rimmer,
was actually driving the car on that day.
The defense also argued that Rimmer needed glasses and thus could not have been the person who
committed the murder because that person was not wearing glasses. Dr.
Jacobson, a clinical psychologist called by the defense, testified that
Rimmer has a schizophrenic mental disorder.
Codefendant Status: Kevin Parker DC# 103808
Kevin Parker was arrested on
05/12/98. Parker was tried with Robert Rimmer for the same 11 counts,
which included First-Degree Murder, Armed Robbery, Armed Kidnapping,
Attempted Armed Robbery and Aggravated Assault. He was found guilty on
all counts. Parker was sentenced separately from Rimmer. He received a
life sentence for each count, except for the counts of Attempted Armed
Robbery and Aggravated Assault, for which he was sentenced to 10 years
and 5 years respectively.
Trial Summary:
05/10/98 Rimmer was arrested.
07/01/98 Rimmer was indicted on the following:
Count I: First-Degree
Murder
Count II: First-Degree
Murder
Count III: Armed Robbery
Count IV: Armed Robbery
Count V: Armed Kidnapping
Count VI: Armed Kidnapping
Count VII: Armed Robbery
Count VIII: Armed Kidnapping
Count IX: Armed Kidnapping
Count X: Attempted Armed
Robbery
Count XI: Aggravated Assault
01/28/99 The jury found Rimmer guilty for each count of the
indictment.
02/25/99 Upon
advisory sentencing, the jury, by a 9 to 3 majority, voted for the death
penalty for each count of First-Degree Murder.
03/19/99 Rimmer
was sentenced as follows:
Count I: First-Degree
Murder –
Death
Count II: First-Degree
Murder –
Death
Count III: Armed Robbery
– Life
Count IV: Armed Robbery
– Life
Count IX: Armed Kidnapping
– Life
Count V: Armed Kidnapping
– Life
Count VI: Armed Kidnapping
– Life
Count VII: Armed Robbery
– Life
Count VIII: Armed Kidnapping
– Life
Count X: Attempted Armed
Robbery –
30 Years
Count XI: Aggravated Assault
– 10 Years
Case Information:
Rimmer filed his Direct Appeal in the Florida Supreme Court on
04/19/99. The issues addressed included that the trial court erred in
denying a motion to suppress physical evidence, in excusing several
prospective jurors and in not declaring a mistrial when the prosecutor
questioned Rimmer’s wife as to his guilt and allegedly made improper
comments during the guilt and penalty phases.
The Florida Supreme Court
did not find errors that warranted reversing the convictions or
sentences and affirmed the convictions and sentences on 07/03/02.
Rehearing was denied on 08/26/02. A mandate was issued on 08/26/02.
Rimmer filed his Petition for Writ of Certiorari in the United States
Supreme Court on 09/19/02. The petition was denied on 11/18/02.
Rimmer filed a 3.850 Motion in the Circuit Court on 11/05/03. On
09/15/04, the motion was amended. The motion is currently pending.
Floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us
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