CHILLING courtroom footage shows a suspected killer demonstrate how she zipped up her boyfriend in a suitcase before allegedly leaving him to die.
Sarah Boone appeared emotionless as she described sealing up her boyfriend Jorge Torres Jr in the suitcase where he suffocated to death.
Sarah Boone recreated the moment she zipped her boyfriend in a suitcase[/caption]
Boone smiled as she entered the courtroom where she is on trial for second-degree murder[/caption]
Jorge Torres Jr suffocated to death in the home the couple shared in February 2020[/caption]
Boone has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder following the death of her boyfriend in February 2020, at the age of 42.
She told the court how the couple had been drinking for most of the day at their home near Orlando Florida on the fateful day.
Boone said Torres had suggested a game of hide-and-seek before climbing into a large suitcase.
She said she zipped up the suitcase as a joke.
“We were laughing about it and it was just strange that he was small enough to fit in there,” she said.
Boone described how she had rolled the suitcase around their home as a prank.
“At that time it was funny,” she said. “We were joking and laughing about it.”
But it was at this time that the day took a darker turn.
Boone said she wanted to get revenge on Torres, who had previously been violent and abusive toward her, including slashing her in the leg with a steak knife, slamming her head against a metal door, and hitting her on multiple occasions.
With Torres sealed in the suitcase, Boone said she wanted to “take the time to talk to him.”
She told the court, “I have the ability to speak to him in a manner I ordinarily would not have the ability to do.”#
At this point, Torres started pleading with Boone to let him out, telling her repeatedly that he “couldn’t breathe.”
Disturbing video shared by police shows Boone laughing at Torres’ cries for help, and reminding him of the times he mistreated her.
But Boone claims that, off-camera, Torres threatened to “f**king end” her when he got out of the suitcase.
“It got very heated very quickly,” she said, as Torres was able to get a hand out of the suitcase.
SARAH BOONE ON TRIAL
SARAH Boone is standing trial for second-degree murder for the death of her boyfriend, Jorge Torres Jr. in 2020.
Boone was arrested on February 25, 2020, by police in Orange County, Florida, for allegedly zipping her boyfriend in a suitcase and leaving him to die.
She admitted to zipping him inside the suitcase but told investigators she believed he could free himself.
Boone filmed Torres inside the suitcase pleading to get out.
She is going on trial for second degree murder charges, more than a year after her originally-scheduled trial date.
The trial has had multiple delays due to public defenders withdrawing from representing Boone.
She was initially due to stand trial in April 2023 before that was pushed back to July. This was then pushed back to early 2024 and then to October.
Boone is planning to use the battered spouse syndrome in her defense.
At that point, Boone told the court she grabbed her son’s baseball bat and began hitting Torres’ hand until he pulled it back inside.
But Boone insisted that she didn’t think Torres would die and said she thought he would be able to get out on his own.
Boone went upstairs and fell asleep, only going down to check on Torres the following afternoon.
When she went downstairs, she said she remembered she had zipped Torres up in the suitcase and opened it to find him “purple and gurgling” inside, she testified.
She said she shook him to try and wake him, before calling her ex-husband who told her to call 911.
Torres was declared dead.
It got very heated very quickly.
Sarah Boone
A forensic pathologist testified during the trial that Torres died of positional asphyxia with environmental suffocation, and classified the manner of death as a homicide.
During cross-examination, prosecutors said a neighbor testified they heard a loud thud on the night of the murder, and suggested Boone may have pushed Torres down the stairs while he was zipped up in the suitcase.
Assistant State Attorney William Jay asked Boone why she felt the need to teach Torres a lesson when he was already sealed in the luggage.
Boone answered that there “was no lesson to be learned,” but added that she wanted Torres to know how she felt about his abuse and hopefully become a better person.
The defense attorney for Boone is putting forward a battered spouse syndrome defense.
As part of that, they showed the jurors photos of injuries they say she suffered at the hands of Torres.
Asked why she didn’t leave Torres, she answered that she had hoped his behavior would improve, adding that the pair were “two bodies with one soul.”
“I love him to this day,” she said.
The trial continues.
Boone says she was the victim of battered spouse syndrome[/caption]
