The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 323

i 2B THE MIAMI HERALD THURSDAY FEBRUARY 17 1994 Tourist slaying trial delayed at least 30 days MONTICELLO (AP) After defense lawyers said they still seen ail the evidence the case a judge postponed for at least 30 days the trial of four teenagers accused of murdering a British tourist Circuit Judge FE Stanmeyer extended the March 29 trial date a month while lawyers wait to receive information about the murder investigation from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement One of the lawyers said he expect to be prepared for trial until the summer Four teens age 14 to 17 have been charged with killing Gary Colley of Britain and wounding his companion Margaret Ann Jaggcr Sept 10 at a rest stop on Interstate 10 east of Tallahassee Colley's murder drew worldwide attention and helped damage the image as an international tourist destination It was the ninth tourist killing in Florida in a 12-month period Earlier in hearing the judge denied a second attempt by the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services to release confidential records about the suspects Acting on a public records request by The Associated Press the agency sought to get the records released to show how it tried to help the youths and to help counter current criticism from legislators who want to revamp state juvenile-justice laws After Stanmeyer ruled against HRS defense lawyers told the judge that they were not prepared for the March 29 trial date because they were awaiting investigative reports audio cassettes of informants and other information from TDLE Steinmcycr sounded irritated that FDLL had not turned over all its evidence and said he wanted to get the pretrial discovery completed so he could set a date the I DLE is sitting on information the defendants arc ultimately going to get then spinning our wheels he said unacceptable Assistant State Attorney Mike Schneider blamed the delay on the complexity of the investigation and the number of defendants Dwight Wells representing 1 7-year-old John Crunuty said the delay let him be ready for trial until June taken FDLE six months to figure out what they said on tape how long is it going to take Wells asked seems like the FDLE wants to make everything sort of in the best light of the Investigative records already released showed Crumity acknowledged to a confidential informant that he had a part the killing Crumity wearing an orange jail uniform and sporting a clean-shaved head attended the hearing but did not speak Cedric Green a 14-year-old released last November into his custody also attended but did not speak The other defendants 15-year-old Aundra Akins and 17-year-old Deron Spear did not attend 5 4 4 Vs 1 Tanker driver5 county blamed in Amtrak crash i 4 -1 i i i 1 1 A 4 a i 4 4 4 a- i 1 1 1 -e 4 4 av 'r Xf a i I ZJ" i vi 5 1 'V 4 i lfi: 4 4 ft i -4 lrfi 4 ROBERT AZMiTIA Press Pool COURTROOM DRAMA: Paul Hamwi watches intently during dramatic testimony by key witness Robert Beckett in a Broward court Hit man demonstrates murder By CHARLES EHECKER Herald Staff Writer WASHINGTON A deadly mix of inadequate construction safety and a truck driver who took the biggest risk of his life are to blame for the fireball that killed six people last March when an Amtrak train hit a loaded gasoline tanker on Cypress Creek Road Fort Lauderdale That was the chief conclusion Tuesday of the National Transportation Safety Board after an 11-month federal investigation into the spectacular crash in which the truck driver and five people who were stopped in traffic waiting for the train to pass all died Meeting in Washington the safety board held Amtrak blameless but faulted Vincent DcFrange of Sunrise the driver of the Hess tanker truck for starting his rig across the railroad tracks despite traffic that blocked his path 1 he safety board also came down hard on Broward County and on county road contractor Jackson and Sons the Pompano Beach construction firm that was widening Cypress Creek Road where it meets the CSX Transportation tracks west of Interstate 95 The road work caused westbound traffic to be narrowed from three lanes to two just beyond the tracks causing congestion that left little room for DcFrange to maneuver the safety investigators said Not only could the construction site have been designed more safely but the county and Jackson violated the terms of their contract by not providing an off-duty police officer to supervise traffic flow the NTSB concluded responsible was the safety board member Susan Coughlin said Peter Cowick Broward project manager for the construction said the contract did not require an off-duty police officer at the site can think anything they Cowick declined to comment further until he saw the report Tom Jackson one of the owners of Jackson and Sons could not The National Transportation Safety Board held Amtrak blameless but faulted tanker truck driver Vincent DeFrange of Sunrise be reached for comment Federal and Florida guidelines do not contain specific language regarding flow of traffic through construction sites at railroad crossing As part of their recommendations the NTSB suggested new minimum standards for fun-neling traffic at work zones to limit the chances for backups at railroad crossings The safety board did not say that the presence of a police officer directing traffic absolutely would have averted the crash But something more should have been done its members agreed The safety board decided Amtrak was fault-free in the accident Train engineer George Parker did everything he could to stop the train given the circumstances the board decided The safety board spent considerable time pondering the human element of the crash NTSB staff portrayed Hess driver DeFrange 51 and the father of two as a compulsively careful driver on and off the job But the board couldn't believe that someone so cautious would take such a risk Before he lurched across the tracks DeFrange probably had enough room to back up But the safety board said DeFrange could not safely estimate how much space he had and appeared to have been reluctant to throw his truck in reverse Likewise DeFrange probably had enough space to surge forward and clear the tracks before the Silver Star got to the crossing Witnesses told NTSB investigators the gridlock momentarily lifted giving him some room ran out of time not Coughlin said tified After he received a $5000 cash advance a plan emerged Beckett said He and Seno decided to kill Susan Hamwi in a drive-by shooting They flew into Fort Lauderdale from California on Halloween afternoon 1983 rented a car and drove to her house but she home Beckett said He and Serio drove for hours killing time then decided to try again the next day In the morning told Seno think this is going to work We should call it Beckett said said we should at least give it one more try before we cash it He and Seno returned to Susan house about 10 am and knocked on the front door Beckett said She recognized Beckett and let the men in When she went to get him a drink Beckett said he followed her to the kitchen and pistol-whipped her When he choke her Beckett said he strangled her with a phone cord that Seno had ripped from the kitchen wall To make sure she was dead Beckett said he grabbed a steak knife from the counter and plunged it into her chest took a deep breath and stabbed her three times It felt phone cord stabbed her then ransacked the house Her body was found a few days later 18-month-old daughter Shane hurt in the attack but died in her crib from dehvdration Police arrested Hamwi 47 and Seno in January 1993 after Beckett told police that he and Seno killed Susan Hamwi and that Paul Hamwi paid them to Beckett said he confessed because he has a rapidly failing heart and wanted to clear his conscience Hamwi maintains he knows nothing about a murder plot and says Beckett is barely an acquaintance Hamwi and Seno have pleaded not guilty Beckett who used to work for Hamwi testified that his former boss approached him with a $25000 contract for Susan murder because had a reputation of being a tough guy a wise guy with underworld contacts had done some collections work for various he said but the mob reputation was vastly inflated However he said once he agreed to the Hamwi hit just kind of snowballed from and he launched a desperate search for someone to help him Trips to biker bars yielded nothing Beckett said so he decided to ask Seno another part-time strong-arm collections agent Serio strapped for cash quickly agreed I decided to do Beckett tes By JOSEPH WILLIAMS Herald Staff Writer In a graphic description of a violent and clumsy murder a hit man who confessed to killing a Colorado former wife showed a jury Fort Lauderdale just how he did it using prosecutor Ralph Ray as his prop With Broward Circuit Court jurors on the edge of their seats Robert Beckett lifted Ray by the arms and throat to show how he tried to throttle the victim Susan Hamwi with his bare hands Beckett also demonstrated how he wrapped a telephone cord around neck and how he plunged a knife into her chest after she died because he said developer Paul Hamwi had told him to make the murder messy Paul Hamwi he said told me from the beginning that this could not look like a professional hit It had to be brutal and messy It had to not look like what it Beckett the star witness testified during the third week of Paul first-degree murder trial Authorities charge that Hamwi mired in the complications of an expensive and bitter divorce hired Beckett 54 and Paul Seno 47 to kill Susan Hamwi Susan Hamwi 38 was slain Nov 1 1983 in the kitchen of her Fort Lauderdale home The attackers strangled her with a ex-lover guilty in brutal Broward murder By JOSEPH WILLIAMS Herald Staff Writer In a lurid murder case that gained national attention a Broward Circuit Court jury convicted William Strausser ot first-degree murder for helping 14-year-old Elec Trubilla kill his own father The jury in Fort Lauderdale reached its verdict Tuesday against Strausser after it heard almost a week of testimony including confession to police that he stabbed Allan Trubilla with a large kitchen knife Strausser 32 faces the electric chair for killing Trubilla his Deerfield Beach apartment in August 1992 Broward Circuit Judge Paul Backman scheduled a sentencing hearing for March As the verdict was announced Strausser showed no emotion His wife Margaret Ann Strausser bunt into sobs from her seat in the gallery as bailiffs led her husband away A crew from the television program 48 Hours which had highlighted the case in a program last year interviewed prosecutor Charles Morton for a follow-up Strausser was charged with first-degree murder Allan Trubilla was found in a pool of blood inside his bathroom The victim a 44-year-old store clerk was clubbed on the head with a frying pan and stabbed 45 times The blows broke the frying pan into nine pieces Police said Allan Trubilla and Strausser were lovers but broke up shortly before the killing Police say Strausser helped Elec Trubilla plan the killing then slashed Allan Trubilla with a large kitchen knife while Elec held him down The two carried out the murder police said so they could continue a surrogate father-son relationship Elec maintained that his father was strict and verbally abusive Elec Trubilla tried as an adult was convicted of first-degree murder in December 1992 and is serving a life sentence Strausser disappeared after the crime but was arrested at International Airport on a return flight from Jamaica Elec Trubilla and Strausser blamed each other for the murder In a tape-recorded confession played at the trial Strausser told police that Elec urged him to commit the murder Strausser said he tried to talk Elec out of it but the teenager insisted The night of the murder Strausser said Elec let him into the dark apartment then called for his father who was asleep in a bedroom When Allan Trubilla stumbled into the hall he was smashed over the head with the skillet and Strausser started stabbing When the lights came on and Allan Trubilla lay dead Strausser sped away his blue Chevette He told police he and his wife spent the night in a Tampa hotel room drove to Texas and then flew to Jamaica JEFFERY A SALTER Miami Herald Staff BALLERINAS AND BACXHGES Dancers with the Miami City Ballet prevde an incorg-uous toes Tuesday amid a backdrop of construction equipment that tic touch during a groundbreaking cerarcny for a 'th residential w1! buld the planned 31-story tower The company performed tower at Williams Island in Northeast Dade dierinas are on their Raynonda Variations a Russian work adapted by Balanchine 1.