Transcript
David Shoots (0:00)
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Detective Ron Peluzzo (0:29)
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David Shoots (0:57)
The Sea A Listener Note this episode contains descriptions of graphic violence that some listeners may find disturbing. All subjects are innocent until proven guilty in court. The grandmother, Theresia Laverne, was probably the first to be attacked. It was April 30, 1997, a Wednesday, the time nobody can really say for sure. It was most likely very early. Teresia was wearing her mourning clothes, a white T shirt beneath two blue robes and slippers with criss cross straps. She was in the kitchen of her daughter Marie Altidore's house. There's no evidence that it was anything but an ordinary morning. The family was following their typical routine. Teresia was apparently preparing breakfast when suddenly she was struck in her head with a hammer. It was so fast she most likely didn't have any time to react. It's obvious she didn't see it coming and made no attempt to defend herself. Teresia fell face down on the white tile floor as blood began to spread out around her. The plate of food she was holding shattered next to her in front of the kitchen sink. But the attack wasn't over. She was then hit in the head with a hammer, again and again, as many as two dozen times. According to the medical examiner. Teresia was already dead, but still her attacker placed a gun to the back of her head and fired a single.
Detective Ron Peluzzo (2:34)
Bullet projectile entered the rear portion of of the skull and exited between the victim's eyes. The victim apparently was lying on the ground when the shot was fired, and the projectile passed through the center mass of the brain.
David Shoots (2:55)
The Attack on Teresia took mere seconds. Just enough time for her daughter Marie to dash from her bedroom, through the dining room and to the kitchen door to witness the terrifying scene. Within moments, she too would be brutally murdered. And then the killer will turn to the last two people in the house, Marie's two year old and six week old daughters. From the South Florida Sun Sentinel, this is Felonious Florida, the podcast that leads you into the dark side of the Sunshine State. I'm David shoots. By April 30, 1997, George and Marie Altidore had been married for three years, two months and 18 days. In that time, they became homeowners, then parents twice, and their careers were taking off. But inside their home on Crescent Drive in Miramar, Florida, investigators say it took under a minute for all of it to end in a devastating and bloody killing spree. We used the forensic reports, autopsy results, crime scene analysis, and interviews with past and present detectives to piece together what happened in the house that morning. It's difficult to hear, but it's necessary to understand what we do know and maybe more importantly, what we don't. This is episode three Overkill. Marie Altidore's mother, Teresa Laverne, had just been shot and beaten to death on the kitchen floor. The kitchen is in the middle of the house with open entryways on each end. To the east, the kitchen is mostly open to a den or family room area. Beyond that are three more bedrooms and the garage. The dining room and master bedroom are to the west. Investigators believe Marie was in the master bedroom that morning where she and George slept. She was found by police wearing what she would typically wear to bed, a black short sleeved T shirt style dress over a bra. It's possible that Marie had heard the commotion in the kitchen and came to investigate. We can't know for sure. After all, the the only known witness to the crime is the killer. So these details are based on forensics like bullet projections, blood splatter analysis and autopsy findings. Whatever brought her to the kitchen door, the scene Marie encountered would have been heart stopping. Her mother's blood was everywhere, pooling out across the tile floor and sprayed up the cabinets, walls and and ceiling. But Marie wouldn't have had time to take it in. From about 10ft away, the killer raised the gun and fired at her twice. The first bullet struck Marie in the chest. The impact spun her to her left, away from the shooter and back toward the dining room. The second bullet entered Marie's right side as she spun around, passed horizontally through her chest and Exited her left side. That bullet went across the dining room through the wall and was later found on the bedroom floor. But Marie stayed on her feet for a few more steps. Maybe she was trying to flee back toward her bedroom or maybe to the sliding glass door that leads out to the pool and backyard. But the killer was right behind her and she didn't make it far. Marie fell in front of the glass door and the killer, standing over her feet, fired the gun twice more. The third bullet hit her in the upper back and lodged in her spine. The fourth bullet entered the back of her head and partially exited above her right eye. The four gunshots certainly had killed her. But as with Marie's mother, the attacker displayed a chilling amount of callous rage. Switching weapons and beating Marie over and over with the hammer. The back of her head and right side of her face took at least 2:19 blows. To the first police officers on the scene, like Sergeant John Thompson and Detective Ron Peluzzo, what stood out most was the amount of uncontrolled violence that the killer had displayed.