Virginia Larzelere: Sentenced to Death for a Murder She Didn't Commit

Jason did it because his mother/f-buddy asked him to.

The author did his research and for editorial reasons did not to share writers private investigative results which identify the perpetrators their motives and relationships with witness Palmieri and the late Steven Heidle.  Virginia Larzelere is provable an innocent person as the evidence proves. The opinions and facts have been shared with enforcement and prosecutors.  Only to fall on deaf hears. They were known to the defenders of Virginia Larzelere and plead by Virginia's only advocate defender attorney Harry Brody, before Brody entered private practice. Based on the Brody pleadings the court ordered an evidence hearing on the 'ineffective assistance' and 'prove of innocence claims.  The quoted lawyer David Henry and subordinates that replaced Brody made a decisions based on economics to use only writers ineffective assistance evidence and testimony.  They prevented writer from attesting to the 'prove of innocence' evidence that impeaches the states theory of the murder and proves Heidle and Palmieri lied to cover up a relationship they shared with the perpetrators and others involved in teh day time burglary of the Office of Dr. Norman Larzelere. 

Writer solved this murder by investigating the states evidence.  The state identified Heidle and Palmieri as the persons that had possession and control of the weapons recovered in the river.  These witnesses took authorities to the weapons after admitting they had encased them in concrete.  The State with held the fact from the jury that Palmieri and Heidle told conflicting stories as to the origin and storage of the weapons before being disposed.  Palmeri attested on a private statement to the prosecution team the weapons had been were stored in the Heidle home attic with a ski mask.  Heidle attested they were stored in the home by Virginia and Jason.  The conflicting stories were with held from the Grand Jury and because these witnesses consistently told conflicting and  unbelievable stories the Orlando State attorney office kept no court reporter record of the grand jury.  As the author of the article was told if a member of the original grand jury came forward the conflicts could be proven and Virginia would be free once the misconduct was exposed. In the alternative the state could expend approximately 500.00 and 40 investigative hours to take confessions or simple grant Palmieri immunity once again to tell the truth.   

As to the surviving sons and children of Virginia and Norman Larzelere they deserve to see justice served. As a reader answer the question where does one go with prove of innocence and evidence that identifies persons that committed the murder of Norman Larzelere and stole more then 90 weapons that were sold to street person and reportedly used in at least one other murder and criminal activity?   

Unusually poor reporting by the New Times.  I lived near Edgewater when Dr. Norman Larzelere was killed and I followed the case closely.  Thanks to the internet there is still a wide amount of material available for review. 

She was found guilty of masterminding the plot, and as the mastermind faced the same penalty--death--as any actual first-degree murderer.  Funny how you forget that fact in your article.

You glossed over the resentencing.  She is no longer on death row.  You did note that she is actually up for parole in a couple years but still, your headline does not reflect that development.

And you did not include tons of other available pieces of evidence easily available for all to see.  Her first husband was shot 4 times and they never caught the shooter.  Second husband, who was a cop, felt like he was set up by her to be shot and the last husband was shot & killed.  Sorry, where there is smoke there is fire. 

I especially like her own words here where she laments she has not seen  her son Jason or her daughter Jessica in over a decade.  Why didn't she comment on her other children, David and Benjamin?  Dr. Larzelere was their biological father.  Doesn't she miss them too?

Do you guys ever read the stories you right? This isn't a case of a failed justice system. But a case of poor judgment on her behalf. Why would you keep an incompetent lawyer? Who cares if it is a family friend a public defender would have been better in this case.

Damn, didn't mean to post twice...internet!!!

Incredible article (and well written). Nicely done. One thing I don't get (and maybe I missed it as I was watching Jose Fernandez pitch his final game of the season while reading this), was that if Heidle was the shooter, did he have any motive? Or was he just supposedly a violent and sadistic jerk?

Incredible article (and well written). Nicely done. One thing I don't get (and maybe I missed it as I was watching Jose Fernandez pitch his final game of the season while reading this), was that if Heidle was the shooter, did he have any motive?

@CybrdoogieThanks for your comment. This story was based on court records, police documents, and concrete charges. The claims you've mentioned never merited a single charge, and, as such, weren't of much consequence to this story. Virginia Larzelere is no longer on death row, correct. We mentioned that fact within the first 500 words of the story -- and again at the end. Much appreciation for your reading.

@FatHand There was no motive, he was just introduced as a suspect in Jason's trial to show that they didn't ID the shooter as Jason for sure.  It wouldn't have been useful in Virginia's trial, since she was convicted of hiring someone to murder her husband.  Whether she hired her son Jason or Steven is the "reasonable doubt" that they used to get Jason off the hook, but Virginia was still involved in both those scenarios.

Terrence,

I am sorry but the title of the article is pretty disingenuous.  Yes, you did commment on her no longer being on death row but the title of the article does not reflect that development.  You interviewed Virginia a few times for the article and could have easily asked her about the shooting of her first husband as well as the situation with the second husband.  There are numerous newspaper articles widely available on the net referencing both situations.  Didn't you do any research before writing this piece?

Instead of an objective article, your article sounds like a fluff piece demanding action for a wrongly-convicted woman.  Virginia Larzelere is anything but that. 

I would be interested if she mentioned David and Benjamin to you at all during your interviews.  If not, like I said--very telling.