Jonathan Arce

Case overview

Jonathan Arce was 14 when he fatally stabbed a neighbor, retired University of Central Florida librarian June Stillman, 68. Authorities said he acted after she accused him of stealing jewelry, coins and blank checks.

Arce was charged with first-degree murder and was later sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole on August 25, 2000.

Timeline

• March 10, 1998 — June Stillman was killed; she bled to death on her garage floor.
• March 12, 1998 — Police said jewelry and other items had disappeared from Stillman’s home, that Stillman invited Arce inside, and that Arce was captured in her Toyota Corolla.
• June 26, 2000 — A crime-scene expert was prepared to testify that Stillman grabbed the 14-year-old boy’s arm in a “claw-like grip” and threatened him with a knife before Arce stabbed her to death.
• August 22, 2000 — Arce’s trial continued and his attorney told jurors that Arce blacked out during the struggle; evidence questions were discussed.
• August 25, 2000 — Jurors found Arce guilty of first-degree murder and he was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.
• August 26, 2000 — Reporting described the guilty verdict and sentencing, and noted the Florida Supreme Court ruling on the death penalty for people under 17.

The offence

June Stillman suffered more than 80 stab and puncture wounds, including cuts and punctures to her head and body. Authorities described the attack as brutal.

A trail of blood indicated the attack started in the kitchen and then moved to the garage. Authorities said Stillman either touched or was pushed into three walls and may have tried to get outside. After she pressed unsuccessfully against the main garage door, she circled back to a side door near her washer and dryer.

Authorities said the struggle included defensive injuries. Assistant State Attorney Charley Tabscott said Stillman had 36 defensive cuts to her hands and one of her fingertips was amputated.

Police described the incident as “pure rage.”

Oviedo police Lt. Dale Coleman said: “This was an act of pure rage.”

Police said the handyman who discovered her body peered through a garage window and saw blood all over and broken items.

Assistant State Attorney Charley Tabscott said: “He sees blood all over. He sees debris, garden tools, trash cans -- various things -- broken pots all over,”

Investigation

Authorities used forensic evidence to connect Arce to the killing. They said blood stains, DNA analysis and bloody shoeprints proved that Arce was the only possible killer.

Medical Examiner Sara Irrgang said it was impossible to say which ones had been used in the killing.

A note left on Stillman’s kitchen table suggested she discovered missing blank checks and pieces of jewelry.

Police theorized that Stillman confronted Arce about missing money and jewelry, and that the struggle began in the kitchen and ended in the garage.

Leroy Parker, a crime scene expert with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, described blood on the side door.

Leroy Parker said: “That door was covered with blood from someone pressing against it,”

Tabscott said a smear on the doorjamb suggested Stillman may have gotten partway out but was dragged back inside.

Assistant State Attorney Charley Tabscott said: “That smear suggests Stillman may have gotten partway out the door but was dragged back inside,”

Arrest and custody

After the killing, Arce was discovered behind the wheel of Stillman’s Toyota Corolla, trying futilely to back out of her driveway. Police said he could not release the emergency brake because of the cut to his right hand.

Police found Stillman’s money, including a 1925 silver dollar, in Arce’s pockets. They found her jewelry and blank checks in Arce’s house. Two knives and several garden tools, including an ax, a hoe, a shovel and shears, many with blood on them, were found scattered near the body.

Arce had a deep cut on his right hand plus scratches on his arms consistent with fingernail marks, according to a search warrant affidavit.

Police said Arce was trying to start the car when handyman William Benton, who discovered Stillman’s body in the garage, held the boy until police arrived.

Oviedo Lt. Tony Velez said: “Because of the cut on his right hand, the boy had trouble releasing the emergency brake,”

Charges and initial court appearance

At his first court appearance, Circuit Judge Gene Stephenson read the charges against Arce: first-degree murder, burglary, grand theft, and battery of a person over the age of 65. Arce was held in the custody of juvenile authorities.

Chris White, head of the State Attorney’s Office in Seminole County, said there had been no formal decision but it was likely Arce would be prosecuted as an adult.

Trial

Arce’s trial involved a dispute over how the killing happened.

Defence position

Landon Miller represented Arce. Miller told jurors that Arce went into shock and blacked out during a struggle.

Miller said Arce initially told police that he was ordered inside Stillman’s house by a masked person armed with a gun and knife who held him hostage for about two hours before letting him go. Miller also said Arce later changed his statement, telling police he stabbed Stillman to death after she came at him with a knife, and that the confession had been thrown out so jurors would not hear it.

Miller told jurors:

“The next thing Arce remembers, he is standing in the garage. Mrs. Stillman was on the ground. She was indeed dead,”

Miller argued Arce should be found guilty of something less than first-degree murder, describing a “frenzy” and seeking second-degree murder or manslaughter.

Miller said:

Miller conceded that Arce was the killer, but argued Arce went into a killing “frenzy.”

Miller on Friday conceded that Arce was the killer.

Miller argued the boy was guilty only of second-degree murder or manslaughter.

Miller said: Miller said Arce was the killer.

Witness and expert evidence

A crime-scene reconstruction consultant from East Moline, Ill., was prepared to testify that Stillman grabbed the arm of the 14-year-old boy in a “claw-like grip” and threatened him with a knife, moments before he wrestled it away and stabbed her to death in a panic.

A firearms dealer and former police officer, Wayne N. Hill Sr., was also involved. Reporting described Hill as stopping just short of saying Arce killed Stillman in self-defense and giving a written report and a sworn statement.

Hill’s account described bruises on Arce’s shoulder and left arm indicating Stillman grabbed him hard and possibly dragged him into her kitchen and began yelling at him about missing items. Hill said Arce then punched Stillman, bruising her eye and possibly breaking her nose, and that Stillman grabbed a kitchen knife to defend herself. Hill said Arce grabbed the knife by the blade, suffering a deep cut to his right hand, then slashed her across the face. Hill said she fled into the garage, where the two struggled, that she tried to ward him off by throwing gardening tools at him, and that he kept coming and stabbed her repeatedly.

Wayne N. Hill Sr. said: “He [Arce] may now have the wrong impression that she's going to try to kill him, so he reacts,”

The state asked to ban Hill’s testimony as speculation and a judge would hear arguments on whether the defense expert would be allowed to testify.

Physical evidence and state theory

Tabscott said blood stains proved Arce and Stillman struggled in the kitchen and that Stillman was attacked at least three more times at various locations in the garage, and said her injuries suggested a “monumental struggle.”

Tabscott said:

Assistant State Attorney Charley Tabscott said: “She had 36 defensive cuts to her hands, and one of her fingertips was amputated,”

Tabscott said the state had no one qualified to say what happened because no one but Arce and Stillman were there.

A witness, William Benton, was described as the state’s lead witness. Reporting said he discovered Stillman’s body by peering through a garage window.

Verdict and sentencing

Jurors took only an hour to find Arce guilty of first-degree murder.

Arce was immediately sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for the slaying of June Stillman. Because Arce was 14 at the time of the slaying, that was the only sentence possible.

The Florida Supreme Court had ruled that no one under the age of 17 should be given the death penalty.

Arce had spent much of the weeklong trial with his head bowed and showed no emotion. He did not testify. The defense offered no evidence, and Miller did not call psychologist Michael K. Johnson, whom he had listed as a witness.

The trial included discussion that a second-degree murder conviction would have sent Arce to prison for as little as 22 years.

Aftermath

Arce was put on suicide watch at the Seminole County Jail and was to be transferred to a state prison in the next few weeks.

Arce’s pastor, Hector Santiago of Mision Christiana Hispana, visited Arce Thursday.

Santiago said: “Spiritually he is strong,”

Santiago said: “Sometimes he cries, but he's clear in terms of whatever decision comes, he knows God is with him.”

When asked if Arce had expressed remorse, Santiago said:

“The only thing he continues to say is that God has forgiven him.”

Stillman’s daughter Beth McGreggor commented after the verdict.

Beth McGreggor said: “I knew my mother was a courageous person,”

Beth McGreggor said: “This just reinforces that.”

Other details

Stillman had retired from the University of Central Florida in 1996 and had trusted Arce to watch her cat while she was out of town.

Police said Arce had fed her cat while she was away for the weekend and had been hired to mow her lawn.

At the time of the killing, Stillman was 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighed 110 pounds, while Arce was 4 feet 9 inches tall and weighed 103 pounds. Another report later said Arce had grown 4 inches since his arrest but was still a tiny 5 feet 3 and 110 pounds.

A family member said Arce had no criminal record and had been picked up for skipping school. The family described him as not aggressive.

“He never was an aggressive kid or a bad kid,” his aunt said.

A family member said:

“What we're living is a nightmare,” said a family member who did not want to be identified.

“We were dumbfounded. His parents are shattered.”

Police said the cat was picked up by Seminole County Animal Control on Tuesday.