Randy Schoenwetter

Case information

Name: Randy Schoenwetter Date of birth: 10/27/81 Eighteenth Judicial Circuit: Brevard County Case number: 00-41829 Supreme Court docket: SC04-53 Lower court document number: DC# E20773 Sentencing judge: The Honorable Jack Griesbaum

Timeline

• 08/12/00 — Randy Schoenwetter broke into the Friskey’s residence with the admitted intention of forcing one or both of their daughters to have sex with him.
• 08/12/00 — Schoenwetter entered through a sliding glass door, took a foot-long kitchen knife, went to the bedroom of 10-year-old Virginia, and attacked the family.
• 03/05/03 — Schoenwetter pled guilty to all charges of the indictment.
• 09/25/03 — Jury recommended death for the murder of Virginia Friskey by a vote of 10 to 2 and death for the murder of Ronald Friskey by a vote of 9 to 3.
• 12/05/03 — Sentenced: Count I first-degree murder (Virginia Friskey) — death; Count II first-degree murder (Ronald Friskey) — death; Count III attempted first-degree murder (Haesun Friskey) — life; Count IV armed burglary — life.
• 01/14/04 — Schoenwetter filed a direct appeal with the Florida Supreme Court.
• 04/27/06 — Florida Supreme Court affirmed Schoenwetter’s convictions and sentence.
• 09/06/06 — Schoenwetter filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari in the United States Supreme Court; the petition was pending.

Background

Randy Schoenwetter was friends with the Friskey’s oldest son and had spent the night at the residence several times. He had spent the previous year riding his bike around town peeping into windows and fantasizing. He also broke into homes for excitement.

While pregnant with him, Schoenwetter’s mother had inadequate nutrition, was ill, lived without electricity, and suffered extreme physical abuse from Schoenwetter’s father. As a child, Schoenwetter suffered great ridicule and abuse from peers at school. He never developed social skills and never had friends. Schoenwetter did poorly academically as a child and teenager.

While growing up, Schoenwetter had a sexual preoccupation (calling adult hotlines, viewing pornographic material, etc.) and was into the gothic subculture. A major characteristic of Asperger’s Syndrome was described as a life encompassing extreme preoccupation with a subject or topic, which for Schoenwetter was satanic and sexual matters.

At one point, Schoenwetter tried to sign up for the Marines with his best friend and other schoolmates. His friends joined; he was rejected due to poor eye sight. The rejection had a devastating effect on him.

While he was a teenager, Schoenwetter also suffered physical abuse from his mother’s boyfriend.

A prison pastor claimed to have converted Schoenwetter to Christianity and described him as the most serious Bible scholar he had ever seen.

The offence

On 08/12/00, Randy Schoenwetter broke into the Friskey’s residence with the admitted intentions of forcing one or both of their daughters to have sex with him. Schoenwetter entered the Friskey residence through a sliding glass door. He took a foot-long kitchen knife and wandered around the house.

Schoenwetter went to Theresa’s bedroom which was locked, so he continued into the bedroom of the youngest daughter, 10-year-old Virginia. Virginia woke up when Schoenwetter entered her room and shrieked. The noises woke up her mother, Haesun, who got up to check on Virginia. From the hallway, Haesun saw Schoenwetter standing by her daughter’s bed touching her.

Haesun yelled at Schoenwetter and could not remember much of what happened next, except that she and Ronald Friskey attacked Schoenwetter, and he fought back with the knife. After the fight, Schoenwetter went back into Virginia’s room and killed her since she had recognized him and called him by his first name.

Schoenwetter then left the house the same way he entered and rode his bicycle back to his apartment. At his apartment, he took a shower and put the knife, his bloody clothes, and shoes in a bag, which he then threw in a dumpster. Detectives later retrieved the articles.

The Friskey’s 16-year-old daughter, Theresa, was in the house during the attack, but was not harmed. She peaked outside her bedroom when she heard the commotion, then locked her door, called 911, and hid in a closet. She reported to 911 that she did not know what was happening but to send help.

After the attack, Robert stumbled to the neighbor’s house in his underwear and had his neighbor call 911. Robert died at his neighbor’s house before paramedics arrived. Virginia also died that night from stab wounds.

Haesun Friskey survived the attack. Haesun had stab wounds to her abdomen, liver, chest, arms, back, face, and neck.

Schoenwetter said the fight was a blur and that he could remember only that when Ronald and Haesun attacked him, he flailed wildly with the knife.

Detectives followed a blood trail from the Friskey residence to the apartment complex that Schoenwetter lived at with his mother.

At the police station, in a video taped interview, Schoenwetter admitted to committing the crimes.

Schoenwetter accepted complete responsibility for his actions and pled guilty to all the charges of his indictment.

Investigation and arrest

Schoenwetter was interviewed and brought down to the police station.

At the station, a video taped interview occurred during which Schoenwetter admitted to committing the crimes.

Charges

On 08/29/00, Schoenwetter was indicted as follows:

• Count I: First-Degree Murder (Virginia Friskey)
• Count II: First-Degree Murder (Ronald Friskey)
• Count III: Attempted First-Degree Murder (Haesun Friskey)
• Count IV: Armed Burglary

Trial

Schoenwetter pleaded guilty to all charges of the indictment on 03/05/03.

A jury recommended death for the murder of Virginia Friskey by a vote of 10 to 2 and death for the murder of Ronald Friskey by a vote of 9 to 3.

The jury’s deliberations began at 1:15 p.m. and continued for nearly seven hours, interrupting only for meal breaks and to ask for a transcript of Schoenwetter’s videotaped statement to police on Aug. 12, 2000.

Defense attorney George McCarthy told jurors: "He wasn't just some nasty kid who decided to go out and kill someone,".

Assistant State Attorney William Respess told Local 6 News partner Florida Today: "We take no pleasure in recommending the death penalty, but the facts are horrible, and this young man deserves the death recommendation,".

Sentencing

On 12/05/03, Schoenwetter was sentenced as follows:

• Count I: First-Degree Murder — Death
• Count II: First-Degree Murder — Death
• Count III: Attempted First-Degree Murder — Life
• Count IV: Armed Burglary — Life

The jury recommended death, and the sentencing judge imposed death sentences for the two first-degree murder counts.

Appeals

On 01/14/04, Schoenwetter filed a direct appeal with the Florida Supreme Court.

In the appeal, Schoenwetter argued:

• Error occurred when the trial court denied his motion to suppress his confession.
• His constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel was violated by denying his counsel’s motion to withdraw.
• Error occurred in allowing a medical examiner who did not perform the autopsies to testify.
• Denying his motion for mistrial when the prosecutor deliberately misled the jury about Schoenwetter’s lack of significant criminal history.
• Denying his motion to disqualify the judge.
• Admitting inflammatory photographs that were not relevant should not have taken place.

Schoenwetter also argued that his death sentences were impermissibly imposed because the court:

• Included improper aggravating circumstances
• Excluded existing circumstances
• Failed to properly find that the mitigating circumstances outweighed the aggravating circumstances, rendering the death sentences unconstitutional

Schoenwetter’s final arguments included:

• The court placed a higher burden of persuasion on the defense to prove life imprisonment as an appropriate sentence than the state to prove death.
• The death sentences were unconstitutional since the jury did not give a unanimous death recommendation.

On 04/27/06, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed Schoenwetter’s convictions and sentence.

On 09/06/06, Schoenwetter filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari in the United States Supreme Court; the petition was currently pending.

Outcome

Schoenwetter was sentenced to death on December 5, 2003. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed his convictions and sentence on 04/27/06.

Other details

Mental health testimony and related findings

Three mental health experts provided testimony that Schoenwetter suffered from significant mental problems: Asperger’s Syndrome, described as a form of autism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Schoenwetter’s PET scan confirmed the Asperger’s Syndrome diagnosis by revealing an abnormal frontal lobe.

Schoenwetter’s type of neurological disorder prevented him from reaching emotional maturity, and his emotional maturity level was described as equivalent to an 11- or 12-year-old. A doctor estimated that Schoenwetter had a social comprehension level of an 8- to 10-year-old child at the time of the offense.

The prosecutors contended that Schoenwetter was smart, cold and calculating, with an I.Q. of around 130.

A prison pastor described Schoenwetter as a serious Bible scholar after converting him to Christianity.

Prior history

Schoenwetter had no previous history of violence towards others or prior criminal history other than a retail theft.

Victims and their ages

• Virginia Friskey — 10-year-old; stabbed and killed that night
• Ronald Friskey — 53-year-old; died after Robert stumbled to the neighbor’s house and called 911; paramedics had not arrived before his death
• Haesun Friskey — survived; stabbed wounds to abdomen, liver, chest, arms, back, face, and neck
• Theresa — 16-year-old; present during the attack but not harmed

Statements about intent and trial interpretation

Schoenwetter pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and said he went to the home with the intention of raping Virginia or her sister Teresa, then 16.

The jury weighed aggravating circumstances that included the young age of Virginia Friskey, the “heinous” nature of the subsequent attack that killed her 53-year-old father Ronald and left her mother Haesun close to death, and the fact that the crimes were committed after Schoenwetter broke into their home with a box cutter while they slept.