Michael Seibert

Case information

• Name: Michael Seibert
• Date of birth: 01/12/68
• Court opinion: Supreme Court of Florida opinion SC0 3-800; DC# 105669
• Trial court: Eleventh Judicial Circuit, Miami-Dade County
• Case number: 98-8943
• Sentencing judge: The Honorable Stanford Blake
• Trial attorney (defense): Richard Houlihan and Kenneth White — Assistant Public Defenders
• Direct appeal: Scott W. Sakin — Special Assistant Public Defender

Timeline

• 03/17/98 — Two officers responded to an attempted suicide call at Michael Seibert’s apartment.
• 04/01/98 — Seibert was indicted on Count I: First-Degree Murder (as reflected in the trial summary’s indictment date line).
• 02/11/03 — The jury recommended death by a vote of 9-3.
• 03/24/03 — Seibert was sentenced to death on Count I: First-Degree Murder.
• 02/16/06 — The Florida Supreme Court affirmed Seibert’s conviction and sentence.
• 06/28/06 — Seibert filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari in the United States Supreme Court.
• 10/02/06 — The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari.
• 09/11/07 — Seibert filed a 3.850 Motion for Post-Conviction Relief in the State Circuit Court.

Background

Seibert had prior incarceration history in the State of Florida, including sentences for:

• 05/08/86 — Kidnap; Comm. or Fac. Felony; 01/05/87 sentence of 15Y 0M 0D
• 05/08/86 — Grand Theft Motor Vehicle; 01/05/87 sentence of 5Y 0M 0D
• 05/08/86 — Burg Unoccstruc/CV or Att.; 01/05/87 sentence of 15Y 0M 0D
• 05/12/86 — 1st DG Mrd/Premed. Or Attempted; 01/05/87 sentence of 30Y 0M 0D
• 05/12/86 — Kinap; Comm. or Fac. Felony; 01/05/87 sentence of 30Y 0M 0D
• 05/12/86 — Grand Theft Motor; 01/05/87 sentence of 5Y 0M 0D

The offence

On 03/17/98, two officers responded to an attempted suicide call at Michael Seibert’s apartment. The officers knocked on the door. Seibert eventually answered, said he was okay, told them to leave, and then shut the door.

The officers demanded to come inside and forced their way through the door under the impression that there was an emergency situation where someone could be hurt. The officers checked Seibert for weapons and injury. While looking over Seibert’s apartment, one of the officers noticed a severed foot in the bath tub and yelled to the other officer that there had been a homicide.

Seibert took off running but was tackled and apprehended in the apartment hallway. Seibert was then taken into custody. While being booked, the officer noted that Seibert’s behavior was unusual and that he acted as though he was “out of it”. During questioning, Seibert said he was high on heroin and cocaine.

The body parts found in Seibert’s bath tub belonged to Karolay Adrianza. Adrianza had gone out the previous evening to the beach with her boyfriend and never returned home.

Forensic and medical details regarding Adrianza

Adrianza’s body was in the bath tub clothed in a shirt and underwear. Most of the soft tissue below her waist had been removed (approximately 40 to 50 pounds), including part of her abdominal wall, the large bowel and part of the small bowel, which had been flushed down the toilet.

Adrianza’s left hand, left foot and left ankle had been separated from the body. Examiners estimated that the cutting and flushing of her body that Seibert did would have taken about an hour.

Adrianza died from strangulation. There was also evidence of Seibert’s semen inside Adrianza’s body. It could not be determined if Seibert had sex with Adrianza before or after her death.

Witness testimony about events in Seibert’s apartment

Seibert had a roommate named William “Ace” Green, who did not pay rent and made money by selling drugs. Green testified that on March 17, 1998, he saw Seibert with Karolay Adrianza and her boyfriend, Danny Navarres, in their apartment. The three ingested a large quantity of cocaine.

Green testified that Seibert sent Green and Navarres to the store to buy cigarettes and beer. When they returned, Navarres did not enter the apartment and said he had to go buy something and would be back later.

Green testified that when Green arrived back at the apartment alone, Adrianza asked for her boyfriend and made several phone calls to see where he was. After about 30 minutes, Seibert asked Green to leave and keep an eye out for Navarres, stating that he wanted to be alone with Adrianza.

Green testified that Green had noticed that Seibert had been flirting with Adrianza. Green left the apartment and went to a laundromat to talk to a friend who worked there. After a while, Green wanted back into the apartment. He did not have a key so he called several times, but Seibert would not answer.

Green testified that Seibert said to come back later making comments that he only needed a little bit longer before he would be in her pants. Later, when Green knocked on the door again, Seibert asked him to go buy some cigarettes. Green refused and said he wanted inside.

Green testified that an argument occurred and, at one point, Seibert stated he was going to kill himself. Green then called the police and reported a suicide attempt.

Police response and custody-related observations

According to the trial summary’s trial information, Adrianza’s body was discovered in the bath tub when police forced their way into the apartment after receiving the attempted suicide call. During questioning after Seibert was apprehended, Seibert said he was high on heroin and cocaine.

While being booked, an officer noted Seibert’s behavior was unusual and that he acted as though he was “out of it”.

Additional details appearing in the case summary text

The case summary text states that Karolay Adrianza attended a party at Seibert’s Miami Beach apartment on March 16, 1998. It also states that William “Ace” Greene called police at 10am the following morning to say he had been shut out of the apartment and feared Seibert may be about to commit suicide inside.

The case summary text includes the claim that Greene reported hearing Seibert shout: "I'm losing it, I'm going to kill myself." The case summary text states that police later forced their way into the property and detained him after finding Ms Adrianza's butchered body in the bath.

The case summary text also states that Seibert had been using cocaine and heroin that night. It further states that Greene’s testimony was videotaped earlier in the year through a satellite link-up between a Miami courtroom and a prison in Ecuador, where he is serving time for drugs offences.

Investigation

Two officers responded to the attempted suicide call at Seibert’s apartment and forced their way through the door under the impression that someone could be hurt.

During the officers’ entry and search, a severed foot was noticed in the bath tub, and it was recognized that there had been a homicide.

Arrest

He was taken into custody.

Trial

Indictment and verdicts

• 04/01/98 — Seibert was indicted on Count I: First-Degree Murder.
• 11/21/02 — A jury returned guilty verdicts on the sole count of the indictment.

Sentencing recommendation

Sentencing

On 03/24/03, Seibert was sentenced as follows:

• Count I: First-Degree Murder — Death

The sentencing judge was The Honorable Stanford Blake.

Appeals

Florida Supreme Court

On 04/28/03, Seibert filed a direct appeal to the Florida Supreme Court.

Seibert claimed error occurred in the court denying his motions to suppress evidence and statements from the police entering his apartment non-consensually without a warrant, thus violating his constitutional rights.

He also contended that error occurred in the trial court refusing his motion for mistrial based on irrelevant and highly prejudicial evidence presented by the state, which violated his Fourteenth Amendment right.

In the appeal, Seibert also argued that, under the circumstances of his case, the death sentence was disproportionate and violated the Constitution.

Seibert argued that the jury did not have a fair consideration in the sentencing recommendation due to the prosecutor’s improper and prejudicial reference to irrelevant criminal activity as a non-statutory aggravating circumstance.

His final arguments referred to the Florida Capital sentencing scheme as being unconstitutional for several reasons.

The Florida Supreme Court affirmed Seibert’s conviction and sentence on 02/16/06.

United States Supreme Court

On 06/28/06, Seibert filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari in the United States Supreme Court. On 10/02/06, the petition was denied.

Post-conviction motion

On 09/11/07, Seibert filed a 3.850 Motion for Post-Conviction Relief in the State Circuit Court. This motion was described as currently pending.

Outcome

• Seibert was sentenced to death on March 24, 2003.
• The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and sentence on 02/16/06.
• The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari on 10/02/06.
• The 3.850 motion was filed on 09/11/07 and was described as pending.

Other details

The case summary text includes additional information about earlier events and persons not directly part of the charged murder narrative in the procedural timeline:

• The case summary text states that Seibert’s prior background included violent conduct involving Kathryn Jones, including a kidnapping bludgeoning incident described as occurring in 1986, and that Seibert had been released after serving only one-third of a 30-year sentence.
• The case summary text states that Kathryn Jones was left for dead in a field after being abducted from a telephone box in Miami Beach while on holiday in 1986.
• The case summary text states that Seibert took Kathryn Jones to a secluded field and smashed her head with a porcelain toilet until she passed out, leaving her with severe brain injuries; it also states she spent three weeks in a coma before being flown home for further extensive treatment, where she had previously worked as a nurse.
• The case summary text states that Kathryn Jones regained consciousness when her boyfriend Roger Jones was flown over to Miami, and that medical staff advised him to shout in her ear.
• The case summary text states that Kathryn Jones used a last-minute standby ticket to fly to Florida for a two-week holiday and that Seibert attacked her as she was about to take a day-trip to Key West.
• The case summary text includes a quotation attributed to Seibert when arrested for Karolay Adrianza’s killing:

  "My parents are really going to be upset at me. This is the second time I've been in trouble."

The case summary text also states:

• Seibert used a shoelace to choke an 18-year-old American student before placing her body in the bath, cutting off a hand and foot and flushing chunks of her flesh down the lavatory.
• Adrianza was described as an 18-year-old American student.
• The case summary text states prosecutor Flora Seff wanted Seibert sent to the death chamber when he is sentenced next year.
• The case summary text states that Seibert publicly denied the attempted murder of Kathryn Jones but was linked by forensic evidence and later bragged about the incident to fellow inmates while held in custody.
• The case summary text states that people in Florida were horrified and set up a fund for Kathryn Jones, which along with contributions raised more than £16,500.
• The case summary text describes that since Seibert's early release in 1997, US law was changed to ensure that violent criminals serve at least 85 per cent of their sentences.

The case summary text includes some names and identifiers:

• Flora Seff (described as prosecutor).
• Roger Jones (described as Kathryn Jones’s boyfriend).
• Kathryn Jones (described as 27 at the time of the 1986 attack).
• Roger Jones is stated as flown over to Miami when Kathryn Jones regained consciousness.
• Seibert was described as 34 in the case summary text.