Deidre Hunt

Overview

Deidre Michelle Hunt was born 2/9/69. She was sentenced from Volusia County on 9/13/90 for the 10/20/89 shooting murders of two men she involved in a murder-for-money scheme. She was videotaped shooting one of the men by her co-defendant Kosta Fotopoulos, her former boss and lover. She pleaded guilty. She was resentenced to life on May 7, 1998. She was at Homestead Correctional Institution.

Timeline

• 10/20/89 — Deidre Hunt and Konstantinos Fotopoulos lured Kevin Ramsey to an isolated shooting range; Fotopoulos videotaped the shooting and Ramsey was shot multiple times.
• 11/04/89 — Bryan Chase entered the Fotopoulos home during a staged burglary and shot Lisa Fotopoulos once in the head while she slept; Chase was killed by Konstantinos Fotopoulos; Lisa Fotopoulos survived.
• 9/13/90 — Hunt was sentenced to death for the murders.
• 1995 — The Florida Supreme Court overturned Hunt’s death sentence and allowed her to withdraw her guilty plea.
• 4/23/1998 — A jury convicted Hunt of murder and multiple related offenses; the penalty phase was set to begin the following week.
• 5/07/98 — Hunt was sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment.
• 2/18/2000 — An appeal decision described Hunt v. State of Florida, Fifth District (Case No. 5D98-1904), affirming appellant’s judgment and sentence.

Background

During the summer of 1989, Konstantinos Fotopoulos began having an extra-marital affair with bartender Deidre Hunt, who worked at his bar. Fotopoulos was 30 and married to Lisa Fotopoulos, who owned several businesses.

Hunt was a slim 20-year-old bartender working at Top Shots, a Daytona Beach pool hall owned by Fotopoulos. Hunt later became known as “Dee.” The relationship between Hunt and Fotopoulos involved gifts and promises, and Fotopoulos rented Hunt an apartment and provided her a job at Top Shots.

In the summer of 1989, Hunt moved to the Daytona Beach area from New Hampshire to live with her boyfriend, but the relationship soon ended.

Hunt became acquainted with Lori Henderson and Tony Calderoni. After a brief sexual relationship, Tony Calderoni rented Hunt an apartment and provided her a job at Top Shots, a pool hall he managed for the owner Konstantinos X. Fotopoulos. Soon thereafter, Hunt began an affair with Fotopoulos, who rented her an apartment, gave her money, and bought her clothes.

Lisa Fotopoulos owned a business on the boardwalk in Daytona Beach called Joyland Amusement Center. She inherited a small fortune when her father died. She had nearly wrecked her car chasing Fotopoulos as he left Hunt’s apartment.

Sometime towards the end of October 1989, Lisa learned of Fotopoulos’s affair with Hunt and demanded that Fotopoulos fire Hunt from Top Shots. When he denied the affair, Lisa announced her plan to file for divorce.

The offence

Murder of Kevin Ramsey (10/20/89)

On 10/20/89, Fotopoulos and Hunt lured Kevin Ramsey, 19, to an isolated shooting range by telling him he would be inducted into a club. Ramsey also worked at Top Shots and had been demanding more money and threatening to expose Fotopoulos’s counterfeit money scheme. Fotopoulos intended to kill Ramsey to prevent him from blackmailing him concerning counterfeiting activities.

Fotopoulos threatened Hunt that he would kill her if she did not kill Ramsey. Ramsey was tied to a tree. Hunt shot Ramsey three times in the chest and once in the head with a .22 pistol while Fotopoulos videotaped the shooting. After the videotaping, Fotopoulos shot Ramsey once in the head using an AK-47 assault rifle.

In the videotape description, a flashlight shone on Deidre Hunt as Ramsey stood facing her with arms wrapped behind him and tied. Fotopoulos’s voice said “OK.” Ramsey said: “Don’t shine it in my eyes.” Hunt then pointed a .22-caliber handgun at Ramsey and shot him three times in the chest. Ramsey said: “God.” Hunt then fired a fourth shot into his temple. The recording stopped, and Fotopoulos then fired a single 7.62mm full-metal jacketed slug into Ramsey’s head to ensure he was dead.

Conspiracy and solicitation to kill Lisa Fotopoulos

Fotopoulos then conspired to kill his wife Lisa Fotopoulos to collect $700,000 in insurance proceeds. Fotopoulos used the videotape of Hunt killing Ramsey to get Hunt’s cooperation in the murder of Lisa Fotopoulos. Fotopoulos instructed Hunt to hire someone to kill Lisa Fotopoulos.

Hunt attempted to hire a man on two occasions, but the plan never materialized. A friend of Hunt’s, Lisa Henderson, led Hunt to her boyfriend, Teja James, who was hired to kill Lisa Fotopoulos for $5,000. After James botched two attempts to kill Lisa Fotopoulos, Bryan Chase was hired to kill Lisa.

Murder attempt involving Bryan Chase (11/04/89)

On 11/04/89, Chase went to the Fotopoulos home during a staged burglary and shot Lisa Fotopoulos once in the head while she lay in bed. The wound was not fatal; Lisa survived with the bullet lodged in her head. After the shooting, Fotopoulos shot Chase repeatedly, killing him.

After the attack, a preliminary determination by police classified the incident as a home invasion gone wrong and self-defense by Fotopoulos. Police later became suspicious that the incident related to events at Joyland. During investigation, authorities contacted Hunt and Henderson, and Hunt confessed to her involvement in an audio-taped interview. She described Fotopoulos’s criminal activity, including counterfeiting and other crimes, and provided details about Ramsey’s murder and the plan to kill Lisa.

Evidence found during the search

In a search of the Fotopoulos home by police, authorities found the Ramsey murder videotape, a .22 pistol, and an AK-47 assault rifle.

Investigation and admissions

During police investigation, authorities contacted Hunt and Henderson. Hunt confessed to her involvement during an audio-taped interview. She informed police of Fotopoulos’s counterfeiting enterprise, and she explained that elaborate plans to kill Lisa had begun with the murder of Kevin Ramsey.

Hunt guided police to Ramsey’s severely decomposed body. Henderson also testified at trial that she learned of the plan to kill Lisa from Hunt and that the couple planned to move into Lisa’s house after her death. Henderson testified that Hunt had informed her that Fotopoulos planned for Hunt to kill someone so he could videotape it for protection and that it would be Ramsey.

Hunt’s expert testimony addressed her mental health and included testimony that her mother suffered from multiple personality disorder with eleven separate personalities. Hunt also presented testimony that she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and battered woman syndrome. Expert testimony described that Fotopoulos inflicted ritualistic torture on Hunt by cutting her with razors, sucking her blood, throwing knifes, burning her with cigarettes and an iron, poking her with needles, and threatening her with a gun. One expert testified that Hunt did not understand the consequences of her actions and believed she had no alternative but to obey Fotopoulos.

The narrative also included that, at the guilt phase, a videotaped statement was introduced in which Hunt said she believed she was going to shoot around Ramsey’s feet while he was tied to a tree, and that Fotopoulos told her before they left the car that she was going to murder Ramsey.

A quoted statement attributed in the case summary to Hunt’s videotaped confession included that she told investigators: “I knew that boy wasn’t coming out alive,” and “That was clearly a conspiracy by Deidre Hunt to achieve the death of Lisa Fotopoulos.”

Arrest and charges

Hunt was indicted for the same crimes as Fotopoulos. She later pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to death for the murders of Ramsey and Chase.

The case also included that Chase was hired to kill Lisa Fotopoulos and that the plan never materialized earlier when James botched two attempts.

Trial

Withdrawal of guilty plea and retrial

Hunt’s convictions were affirmed on appeal, but her death sentences were vacated. Before her retrial, Hunt was allowed to withdraw her guilty verdict and proceed to trial.

Jury verdicts and deliberation

The jury returned guilty verdicts on all charges. In April 1998, a 12-member jury found Hunt guilty of the murder of Kevin Ramsey and the death of Bryan Chase. The jury also found Hunt guilty of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, two counts of solicitation to commit first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, and burglary of a dwelling while armed.

The jury reached its verdict after hearing six days of testimony and deliberating for a day-and-a-half.

Witness testimony

Lisa Fotopoulos, now Lisa Psaros, testified that she was asleep when Chase shot her in the head. She said she awoke to the loud noise from the gun and excruciating pain near her forehead. She also testified that Hunt approached her at Top Shots and asked what it was like to be rich, including questions about diamonds and whether a Gucci bag was real.

Sentencing

9/13/90 death sentences

Hunt was sentenced to death on September 13, 1990.

05/07/98 resentencing to life

On 05/07/98, Hunt was sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment.

At the April 1998 trial, Circuit Judge Ed Sanders sentenced Hunt to life in prison with a chance for parole in 25 years for Chase’s and Ramsey’s deaths. Sanders then sentenced Hunt to life without parole for other convictions including conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, solicitation to commit first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and burglary of a dwelling while armed.

Appeals

The Florida Supreme Court overturned Hunt’s death sentence in 1995 and allowed her to withdraw her guilty plea. The reversal related to her attorney’s improperly selling her story, “Deadly Deidre,” to the TV show A Current Affair for $5,000.

2/18/2000 appellate decision (Fifth District)

In Hunt v. State of Florida, No. 5D98-1904, dated February 18, 2000, the appellate court affirmed appellant’s judgment and sentence.

Hunt raised two related issues on appeal:

1. The lower court erred in refusing requested jury instructions directed at her contention that the only reason she killed Kevin Ramsey was Fotopoulos had a gun pointed at her head, and that she killed Ramsey to avoid being killed. The court found no merit to Hunt’s claim that she was entitled to a “necessity” instruction and agreed that necessity did not apply, with facts supporting duress.
2. The trial court reversibly erred when it opted for the standard jury instruction on premeditation instead of her proposed jury instruction that included the notion of a “dominating passion.” The court rejected the argument and held that the standard jury instructions were sufficient.

The appellate decision addressed duress versus necessity and discussed United States v. Bailey and related Florida case law. It also discussed Forehand v. State and other cases regarding dominating fear and premeditation.

The appellate court concluded:

• “Accordingly, we affirm appellant’s judgment and sentence.” The opinion included a page conclusion stating: “AFFIRMED.”

Outcome and current status

Hunt was resentenced to life imprisonment on May 7, 1998 and was at Homestead Correctional Institution. Her legal status reflected the death sentences being vacated and replaced by two terms of life imprisonment.

Other details

• Hunt had a mother identified as Carol Hunt (also described as Carol Ann Hunt of New Hampshire) who testified about a mental disorder and was quoted as stating: “total defeat for the mentally ill.”
• Hunt’s attorney at sentencing was Carey Haughwout.
• The prosecutor identified as Rick Ridgway, and also described as Richard Ridgway in some parts of the narrative.
• The staged burglary occurred on Nov. 4, 1989, and Chase shot Lisa Fotopoulos once in the head while she slept. Lisa survived and was later divorced and remarried, including being identified as Lisa Psaros.
• The narrative stated that Kosta remained on death row and continued to appeal for a reduced sentence.