GUILTY FL - Andrea Boyer, 25, raped & murdered, Orange Park, 23 Jan 2007 *Guilty in 2010 and 2023*

Michael Jackson testified at his sentencing hearing, saying he was "gratefully sorry" for the death of Andrea Boyer, but continued to maintain that he didn't kill her.

Andrea Boyer ​

CLAY COUNTY, Fla. -- It took just 20 minutes Friday afternoon for nine of 12 jurors to recommended death for a Clay County man convicted of killing a veterinary tech in January 2007.

In February, the jury found Michael Jackson guilty of raping and murdering Andrea Boyer as she arrived at work at a Wells Road animal clinic in Orange Park.

Before closing arguments Friday, Jackson took the stand, denying he killed Boyer.

"I may be a lot of different things, but I am no killer," Jackson said. "I am gratefully sorry to the family and friends of Miss Boyer who have lost someone they dearly love and dearly miss."

"I am not a killer and cannot hold myself accountable for something I did not do."

Boyer's father, Tom Cochlin, was emotional as he testified at the sentencing hearing.

"She was my daughter. She was my 'daddy's little girl,'" he said. "She was the best friend for her mother and me, but most of all, she was my funny -- she was the smile on my face every time she was around. I feel so very lucky she was my daughter."

Boyer's husband, Chad Boyer, also told the jury how he felt and how his life changed when his wife was killed.

"People tell me all the time, 'Things will get better. You will get over it,'" he said. "How are you suppose to get over something so harsh? You can't. You don't. You learn to live with it. Some things do get better, but the memory will always be with you of what happened that day."

Prosecutors showed disturbing photographs of Boyer's body after she was beaten to death, asking the same jury that convicted Jackson to recommend death for him.

DNA evidence was presented during the trial that indicated Jackson had sex with Boyer before she was strangled and beaten with a fire extinguisher.

Jackson claimed that he had provided her drugs in exchange for sex, but under cross-examination, he admitted that most of what he told police when he was first arrested was lies.

"It's just appalling that he does not even have the guts to admit," said Amber Cochlin, Boyer's sister. "He is apologizing for (a rape) he did 25 years ago. That's fine and dandy. What about my sister. He still can't admit it. So he deserves to die for what he has done."

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An Orange Park man will get a new trial after the Florida Supreme Court overturned the verdict.

Michael Renard Jackson was convicted in 2010 of raping and murdering Andrea Boyer in 2007, and her family thought their nightmare was over...

But the Florida Supreme Court ruled that Jackson should get a new trial because the jury saw video of his interrogation, where detectives made prejudicial statements against him.

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Michael R. Jackson was found guilty of raping and murdering Andrea Boyer, but an error during the trial forced the court to hear the case again. Jury selection for the retrial began this week, but was abruptly halted and a procedural hearing was set for Monday.
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According to the Clay County court records, over the last five weeks, the defense was approved to pay a forensic medical examiner to testify at the trial and the state requested that evidence in the case be unsealed. There was also a motion asking for supplemental evidence from the state to be released to the defense.

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