FL - Manhunt in Tampa after 4 slayings in 5 weeks, Oct-Nov 2017 #2 *Arrest*

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http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/r...out-arrest-of-accused-seminole-heights-killer
[h=1]Friends shocked to learn about arrest of accused Seminole Heights killer[/h]
“I still am having a hard time believing it,” Duteau said.

Duteau said his friend is mild mannered and had a good upbringing.
“Everybody knows they’re good people and that’s why I think it’s so crazy because the way he was brought up. It just not…it’s not like him,” Duteau said
.
Duteau said, to his knowledge, Donaldson does not have any ties to Seminole Heights.
Duteau does not want anyone to jump to conclusions.

“I just don’t want anybody to jump to conclusions until the whole story comes out first because like I said, anybody that knew Trai knew he was a very personable person. He was very upbeat and (was) always happy and didn’t have a bad bone in his body. And if he had any mental problems going on, I don’t think any of us were aware of it if so because he never would show that," Duteau said.
 
http://www.tampabay.com/news/Semino...police-make-arrest-in-four-killings_163115846

Many customers at M&M Food and Meat, a convenience store on 15th Street, seemed to be overjoyed by the arrest, said Mike Hamdan, 20, a store manager.

"There was a lady in here dancing earlier, singing ‘they got him,’" Hamdan said. But Hamdan did not share their joy.

"I don’t think he’s the guy," Hamdan said. "How did he avoid police so long only to be dumb enough to give his gun to someone?"

Others doubted that the killings would stop. Just a few blocks away in front of the bus stop where the first victim was shot dead, Natasha Livingston, 29, lives with her seven kids.

"I think the police should still be out patrolling," Livingston said. "That man doesn’t look like the images they’ve been showing. That dude doesn’t match the description. You’ll see. You’ll be back out here reporting another dead body."
[video=youtube;jAJOMwvIEmo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAJOMwvIEmo[/video]
 
It might have been reported. We don't know. I wouldn't be surprised if someone there reported him before and then called again with more urgency when he passed his gun to a coworker.

There was a interview with one of his co-workers at McDonald's who told him he looked like the suspect and they joked about it. She probably should have made a call to the tip line. It sort of goes to show that sometimes the very person is standing right in front of us and we don't quite see it. It might be a subconcious feature of our brains that protects us from danger. It's as though she knew it was him but dismissed it too easily...
 
You're assuming nobody did? Tips might have been buried/being processed as one of multiple thousands law enforcement received.

Seeing where he lived and worked, etc. I don't see how his friends and family didn't recognize him. In news articles, many of his friends and school mates said they recognized him in the videos. Why did it take so long for people to come forward? It could have saved some lives.
 
http://www.fox13news.com/news/local-news/who-is-howell-donaldson-suspects-background-emerges
"He's been over here lately so I thought maybe he moved back in,” said neighbor Kelly Fabian. “He plays basketball, he's very nice, he always waves, very polite, quiet kid."

Loved ones are devastated, and no family members wanted to speak with FOX 13 News Wednesday on-camera. Through social media, a cousin says Donaldson was his role model growing up, motivating him, talking with him, and pushing him to pursue his career dreams.

He asks people not to judge the family or Donaldson until we know the complete story.

Besides a handful of traffic citations, Donaldson has no criminal record. He’s set to have his first court appearance Thursday morning.
 
I just remembered something... the day ronald felton was killed there was a lot of chatter on the scanner about woodbridge elementary school and something about a gate i think...and someone calling and reporting something. I think it was after school hours bc i remember thinking they wouldn't need to lock the school down since there werent any kids there.

I always thought it was related to the killer bc they were being very conservative with the details and even made mention of "using landlines instead of radio so nobody would know what we got" it was close to the time they said something like "go cover the back window, hes athletic" and it was also close to the time they had set up a perimeter around an apartment building near a CVS but nothing panned out.

I just mapped woodbridge elementary to his home on millwood and its only 7 minutes. Maybe they chased leads to that area and then things went cold or they second guessed themselves. I wonder how close if at all they ever got to figuring out who he was

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YES! I was on the Scanner that day and remember this now.
 
He would have had to rent out the gun too---ballistics proved the gun was used in the killings and he stated the
gun was never out of his possesion since purchasing it---- case closed ---ready for trial


Mm, well all I can say is, this whole state has gone crazy with its increasing level of crime - Florida is overrated as a vacation destination anyways.

Cannot wait until we leave this state for good next year. I will not miss it at all.

LOL
 
http://www.tampabay.com/news/public...d-serial-killer-in-Seminole-Heights_163124106
Donaldson started working at the McDonald’s a couple of months before his arrest.

Co-worker Gail Rogers said he never quite fit in.

"He wasn’t a friendly person. We were all like a family," she said. "He wasn’t like the rest of us."
They all talked about the killings, Rogers said, and they sometimes prodded Donaldson about his resemblance to a man police labeled a suspect in surveillance footage from the neighborhood.
"We would tease him and say he was the killer, because he looked like the pictures," Rogers said. "I called him the killer to his face. He didn’t like that."

No one knew why Donaldson left the gun with a manager at the McDonald’s on Tuesday. Criminology experts said it was a bizarre turn.
"To give your gun to someone else sounds like he’s asking to be caught," said Northeastern University criminologist Jack Levin. "It just seems strange that the same person who would randomly kill complete strangers for the thrill of it would all of a sudden become remorseful."

Bryanna Fox, a criminology professor at the University o South Florida, said it’s possible Donaldson was feeling the pressure from the police dragnet and was just looking for relief. Or he simply made a mistake.

A recent traumatic episode in his life might have driven him to kill, she said, or he may have simply reached a tipping point from a series of smaller setbacks
.
rbbm.
Sounds similar to Jesse Matthew's co workers, , imo.

http://wtvr.com/2014/10/09/exclusiv...taxi-driver-night-morgan-harrington-vanished/
Those close to Matthew in 2009 when Harrington disappeared, told CBS 6 News that they informed investigators that they would joke with their former co-worker that he resembled a sketch of the man linked to a 2005 rape in Fairfax -- and the man linked to Harrington. They said Matthew would at times brush it off. But at other times, they said Matthew would get visibly upset and disappear for hours
.
 
I think the 4th murder was
a different gun

they have been vague and its the one
where they asked everyone to check to see if there guns were still in there house
 
http://abcnews.go.com/US/cell-phone-tracking-shell-casings-place-alleged-tampa/story?id=51454854
"To have four homicides on your watch is a tough pill to swallow," Dugan said at this afternoon's press conference. "I will hold onto that the rest of my life."

The Tampa police chief said the individual who turned in the weapon to authorities is a female manager at the McDonald's in Ybor City, where Donaldson is a former employee. Dugan said he doesn't believe Donaldson gave his coworker the bag so that he would get caught, but rather thought she would hold onto it for safekeeping without looking inside.
rbbm
 
Do you guys think the news of the Vegas Mass Shooting gave him an idea to buy a gun and start his own reign of terror?
Did he do it for the infamy/fame or the thrill kill?
or rage?
 
Do you guys think the news of the Vegas Mass Shooting gave him an idea to buy a gun and start his own reign of terror?
Did he do it for the infamy/fame or the thrill kill?
or rage?

I'm not sure if he was inspired by the Vegas mass shooter or not. I mostly think he is a thrill killer. And the co-worker who described him as not like the rest of them and that he didn't fit in chills me to the bones.
 
Was he even planning on working a shift last night at McDonalds? He said he was going to leave and he did have a couple of suitcases in the vehicle. How this thing went down was strange. The people who were goading him about looking like the killer sure were brave!
 
I'm not sure if he was inspired by the Vegas mass shooter or not. I mostly think he is a thrill killer. And the co-worker who described him as not like the rest of them and that he didn't fit in chills me to the bones.

He bought his gun two days afterwards. I wonder if subconsciously triggered him?
 
It's possible he wanted his co-workers to know who he was. He probably feels more important than them and that he's better than them and he wants them to know it. He probably had no concern about them turning him in. He may have assumed they'd be too afraid to call police, especially bc they were women. His manager was a woman. That may not have sat well with him.

He gave the victims absolutely no warning. I can't see him changing that now and giving the actual murder weapon to his next victim and then leaving the premises for what, 15-20 min?

I just keep feeling like there's still something missing here!
 
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