GUILTY FL - Denise Lee, 21, raped & murdered, North Port, 17 Jan 2008

DNA Solves
DNA Solves
DNA Solves
New claims dog a murder suspect

Man accused in Lee slaying had a sordid past, witnesses allege in newly released documents

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By Zac Anderson and Todd Ruger STAFF WRITERS
Published Saturday, April 5, 2008 at 2:09 p.m.

SARASOTA COUNTY — Before Michael King was accused of kidnapping, raping and murdering North Port mother Denise Lee,, witnesses allege he committed a series of sex crimes that went unreported at the time.
According to documents released by state prosecutors Friday, King exposed himself to women, kissed and bragged about sexual relationships with underage girls, and raped his friend's wife when she was passed out drunk, witnesses told investigators.
Police also uncovered more evidence linking King, 36, to Lee's murder, including women's underwear and men's clothing near a pond close to where Lee was found buried. King was wet and muddy from the waist down when police arrested him.
Authorities also found a 9-millimeter brass bullet casing near Lee's body, the same caliber as a gun owned by King.
Not included in the 900 pages of police reports, transcripts and materials compiled by investigators is any indication of how or why King might have targeted Lee.
Police have not reported recovering a murder weapon.
The materials became public after prosecutors gave them to defense lawyers as part of the legal cases against King, of North Port.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty on a first-degree murder charge.
They are also pursuing a separate kidnapping and rape case against King.
Other key evidence was not released Friday, including any statements King made after his arrest. King's lawyers want a judge to review those statements, citing a section of state law that says records are not public if they reveal the substance of a confession of a person arrested.
The defense has not been given the records and did not know what the statements contained. Assistant State Attorney Lon Arend said he did not interpret any of the statements King made as admissions.
Also, a recording of the 911 call Lee made while reportedly trapped in King's vehicle was not released. Arend said a recording of that call is not public because it contains admissions from King.
Police believe King abducted Lee, 21, from her Latour Avenue home on Jan. 17 while her two young sons napped, raped her, shot her once in the head and buried her in wooded area of North Port near Interstate 75.
King was arrested at 9:16 p.m. by Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Eddie Pope as King attempted to access Interstate 75 near where Lee's body was found.
Included in the records released Friday was a statement reflecting the desperation law enforcement officials felt that night after Lee, the daughter of a Charlotte County sheriff's sergeant, called 911 from King's cell phone at 6:15 p.m. begging for help.
Lee's call set off a frantic search that culminated with Pope screaming in King's face: "Where's the \[expletive\] girl? Listen to me. Where's the \[expletive\] girl?"
While the records show police have amassed a considerable amount of evidence against King, including telephone records that seem to help corroborate their time line for the kidnapping, rape and murder, they also chased a lot of dead ends.
One person called to say that Lee's father-in-law, Mark Lee, owned Performance Mortgage in Englewood, and thought there might be a connection to King because his house was in foreclosure. But detectives found King got his mortgage elsewhere.
But other witness statements compiled by investigators paint a disturbing image of King and could help prosecutors as they attempt to portray King as cold-blooded killer and sexual predator.
A woman contacted after the murder told investigators that King had raped her about two years earlier and bragged about having sex with underage girls.
The woman told investigators that King, her husband's friend, sexually assaulted her after she had passed out drunk at his house.
Another woman told police that about a year before the murder, King stopped his plumbing work and exposed himself to her while she was breast-feeding a baby in the car outside a hair salon.
She immediately looked down and told the salon manager.
The woman who reported that King had raped her said she and her husband went to King's house in January 2007 to find King and two other men discussing "how they had, and still were having, sex with young girls."
The woman said King was talking about taking drugs and drinking, and said there were several teenage girls who would come to his house for parties.
King referred to one girl as a "strawberry blond, with a thin build," the woman told investigators.
King told her he carried a gun everywhere.
Employees at a Venice hair salon told investigators that about six months before the murder, King brought in a girl who was about 15 years old.
They thought she was his daughter until the pair started kissing, and King had the girl sit on his lap while he got his hair cut.
King told one employee that he met the girl on the Internet and picked her up in Tennessee.
There was no explanation in the documents as to why the alleged crimes were not reported to police.
The investigative material included the recording of a driver's cell phone call to Charlotte County's 911 center reporting a dark-colored Camaro with a desperately screaming passenger, described as a child. Charlotte County did not dispatch an officer to search for the car.
Another driver also identified King as the man he saw on U.S. 41 when hearing screams of "Help! Help!" coming from King's car. North Port resident Shawn Johnson saw the car on U.S. 41 near the Charlotte County line, but did not call police.
A lab previously matched King's DNA to DNA found in Lee's body, according to court documents filed by the prosecution. A trial date for King has not been set.



the death penalty isn't enough for this monster....:furious:

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The failure to report him on a number of sexual crimes is evident. People need to realize that these creeps do things in progression. What they deem to be "unimportant" at the time could mean that later he is the one burying a victim of his perversion. This man (I don't like calling him such) showed obvious signs of behavior long before he killed this poor woman. It is a progression from looking at a woman while making her feel uncomfortable to murder for his sexual deviancy. If he had been pegged early on as a deviant...we might not be missing a loving mother and daughter today. People need to ACT.

I agree the DP is absolutely in order with King. They should take his relative to jail, too, for not reporting what he knew immediately.
 
http://www.sun-herald.com/Newsheadline.cfm?headline=9973

The call began at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 17 and lasted some nine minutes.

It shows that Kowalski mistakenly described the victim as a child no older than 10.

However, Kowalski also told the operator she wasn't sure how old the victim was. "I don't -- you know what, it's dark," she said.

She also described the driver as "a white male, sort of light-colored hair, sort of plump," the tape indicates.

That matched the description of the suspect in a be-on-the-lookout bulletin issued by North Port Police at 6:44 p.m., shortly after the conclusion of Kowalski's call.

The Florida Highway Patrol dispatched a half-dozen troopers to "saturate the area," reports show.

But that bulletin was based on another 911 call -- that Denise Lee made on King's cell phone during her abduction. It did not contain specific information about where the suspect could be located.

Kowalski left no doubt that she felt the Camaro she had seen was suspicious. She pointed out she was driving very slow, hoping for King to pass so she could take down his tag number.

"He has not passed me and he's going slower than I am, which is not right, 'cause we're like holding up traffic and stuff," she said.

Stepp asked Kowalski to repeat her name and phone number, even as Kowalski was trying to report that the suspect vehicle was turning left onto Toledo Blade.

"Do you want me to turn? Try to follow him, or?" Kowalski asked.

Stepp asked her co-workers, "Does he want her to follow him?" Apparently, Stepp was assuming that the dispatchers had already relayed the information to a patrol deputy, but that never happened.

Kowalski then reported she probably wouldn't be able to catch up with the suspect because she was not in the left-turn lane and he had already turned.

Stepp could then be heard relaying more information to her co-workers -- that there was "a child in the car, someplace between 5 and 10, and it was banging on the window."

"And screaming," interjected Kowalski.

"And crying," Stepp told her co-workers.

"And screaming," Kowalski emphasized. "Uh, like screaming, screaming, screaming, and not a happy scream; like, a 'Get me out of here' scream."

"Instead of taking a chance, I just wanted to make sure I called it in," she said. "I'd (feel) terrible if something was up."

Kowalski also pointed out she was unaware of whether an Amber Alert for a missing child had been issued.

Stepp then updated her co-workers about the suspect vehicle's last known location and that a child was "screaming in the car."

"And banging on the window," Kowalski added.

"OK," Stepp said.

"And banging on the window," Kowalski repeated.

"Hold on ma'am," Stepp said. "I've got everybody hollering at me and, just one second. I may need you to pull over, so just bear with me."

Stepp then chatted with Kowalski about where she was pulling over.

"And your doors are locked, right?" Stepp asked. "Oh, well yeah, I mean, I always have my doors locked."

"Oh, no, that's probably a good idea, I'm sure," Kowalski said.

Why her co-workers were "hollering" is not explained. However, the sheriff's internal investigation revealed that one dispatcher, Liz Martinez, advised Stepp to "write it down" in the center's computer-aided dispatch system.
 
Lee's father and husband testify about 911 bill

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Published Tuesday, April 8, 2008 at 12 p.m.

TALLAHASSEE — The father and husband of murdered North Port mother Denise Lee met with Florida legislators Tuesday to advocate for a bill that would establish statewide standards for the certification of 911 emergency dispatchers.
E-mail from Rick Goff to Rep. Paige Kreegel

(click here to read more)​
Text of e-mail:
On behalf of my daughter Denise Amber Lee I want to thank you for sponsoring this bill. As you are probably aware on January 17th, 2008 my daughter was kidnapped from her home in North Port, Florida where she was taking care of her two children; Adam being 6 months old and Noah being 2 years old. She was then brutally raped and murdered several hours later. But before being murdered there were several 911 calls placed to the police. One of which was made by Denise herself when she was able to get the suspect phone from him without him knowing. This call lasted 7 minutes in which Denise was able to describe her attacker, his vehicle, and give her name and address from where she was kidnapped, and also that her children were left there alone. The call was terminated when he found her with his phone.
At 6:30 P.M. another 911 call was placed by a concerned Citizen driving down the road in Port Charlotte, Charlotte County, Florida. This concerned citizen called 911 when she observed what she describes as possibly a child abduction and even ask the dispatcher if there was an Amber Alert issued for the area. The caller requested that the police respond and gave a description of suspect and his car, as well as street by street locations while they were driving down highway 41. After several minutes of conversation the suspect vehicle turned off of highway 41 onto a side street. The caller then asked the dispatcher several times if she should follow but she got no response. The caller then pulled over and requested that a deputy meet her so she could give additional information, however they told her to just go home and if they needed her they would call her. No further action were taken as a result of this call. The Charlotte County Sheriff's Office (my Employer of 25 years) never dispatched a car to check on the incident or even gave out a B.O.L.O. to look for the car in this area even though they all knew of the earlier kidnapping of my young daughter.
As a result my daughter was found two days later shot in the head and buried in a shallow grave within two miles of the sighting on highway 41. This call went un-detected for several days and possibly would have forever. The only way the 911 call came to light was the original caller "Jane Kowalski" kept calling in to find out the status of her original call. The Charlotte County Sheriff John Davenport ordered an internal investigation into the incident which later was found that the call was in fact mishandled On behalf of my daughter Denise Amber Lee I want to thank you for sponsoring this bill. As you are probably aware on January 17th, 2008 my daughter was kidnapped from her home in North Port, Florida where she was taking care of her two children; Adam being 6 months old and Noah being 2 years old. She was then brutally raped and murdered several hours later. But before being murdered there were several 911 calls placed to the police. One of which was made by Denise herself when she was able to get the suspect phone from him without him knowing. This call lasted 7 minutes in which Denise was able to describe her attacker, his vehicle, and give her name and address from where she was kidnapped, and also that her children were left there alone. The call was terminated when he found her with his phone.
At 6:30 P.M. another 911 call was placed by a concerned Citizen driving down the road in Port Charlotte, Charlotte County, Florida. This concerned citizen called 911 when she observed what she describes as possibly a child abduction and even ask the dispatcher if there was an Amber Alert issued for the area. The caller requested that the police respond and gave a description of suspect and his car, as well as street by street locations while they were driving down highway 41. After several minutes of conversation the suspect vehicle turned off of highway 41 onto a side street. The caller then asked the dispatcher several times if she should follow but she got no response. The caller then pulled over and requested that a deputy meet her so she could give additional information, however they told her to just go home and if they needed her they would call her. No further action were taken as a result of this call. The Charlotte County Sheriff's Office (my Employer of 25 years) never dispatched a car to check on the incident or even gave out a B.O.L.O. to look for the car in this area even though they all knew of the earlier kidnapping of my young daughter.
As a result my daughter was found two days later shot in the head and buried in a shallow grave within two miles of the sighting on highway 41. This call went un-detected for several days and possibly would have forever. The only way the 911 call came to light was the original caller "Jane Kowalski" kept calling in to find out the status of her original call. The Charlotte County Sheriff John Davenport ordered an internal investigation into the incident which later was found that the call was in fact mishandled and two operators were found guilty. As a result one was given three days off and another given five days off. Myself and family were calling for termination, but the sheriff didn't agree.
It is the family as well as the whole communities opinion that if this call would have been handled correctly that my daughter would still be alive and home with her family. We agree she would have been traumatized by the incident, however she would be cared for by her loved ones. It should be noted that at the time of this mishandled 911 call that there were at least six different Police agencies with over 25 persons, two helicopters and police k-9's involved in the search. There were actually police units on the road that the suspect drove by to get to his final destination with Denise, but since the call was never given out or B.O.L.O. issued for the car he drove right by undetected.
On behalf of the Goff/Lee family we would like to offer our assistance in pushing for your bill to be passed since this incident has had such an impact on our lives. There is not a day goes by that we think about the mistakes made in the dispatch center the day my daughter was kidnapped and murdered, and to think that it happened within my own agency. Again on behalf of Denise; our family will do everything to see this bill passed, and would even love to see it listed under her name, so that when her children are older they will know their mother was a special person.
Thank You,
Please feel free to call,
Rick Goff


Lee's family believes that a mishandled 911 call to Charlotte County dispatchers could have saved the 21-year-old's life.
Her father, Rick Goff, spoke at a House committee meeting where the bill (HB 997) passed unanimously. Goff and Denise's husband, Nathan, said they want all of the 911 dispatchers in every Florida county to have the same training.
"We just want everyone to get the proper training," Goff, a Charlotte County sheriff's Sgt. Rick Goff, said in an interview. "After this call there's a lot of people who don't have faith in the 911 system."
Hours after Lee was abducted from her North Port home on Jan. 17, a woman called 911 to report that she had seen someone screaming frantically in the back of a dark-colored Camaro allegedly driven by Michael King..
No one was dispatched to investigate the sighting, and the person in the back of the Camaro was later identified as Lee, screaming for help. Her body was discovered in a shallow grave off Toledo Blade Boulevard in North Port.
"That's the call that could have saved her life," Goff said.
"That was her last chance," Nathan added.
King, 36, was charged with the kidnapping, rape and murder of Denise Lee..
Goff and Nathan Lee will be back in the Capitol next week when a committee takes up the Senate version of the bill (SB 1694).
Part of their effort is to make the legislation tougher.
As it is, the bills would not make the statewide training and certification standards mandatory. The Department of Health would devise a state standard that counties would have the option of adopting when hiring 911 operators.

this is from the sarasota herald tribune
 
Well bless their hearts for getting right to work to get a bill like this passed. It would be nice if it was named after Denise. I wonder if Denise's dad is still working for LE? I will never understand why those dispatchers weren't fired. Them being neglent caused the death of this young wife and mother. I would sure hate to have to live with that! It's heartbreaking to think of Denise making that call and expecting help to arrive at any moment only to be let down because no one came. She tried so hard to save her own life. I wish there had been something in the back seat of that car that she could have used to bash King's head in or stab him with.
 
This is from the Herald tribune website: It looks like it will be named after Denise.

"On behalf of the Goff/Lee family, we would like to offer our assistance in pushing for your bill to be passed, since this incident has had such an impact on our lives. There is not a day goes by that we (don't) think about the mistakes made in the dispatch center the day my daughter was kidnapped and murdered, and to think that it happened within my own agency. Again, on behalf of Denise, our family will do everything to see this bill passed, and would even love to see it listed under her name, so that when her children are older they will know their mother was a special person."


It is just so heartbreaking:(
 
Well bless their hearts for getting right to work to get a bill like this passed. It would be nice if it was named after Denise. I wonder if Denise's dad is still working for LE? I will never understand why those dispatchers weren't fired. Them being neglent caused the death of this young wife and mother. I would sure hate to have to live with that! It's heartbreaking to think of Denise making that call and expecting help to arrive at any moment only to be let down because no one came. She tried so hard to save her own life. I wish there had been something in the back seat of that car that she could have used to bash King's head in or stab him with.

Last I heard, Rick is still employed at CCSO - we NEED him, but it can't be good for his healing process. I'm sure the Bill will make it through - probably with a slight change here and there....it's just frustrating that the citizens of this State have to keep fighting for what should just be a given.
 
Local news reports just stated that a Wrongful Death Suit will be filed against the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office where Denise's father is still employed and could be filed as early as today. That could explain the news team that I saw parked at the Justice Center this morning. I will provide the link as soon as it's put up.
 
It must be very difficult for the family to have to go against the office where he is still employed, but they have a definite case, imo.

The Bill is a great idea and I encourage all of you who live in Florida to get behind the father in his endeavor to insure this never happens again. Training is essential and as we know...in this case, it would have saved her life.
 
Glad to see this bill being passed! Another bill making its way thru the Florida House and Senate are HB223 and SB502. They are to change the Missing Persons laws in the state of Florida. This was started by the Kesse family, with Senator Lee Constantine and Representative Evan Jenne sponsoring this legislation. It will change the way Missing Persons cases are handled here.

Please visit www.myfloridahouse.gov for information on HB 223 and www.flsenate.gov for information on SB502. Both are now heading the the House & Senate Floors for the floor vote hopefully by April 22.

Thanks,
UCFAlumni2002
 
It must be very difficult for the family to have to go against the office where he is still employed, but they have a definite case, imo.

The Bill is a great idea and I encourage all of you who live in Florida to get behind the father in his endeavor to insure this never happens again. Training is essential and as we know...in this case, it would have saved her life.


I live in the area, and trust me the whole community is feeling it. we feel their pain, and anger, and I believe this community will help this family with whatever they need. They really are a wonderful family. We will always hold Denise Amber Lee in our hearts :(
 
new 911 calls from the killer's cousins.......... :mad:

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080409/VIDEO01/804090766//

I hope this link works. It is from the Herald tribune website....

all together There are four 911 calls, Kings cousin,{Harold Muxlow} ? his cousin's daughter, {Sabrina} Jane Kowalski, {the brave motorist} the real hero in all of this. she did her best it was the call center that screwed up. and of course Denise Amber Lee herself. they have not released that tape and I kind of hope to never hear it. I have unfortunately played what she might have said over and over in my head.
 
http://www.nbc-2.com/articles/readarticle.asp?articleid=18642&z=3


NORTH PORT: The death of a murdered North Port woman got national attention on NBC's Today Show this week. Wednesday, the Charlotte County sheriff responded to criticism that his agency's handling of the case contributed to Denise Amber Lee's death.

Charlotte Sheriff John Davenport is still dealing with fallout from his agency's handling of a 911 call about a missing North Port woman later found murdered. That woman was 21-year-old Denise Amber Lee, the daughter of a one of his deputies.

Tuesday, Lee's father, Sergeant Rick Goff, publicly criticized his own department's lack of response in front of state lawmakers.

"As a result our dispatch, my dispatch where I work, forgot to dispatch the car to road deputies out there," said Sergeant Goff. "We had cars on the road in the vicinity to apprehend the guy right where she was at, but they never dispatched the car."

Goff was supporting a bill that would create a certification and training program for 911 dispatchers.

Sheriff Davenport declined an interview with NBC2, but said in a statement that he supports the legislation.

The sheriff went on to state, "It must be understood, however, that no matter how much training and education a person receives in any profession, when you have human beings performing human tasks you will always have human error."
 
http://www.sun-herald.com/breakingnews.cfm?id=5585

The husband of murder victim Denise Lee announced Thursday the Charlotte County Commission was given notice of his intent to file a lawsuit against the county and the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office.

The family alleges the CCSO's mishandling of a 911 call contributed to the death of Denise Lee, who was raped, murdered and buried in North Port.

The plaintiffs in the suit will be Nathan Lee, the 21-year-old victim's husband, as well as by Lee on behalf of each the couple's two sons, according to attorney Thomas Maryott. The notice was given six months ahead of when the lawsuit is expected to be filed.

The lawsuit will be filed in circuit court, where the minimum damages are $15,000.

Maryott expressed Thursday that the family could be open to a settlement.
 
http://www.sun-herald.com/CHNewsstory.cfm?pubdate=041108&story=ch1.htm&folder=NewsArchive2

The suit, which would be filed in circuit court, will seek damages in excess of $15,000 on behalf of the couple's two children, Noah, 2, and Adam, 8 months, Marryott said in a notice delivered to County Commission Chairman Thomas D'Aprile Thursday afternoon.

"We just believe if that call had been handled appropriately, she'd be alive today," said Marryott, after announcing Nathan's intent to sue at a press conference held Thursday at the Charlotte County Justice Center.

Denise, the daughter of longtime CCSO Sheriff's Sgt. Rick Goff, was kidnapped from her home on the afternoon of Jan. 17. Her body was found two days later in a shallow grave off Panacea and Plantation boulevards.

Nathan Lee said he wanted to thank "from the bottom of my heart" all the law officers from a half-dozen agencies who worked to rapidly mount the massive search for his wife.

"Unfortunately, we were looking in the wrong place," he said.

Michael Lee King of North Port, a 36-year-old unemployed plumber, was arrested on kidnapping, sexual assault and murder charges in the case. His arrest came some six hours after the kidnapping as he turned onto Interstate 75 from Toledo Blade Boulevard, not far from the grave site.

The Lee family's decision to pursue litigation came less than a week after the state attorney's office released some 800 pages of investigative documents under a "discovery" process.

Some of the released documents show that King may have become familiar with the Lee home on Latour Street after looking for a house for sale in that area last summer, according to a statement from a real estate agent who was recently interviewed by investigators. :furious:
 
For our local members - there will be a Crime Victims Memorial Service next week.......there is strength in numbers.....and an outlet for emotions.
 
http://www.sun-herald.com/CHNewsstory.cfm?pubdate=041208&story=ch3.htm&folder=NewsArchive2

Police recently released transcripts -- although not actual recordings -- of two key 911 calls placed the night of Jan. 17, during the time police say Michael King was abducting the 21-year-old wife and stay-at-home mother of two.

Muxlow's daughter, Sabrina, 17, first called 911 at 6:23 p.m. that night. According to the transcript of her call, she said:

"I just got a ... call from my dad, and his cousin came over to his house with a girl in the car, and she was tied up, and the girl came out of like got out of the car, and like my dad's cousin went and put her back in the car, and when she got out --"

She did not give the 911 operator her father's name or address at first, saying he wanted to remain anonymous. Later, though, she identified the street as Karluk. Sabrina also told the operator her father's cousin drove a green Camaro, and added, "Ahm, he came over to my dad's house, borrowed a shovel, a gas tank and something else." Sabrina first told the operator the cousin's name was Gary King. She knew he lived in North Port but didn't know where.

Then Sabrina recalled his name was "Mikey" or Michael King, not Gary.

The operator responded, "OK, let me go back then and look for a Michael King. OK, we've been looking for this female. ... We've got the helicopter up, you are just so wonderful to call us and give us this information, OK."

Sabrina asked the operator if they had a description of the woman they were searching for, and the operator queried, "Would she have just maybe gotten his ah, phone without knowing it?"

But Sabrina did not understand, and they ended the call soon after.
 

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