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

[MzOpinion8d]

Were getting so many names

Howell Donaldson

Howell Emanuel Donaldson III

the thai one

His name is Howell Donaldson III, and he is called "Trai", pronounced like "tray" because "tres" in French means 3rd.

His Instagram name was trigga_trai or something like that.

It's really not a lot of names.

 

[x_files]

Tampa had fun clubs decades ago but I do recall Ybor city as being known as a place to be careful of and pretty much stay from

IIRC one was in Ybor city and we pretty much were real careful -- but I am not sure if that was homophobia or the area in its entirety

This McDonald's is in a dicey (at night) area. Close to all the clubs in Ybor City.
I agree it's a fun hot spot for bars, nightclubs, but there were rival gangs that show up and cause mayhem.

 

[MzOpinion8d]

His LinkedIn shows such a good background, career-wise.

One video of his arrest showed a limp, which was commented on by many from the surveillance videos. I wonder if basketball was his life and an injury took him away from it. I'm also curious the NY arrest details. What could cause him to lose his medical job in May and work at McDonald's now?

I echo the thoughts you all share above -- his poor family. I wonder if they had any clue.

Reading about the victim's families arriving at the scene, being interviewed in their son's room, driving down from SC, and having to have buried a husband are completely heartbreaking. I'm so glad the killer has been caught.

I have not seen any arrest video where he appears to be limping.

I've seen one that is labeled as an arrest video of him but it is not him. The guy in that video has a limp but it's not Donaldson.

 

[x_files]

Imo there is a difference ( which can be confused ) between lack of empathy and or mood disorder related indifference as a result of depression.

He looked flat as heck today -- could care less that he was going to spend his life in prison for the rest of existence.

We refer to it as blunted affect or flat -- that is not the same as lack of empathy. Empathy is a more complicated entity - often related to childhood trauma .

That is why I hope to hear him speak - wondering if he is going to come off as bright - or aloof emotionally.

without getting into a conversation about mood disorders and pham meds. I notice a lot of people have a flat effect mood disorders now. What's causing it?!!!

 

[MzOpinion8d]

A Payday loan ? With those kind of interest rates ? Also, he doesn't look much like the person in that video. jmo

He was most likely cashing a check, not getting a payday loan.

 

[JaneEyre]

The big question--What went wrong with TD? Church going family, well spoken, quiet guy. Mental illness ie. schizophrenia maybe?

[video=youtube;vyAfBFjkPBI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyAfBFjkPBI[/video]

I believe there are just bad seeds. I don't think mental illness explains everything. I also don't know that he was a bad seed, but I don't discount it yet.

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[x_files]

Three miles is nothing when you're in decent shape.

true! lol. I couldn't do it.

 

[MzOpinion8d]

I believe that Trai purchased the gun in October and don't know if he went to NY recently, so I'm not sure why NY wants ballistic tests. But I suppose they're being careful and don't believe it's his first rodeo.



http://www.whsv.com/content/news/Tampa-police-chief-says-same-gun-used-in-4-slayings-460788553.html


Sorry OT. Hi margarita25, I don't think you ever sleep

They're not going to solve any cold cases with ballistics from a gun purchased less than two months ago. Why would they waste their time on that??

 

[JaneEyre]

I know this is a very controversial subject but what are other Websleuthers views on whether someone like TD should get the death penalty or if anyone should for that matter. My take on that is that there must have been a mental breakdown somewhere and even though he took lives and should be in prison for the rest of his life (unless mental incapacity is found) I don't think taking his life makes sense. We are trying to prevent murder not encourage it even for criminals(murders). It just send the wrong message and is wrong. MOO.

I don't know if this is too loaded with politics and/or religion to be allowed to discuss here or not. But I'll give my two cents anyway. I think it's state-sanctioned murder. I think that two wrongs do not make a right. I think that most of the arguments for it cannot be backed up by facts (it doesn't serve as a way to prevent crimes and it actually costs more than housing them for life). From my perspective it is also a pretty easy way out for them. While even in the worst case scenario it may take several minutes to die, it is often not as agonizing as what some victims go through (see YingYing's case of being tortured). I think they should be forced to live through the general pains in life that most of us will have to go through as our bodies break down, only in reduced circumstances. I think they should have to suffer loss daily for many years - loss of freedom, loss of family and friends, etc.

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[JaneEyre]

His name is Howell Donaldson III, and he is called "Trai", pronounced like "tray" because "tres" in French means 3rd.

His Instagram name was trigga_trai or something like that.

It's really not a lot of names.

I think I have more names than this!

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[Barbie619]

Just a thought, if the suspect seemed to appear thinner in the cctv video than he looked in the arrest pics, could he have packed on the pounds in between shootings?
Considering where he worked, it might have been a relatively easy thing to do quickly.
imo, speculation.

Also remember Thanksgiving was just a few days before he was arrested. People tend to start overeating during these holidays.

Strangely when I see him as he is being put into the police car he actually looks stunned and shaken up. To me that's unexpected because in video he appeared to be a confident person... maybe confident with deep insecurities..

 

[MzOpinion8d]

Cariis--for some reason it won't let me quote the latter portion of your post
Cops broke the law -- you cant put anyone in handcuffs and the back of a cop car without charging someone with a crime

according to the article at the time he was placed in the car:
http://blogs.findlaw.com/blotter/2014/08/when-can-police-place-you-in-handcuffs.html
he was not under arrest and had not been formally accused of any wrongdoing or connection to the possible Tampa serial killings.

he might have some legal benefits here -- a defense attorney would certainly want to know why his client was handcuffed and placed in a cop car, schelped to the station , .

This might explain why there was a sudden request for an attorney-- might have accidently by accident oopps not been given his miranda rights -- of course they cant nor would they -- he was not under arrest for anything (hey its a high pressure case)

IMO this also helps explain the peculiarities of the initial presser.

What are you talking about? Of course you can be placed in handcuffs and put in a cop car before being charged with a crime. They can't charge you with a crime until the evidence is submitted to the DA. The DA is who charges people with crimes, not the cops.

They don't even have to advise Miranda rights until the suspect is being questioned.

 

[Wyle_E_Coyote]

JMO, I don't think sports management is a large or growing field. It sounds like one of those degrees colleges offer just to attract students. He probably did the right thing to have another major in IT. It's a struggle for most new college grads these days.

At *some* schools, degrees like Sports Management and Communications are majors mostly for the athletes, and aren't particularly challenging, and aren't really jumping off points for a real career.

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[enelram]

Tampa Bay Times has done a couple articles where they talked to his old neighborhood friends. According to the Times,
"Court records show a domestic dispute between his mother and father in 1997." HD would have been apprx. 4 yrs. old. Article says friends knew this parental dispute 'almost led to divorce".
The article also says his friends state "he was often watched by his older sister".
Could HD have been a modern version of a 'latch key' kid? Mother and father busy establishing the beauty school,
kids left home alone with sister in charge.
If there was long term discourse in family and financial stresses as we're led to believe, maybe his childhood was
not all stable and rosey.
Article also says friends say he was more aggressive, edgy and had rage in his eyes when playing basketball with them since he came home from college.

My opinion is that his spiral downwards and failures in his life goals and possibly street drug use led to his intense anger and he acted out on it.

 

[Barbie619]

Sounds like he may have been suffering from what you might call "adult-onset failure to thrive". Those jobs remind me of the kind of work kids find for summer/winter break when they're going to college.

Well he was a College student who only graduated January 2017..... So yes he work history matches his life experiences thus far.

 

[Barbie619]

It isa my understanding that it was a female officer doing paperwork -- I did not get the sense that she was actually on duty at the McDonalds

There is a wealth of information available that would be more helpful in answering all your questions as opposed to posting what seem to be random questions. I'm really not trying to be mean here just thinking that getting information would simplify your need for answers. The answers are all in these threads, news reports, and a couple of google searches....

 

[Hatfield]

He had ties to the nearby school — coaching, etc. Maybe he hid on school grounds after the shootings, then took his car or a bus out of the area later.

JMO
This is interesting to me. If the school was pretty close to the shootings I wonder if the gym may have been open to play pickup basketball anytime he wanted. Or maybe it required a pass key of some sort that he may have had. Thinking along the lines of him maybe going right to the gym and shooting hoops as a cover. Especially if he had his car parked at the school maybe and could just leave when things settled down.

I guess I am still leaning toward the property house they allegedly owned that was boarded up. I could really see that as maybe being his personal hangout and hideout area. He got away so quickly and disappeared so it had to have been close IMO.

The bus is another consideration since he was so intent on looking at his phone. We found the real time bus lookup app yesterday so I do think there was a way for him to know exactly where the busses were at any given moment.

 

[enelram]

Well he was a College student who only graduated January 2017..... So yes he work history matches his life experiences thus far.

He started college in Fall 2011 and graduated Jan. 2017.

 

[x_files]

( He did!?

:waitasec:

:shakehead: )

Oct 2nd or 3rd. Vegas Shooting was Oct. 1st. Media attention on mass shootings can trigger more shootings. However, he chose another method rather than spree/mass shooting.

 

[x_files]

He probably counted on that cree of the streets. But I'm glad it didn't happen this time and the fact that a cop was sitting in McDonald's might have been a motivating factor in the quick decision to tell.

I lived in an artist coop. No one ever called the cops. If you did you'd received death threats. Neighbors watched as a guy broke in and robbed someone. Just sat there smoking pot, drinking beers refused to do anything.
I moved out. That's not the community I want to live in.