Law&Crime Sidebar - 'Victimized Twice': Teen Who Reported Sexual Assault Allegedly Gunned Down by Hitmen

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Starting point is 00:00:35 keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. A man is accused of sexually assaulting a teenager and then organizing her savage murder. We bring on state attorney for Palm Beach County, Florida, Dave Aaronberg to discuss. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by law and crime. I'm Jesse Weber. So it's pretty bad enough when we cover cases of sexual assault, but what about when that assault leads to murder? Because that's the allegation from Florida federal prosecutors. They say 36-year-old Leonard White sexually assaulted a 17-year-old girl named Isabella Scavelli. And Isabella and her mother

Starting point is 00:01:25 than went to police to report the assault. Well, when that happened, prosecutors say white contracted with other people to murder Isabella for $10,000 so she couldn't pursue any further criminal charges against him. On February 6th, a 17-year-old child and one of her relatives went to the Hernando County Sheriff's Office to report a crime. When she went to the sheriff's office that day, she told investigators, that she had been sexually assaulted by Leonard White. The next day at approximately 1129 p.m., Sheldon Robinson and Keeshawn Woods arrived at the child's home.

Starting point is 00:02:12 They knocked at the door, and when the door was opened, a barrage of gunshots were fired. So these men, they allegedly go to the teen's house, they open five. They shoot Isabella four times, killing her and also wounding her mother who thankfully survived. When you have a 17-year-old in this particular victim, we have every reason to believe that she was not engaged in any high-risk activity. She was a good kid with a very bright future. And to see her life cut short is heart-wrenching, to say the least. Words can't even express it. And I know all of my people, along with the FDL.

Starting point is 00:02:55 the state attorney's office and the federal prosecutors, as well as ATF, all took this case very personally and took it with a passion. Then as investigators were looking into this, these men allegedly attempted to obstruct the investigation by disposing of evidence, tampering with witnesses, lying to law enforcement. White, along with Sheldon Robinson and Keishon Woods, have been charged with conspiracy, murder for hire, discharge of a firearm crimes. White and Robinson were also hit with drug charges and tampering and obstruction charges. There's another person, Janet Williams, this is Robinson's mother.

Starting point is 00:03:32 She's been charged with multiple counts of false statements to federal agents. Let me bring in right now Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aaronberg. Dave, thanks so much for coming on. I first would just like your initial thoughts on this because when I saw this story and saw the headlines, I had to read it twice. I couldn't believe what I was reading here. Yeah, I mean, I'm used to shocking cases. After all, I'm a sitting prosecutor in Florida.

Starting point is 00:03:58 But this is really awful. I mean, you have this poor girl who was victimized twice once by this older man who sexually assaulted her. Then she did the right thing with her mother and reported it. And then victimized again by two hitmen who came and murdered her and almost killed her mother at her home. It's just awful. Hey, there, everybody. So you know that we cover some pretty crazy. cases here. And clearly there's a need in this world for personal safety. That's why I want to talk to you

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Starting point is 00:05:10 And I was reading about this that based on the autopsy reports, it seems that she was shot in the back, which I think looks like she was escaping. If you could just imagine, the fear that must that must have been in her mind and her mother's mind as they open the door and their gunmen there yeah the the bullet that caused her death apparently entered her lower left back area which tells you that she was shot in the back as she was trying to run you know I know the U.S. attorney in that area it's Roger Hanberg he's he's really one of the best in the business and he's going to pursue justice here this is a federal case and I guess there's some gun issue, you know, federal gun issues.

Starting point is 00:05:52 And the fact that it's bad enough also that you have these three terrible people who are involved in this, but also the mother, you're talking about Woods' mother, Janet Williams, who could face up to 15 years in prison for making false statements, cover up her son's crime. I mean, you know, you can see, I guess, where he gets his values from. So let me lay out a little bit of that about the evidence how they were able to get these guys and this woman. So the sheriff here said that deputies with canine units, they responded to the crime scene.

Starting point is 00:06:22 The canines track the path of the suspects, and they find this shoe. And they test it for DNA. And the shoe apparently is a match for Woods. Deputies, they find $4,000 of the $10,000 payment at Woods' home, along with a gun and drugs. They find that Robinson had the remaining $6,000 of the $10,000. And apparently his mom, who you just mentioned, was not truthful with law enforcement about the $6,000 being in the home. So it seems that's what led to the charges. And then the ballistics from the crime scene, they matched it to a gun at Robinson's place.

Starting point is 00:07:02 I mean, what do you make of that path of evidence right there? That's good police work. I mean, look, this murder occurred, I believe, in February. And so it took until now, but they did it right. You don't want to start the speedy trial clock until you know you've got the goods. And they've got the goods on these guys. And yes, everyone's innocent until proven guilty, but the evidence is pretty powerful. I mean, look, these aren't the smartest criminals.

Starting point is 00:07:29 Guy Robinson went on social media offering $5,000 and cocaine to anyone who would help him with a cleanup job. I mean, really, just want you to the broadcast of the world that you're guilty of murder. Let's analyze that for a second. So you're right. White had paid Robinson $10,000. That's the allegation to kill Isabella. And then it's not like he just does it himself. He goes on social media and literally asks, quote, for a cleanup job and offers $5,000 along with cocaine.

Starting point is 00:07:57 Woods accepts it. There's even a photo that was posted by the sheriff's office from Robinson, the Robinson's account, where you can allegedly see him holding a bag of money in cocaine. Walk me through that. Have you ever seen somebody just blatantly? posting things like that on social media that comes back to bite him. I mean, that seems pretty bad. That's really bad, although I must say in this area, yeah, I've seen a lot of bad social

Starting point is 00:08:21 media posts, Snapchat, TikTok, people brag about crimes, people, people confess to crimes and rap lyrics, you know, it's bad. These folks who, I guess, there's no zone of privacy anymore in this world, and so everything is an open book, and they're that brazen that even though they're going to murder someone or have murdered someone, you're going to let everyone know. But that's good because we prosecutors and law enforcement, we watch the same TikTok videos and Snapchat videos as the criminals do. But wouldn't you think they wouldn't post on social media asking for help and a murder

Starting point is 00:08:56 for hire plot? I mean, I just, it seems to me I'm trying to think of a potential defense here. And I imagine a defense attorney saying, if my client really accepted money for a hit, you think he would go on social media and ask for help, there must be another reason why he posted this. I just have to imagine that's a defense. Is that sound like a potential defense? Yeah, I guess if your client's so stupid that those stupid things, you can actually say, could anyone actually be this stupid?

Starting point is 00:09:25 Of course, the answer is yes. I'm just sad. In addition to everything that happened in this horrific, tragic case that it happened to take place in Florida, continues to give the sunshine state a bad name, but we are who we are. You mentioned these are federal charges, murder for hire, a conspiracy. The fact that they are federal charges, what does that mean in terms of what these individuals could face? Oh, they're done. I mean, like, when you're facing federal charges, federal prosecutors have about like a 98% conviction rate.

Starting point is 00:09:57 They have draconian penalties. They've got nearly unlimited budgets. They've got only a few cases they do so they can spend the time on the cases. They're going to have to take a plea or else they're going to spend the rest of their life. in prison. I mean, they're being prosecuted for, you know, for the murders. They're the drug crimes after all. They posted on social media that they're going to give you cocaine in exchange for a cleanup job. There's a false statement to an ATF agent, a federal agent. So none of these people, I think, will ever see the light of day, again, except for

Starting point is 00:10:27 Woods' mother, Janet Williams, who's facing up to 15 years in prison. I just don't mess with the feds. They're going to win this every time. I should tell you that white, and Robinson, they're both in jail already. They've been in jail since February, White on sexual battery charges, Robinson on drug and weapons charges. Now they're facing federal charges. So I agree with you. I mean, for their legal cases, it doesn't look particularly strong.

Starting point is 00:10:53 I mentioned some of the other areas of evidence like the DNA and the canine, you know, picking up the scent. Any of that areas for a defense attorney to explore here, I think it's important to talk about what potential defenses could be because the need for understanding what prosecutors face and securing a conviction against these people. Yeah, I mean, they're going to play the burden of proof. They're going to say the state says they have to prove all this beyond a reasonable doubt. And there's no video to a murderer.

Starting point is 00:11:26 And the DNA here is of the guy's shoe, but it's not, yeah, it's his shoe. That's what, I mean, the DNA, they trace it back to one of the murderers, but it's his own, is his own DNA on his own shoe. So they could say that there's an innocent explanation for that. And sometimes you can get a jury and a 12-person jury because this is a capital case that all it takes is one person to say, hmm, where is the video or the exact DNA on the victim's body? You know, it's called the CSI generation of jurors where they just expect everything to be wrapped up in a nice little package where it's direct, evidence that is confirmed by science.

Starting point is 00:12:09 But a lot of times it's circumstantial evidence that gets you there. And sometimes you have things like the fact that you post on social media that I'm looking for someone for a cleanup job that is so ridiculous and over the top that, yeah, sometimes the simplest explanation is the correct explanation. One other interesting aspect is they, investigators say that White and the alleged mastermind of all this went to Georgia to create an alibi. so he wouldn't be there. What do you think about that?

Starting point is 00:12:39 I love that. These guys, criminals are not very smart. It reminds me of Brian Coburger when he turned off his phone right before and after the murders, but he had his phone on other hours at that night. So, wow, I'm going to really fool them. I'm going to hide during the actual crime, and that will mean I'm innocent. No, no, it doesn't work like that. Look, if you pay someone to kill someone, you're a principal.

Starting point is 00:13:04 Just ask Charlie Adelson. You're just as guilty as the people who pulled the trigger. And unlike the Danny Markell case, where I just referenced Charlie Adelson, prosecutors do not need to flip one of the individuals here. They've got enough evidence. They don't have to get Woods, the guy who apparently did not pull the trigger, to flip on the others because there's enough evidence to take them all down. You know, I find so interesting and sad about it is we cover these kinds of cases all the time,

Starting point is 00:13:33 these murder for hire plots. and you know when you outsource the work you think there's going to be less left on you but sometimes those murder for hire plots that's like the greatest swarm of evidence like that's like the leaves the biggest amount of breadcrumbs the biggest breadcrumb of evidence you know the trail of evidence because it's that paper trail or the money trail or the multiple individuals who are looped into this that it creates a worse case for you than if you would have i don't know done it yourself not saying that if this individual would have committed the murder himself that he would have been escaped justice but just what's shocking for me is

Starting point is 00:14:09 is the fact that the more you get people involved and you try to outsource it the worse can be for you yeah also some people like this guy's a coward he didn't want to have dirty hands so he pays people to do it not a lot quite frankly such a terrible thing to do but yeah so they think they have clean hands if they're not the ones actually committing the murder they're cowardly They don't want to be the guy who shows up at the door. He flees to another state. And he thinks he's probably not going to get punished if he's caught because he's not the one who pulled the trigger. But under the principal theory, they're all going down.

Starting point is 00:14:48 All three of them and the mother. So, yeah, this is a case of stupid criminals doing stupid things and getting the justice ultimately that they deserve. And, you know, she was shot and killed the day after she reported the sexual assault. And it's not as if they waited on this and made it because if she's killed right after reporting the sexual assault, if these guys did it, they wouldn't think that law enforcement would immediately turn to them. Who's got the motive to kill her and her mother right after she goes to authorities? That's just also a part of this where I don't know what the thinking was because even if

Starting point is 00:15:26 they were able to get rid of them, the case wouldn't have ended against white. Exactly. Yeah, the timing is so obvious. So she goes to police with her mother and then both of them end up shot one to death the next day. It doesn't make sense. And you're right, even if somehow they were able, they showed up to the door and no one was there. The main guy who paid for it is going to go down because he's now been credibly accused of sexual assault. The whole thing just reeks. Look, even if they're found not guilty of all this stuff, which is, very unlikely. There's the drug crime. You're advertised on social media. You're going to pay someone with cocaine. And then the mother lies to investigators. I mean, you know, that's one thing after another, after the next. This is a case where justice in my mind will be done at both the state and the federal level. So just to end it on this note, when we think about what the loss is, obviously a mother has lost her daughter. But if you think about this, Isabella, she was planning on joining the military after graduating high school. She was a part of

Starting point is 00:16:30 student government. She played tennis. Her obituary stated that she was energetic, joyful, had a smile that would light up any room, that she was such a sweet girl that was full of personality and the best daughter, sister, and aunt. It's just a really, really sad case. And I want to end it the way that you explained, Davis. She tried to do the right thing. She tried to go to law enforcement to talk about what happened her and look what happened. What do you make of that? we always say if you see something say something and when it comes to domestic violence and human trafficking and rape of a minor those are traditionally underreported crimes those are crimes that we prosecutors can get very frustrated because many of the victims do either not want to speak up and step forward or don't want

Starting point is 00:17:21 to cooperate after there's an arrest she did everything right isabella did exactly what we want people to do and sadly she paid for it with her life because had she not come forward she probably would have been alive today because it was the next day after she was murdered and her mother was nearly murdered so the only hope now is that justice will prevail and these individuals will never see the light of day again Dave Arrenberg thanks so much my friend really appreciate you taking the time thanks Jesse and that's all we have for you right now here on sidebar everybody thank you so much for joining us. Please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber.

Starting point is 00:18:04 I'll speak to you next time.

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Law&Crime Sidebar - 'Victimized Twice': Teen Who Reported Sexual Assault Allegedly Gunned Down by Hitmen

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