Florida fishing trip triple homicide: 3 suspects stopped for McDonald's after crime, sheriff says
07/22/2020 12:22 pm PDT
via Polk County Sheriff's Office:
POLK COUNTY, Fla. (TCD) -- Authorities announced Wednesday the arrests of three suspects in the triple murder of three fishermen at a remote lake in Florida over the weekend.
Brandon Rollins, 27; Keven Springfield, 30; and Damion Tillman, 23, were found beaten and shot Friday night, July 17, at Lake Streety, about 70 miles east of Tampa. Rollins survived long enough to call his father for help. Rollins was able to say a few things to his father before he died at the scene. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said the three men were "massacred."
William Wiggins, Mary Whittemore and Tony Wiggins have been arrested. The two men are brothers. Whittemore is Tony Wiggins's girlfriend.
The Polk County Sheriff's Office said a Dollar General store bag and a receipt from the night of the murders was found at the crime scene at Lake Streety.
Investigators recovered security video from the store that showed Damion Tillman buying items. The clerk knew Tillman as a frequent customer, according to the sheriff's office. The three suspects were also seen on the video. The clerk told investigators that the three suspects overheard Tillman talking about his fishing trip plans. Detectives also received unspecified tips that Tony Wiggins could be a suspect, the sheriff's office said.
On Monday, detectives served a search warrant at a trailer in Lake Wales, Florida, about 50 miles south of Orlando. Tony Wiggins, 26, and Mary Whittemore, 27, live in the trailer, and William Wiggins, 21, lives in a trailer on the same plot of land, the sheriff's office said.
Detectives found two SKS rifles, two Mossberg shotguns, and ammunition for both in a gun safe belonging to Tony Wiggins, a convicted felon. He was arrested for possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon. Polk County officials said Wiggins was arrested in March 2020 for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and had been released on bond.
Smith & Wesson handgun ammunition was found in the trailer that matched shell casings found at the Lake Streety crime scene, Florida Department of Law Enforcement lab tests confirmed this week. Whittemore purchased the ammunition for Tony Wiggins in Lake Wales on July 9, 2020, the sheriff's office said.
William Wiggins told detectives that the three victims passed them on a side road after they left the Dollar General store, and that Tony Wiggins told him to follow the victims, who were in separate pickup trucks. They followed the trucks to Lake Streety Road in Frostproof.
William stayed in the truck with Whittemore, sheriff's officials said, while Tony got out and confronted Keven Springfield, punching him and yelling at him, accusing Springfield of stealing his truck. Brandon Rollins and Damion Tillman got out of their truck. William told detectives he watched as Tony shot all three victims; then the two brothers put Tillman into the back of one of the trucks.
The Polk County Sheriff's Office said the three suspects then drove to a McDonald's and ordered 10 double cheeseburgers and two McChicken sandwiches and went home to eat.
Tony "TJ" Wiggins is charged with first-degree murder; tampering with evidence; and possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon. His criminal history includes 230 felonies with 15 convictions, 26 misdemeanors, and two trips to state prison.
William "Robert" Wiggins is charged with tampering with evidence and accessory after the fact of capital felony.
Mary Whittemore is charged with accessory after the fact of capital felony.
The suspects were scheduled for court hearings at 1 p.m. Thursday.
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