Florida man sentenced to life for fatally beating victim in 2001 cold case
11/18/2022 12:00 pm PST
NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. (TCD) -- A man was recently sentenced to life in prison nearly two decades after fatally beating a victim.
According to a news release from the New Port Richey Police Department, on Nov. 28, 2001, officers responded to a home under construction on Sanctuary Drive to a report of a death investigation. At the scene, Simon Clarke was found deceased in a room.
Police said Clarke suffered multiple blunt force trauma, and his death was ruled a homicide. At the time of his death, a person of interest was reportedly identified.
However, according to police, the murder weapon was recovered, and the "processing of the object did not reveal any leads," so no arrests were made. The case went cold in 2004.
Nearly 15 years after the victim’s death, detectives reportedly reopened the case, and witnesses were reinterviewed. In 2018, the case was brought to a jury by the Pasco County State Attorney’s Office.
On Nov. 14, police said Randy Petersilge was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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