A 19-year-old Florida man has been charged with the murder of a 67-year-old retired nurse who had allowed him to live in his home before kickig him out because he wasn’t paying rent or helping around the house.
John Joseph Torneo was found disemboweled in his home on Sunday, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a press conference that differed from a press release his department put out.
According to the press release, a friend found Torneo dead in a bathroom Sunday afternoon. But Judd said the body was found in a locked bedroom after a deputy who initially responded to the call cleared it without looking inside.
Judd said a neighbor called 911 and reported he hadn’t seen Torneo in several days. The deputy remained outside while the neighbor went in but couldn’t find Torneo. The deputy cleared the call, thinking that Torneo simply wasn’t home.
But the neighbor continued to try to reach him, and finally went back into the house later in the day with other neighbors. They found the locked door and removed it, finding Torneo’s body inside, disemboweled. Deputies returned to the home to investigate the murder.
They neighbor told deputies that Torneo had recently changed the locks because he had kicked out his 19-year-old roommate, Julian Trevino. And now, the neighbor said, Torneo’s vehicle was missing.
Deputies soon discovered that someone — Trevino — was using Torneo’s credit cards.
“He had used the victim’s credit card at the pizza restaurant that he worked at as a dishwasher,” Judd shared. “I got to tell you, Helen Keller could have followed the leads this guy left. This is what we call a slow-pitch criminal investigation.”
Investigators spotted the vehicle and kept an eye on it, eventually seeing Trevino get inside. But when they tried to take him into custody, he drove away.
“In his urge to get away from us, he ran into a ditch, crashed the car, jumped out and ran on foot,” Judd said.
Officers quickly caught up to him, and Trevino reportedly confessed, telling detectives that he was “really angry” when Torneo kicked him out.
“So, about 3-4 a.m. on Sunday, he goes back to John’s house and he breaks in,” Judd says. “He breaks into the bathroom window and hides in the closet. When he hears our victim, John, settle in for the night, then he goes to stealing cash, credit cards and what happens then — our victim wakes up. ”
Torneo confronted Trevino, who told detectives he shoved him down and ran to the kitchen for a knife, where he stabbed his former roommate then beat him with a wine bottle until he was dead. He said he dumped the knife and bottle in a nearby creek, where deputies found them both.
Trevino has been charged with first degree murder, armed robbery, tampering with evidence, armed burglary, burglary, obtaining property by force, criminal use of personal identification, tampering with a victim, grand theft from a dwelling, grand theft motor vehicle, fleeing to elude, theft of a bank card, fraudulent use of a bank card, resisting without violence, petit theft, and driving without a valid license.
Judd said the deputy who initially responded to the neighbor’s call has been taken off patrol and sent for more training.
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[Featured image: Julian Trevino/Polk County Sheriff’s Office]
