BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. (TCD) — Investigators allege a man sitting on death row killed another woman who was “left for dead” on the side of the highway over 20 years ago.
On Dec. 5, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office announced Lucious Boyd, who was previously convicted of killing 21-year-old Dawnia Dacosta, was charged with first-degree murder and sexual battery in connection with Eileen Truppner’s death. Boyd was found guilty in June 2002 of first-degree murder, sexual battery, and kidnapping for killing Dacosta. He was sentenced to death for Dacosta’s murder and life in prison for kidnapping.
In a press conference, Sheriff Gregory Tony said Truppner is “no longer faceless and no longer nameless.”
Dacosta was reportedly killed about two weeks before Truppner.
According to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, on Dec. 18, 1998, a woman was dragged to the side of U.S. 27, where she “took her last breath in the grassy area where she was abandoned.” A boater discovered her body the next day. She was face-down and investigators determined there were “clear indication” that the perpetrator sexually assaulted her. The woman did not have any form of identification on her, so she became classified as a Jane Doe.
TThe sheriff’s office called the investigation an “uphill battle from the beginning,” saying the only piece of evidence they had was her clothing and a sketch. Deputies went to nearby businesses and asked if anyone had seen her, but they came up empty-handed. The case eventually went cold.
Several years later, detectives reopened the case and created a new sketch, which led to a “breakthrough” in the case. Truppner was positively identified in May.
Truppner moved to the U.S. from Puerto Rico “to start a new chapter in her life.” She had two children and a “loving family.”
Truppner’s sister said at the press conference Truppner was “very kind with a good heart,” but she went through depression after giving birth to her children.
Capt. Jonathan Brown said he and his detectives “strongly believe” Boyd is a serial killer who might have killed women all over Florida. Brown classified both victims as women “in vulnerable situations that he took advantage of.”
Tony, the sheriff, said, “Justice has no expiration date.”
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