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Tampa serial killings: Suspect Howell Donaldson to be charged with murder
NBCNews ^

Posted on 11/29/2017 7:43:40 AM PST by Strac6

The man believed to be responsible for a series of shootings deaths in Tampa, Florida was detained Tuesday and police plan to charge him with four counts of first-degree murder, authorities said.

Acting on a tip about someone with a gun, officers found the man, identified as Howell E. Donaldson III, 24, at a McDonald's in Tampa's Ybor City neighborhood, Police

Florida records indicated that Donaldson has no criminal past beyond a handful of traffic citations. He was arrested in New York City in May 2014 but details about the case were not immediately available.

Donaldson graduated St. John's University in Queens, New York last January. He first enrolled in the school in 2011 and was a walk-on member of the school's basketball team during the 2011-12 season, the school's spokesman said.

Peabo Johnson, an employee of the McDonald's, told NBC affiliate WFLA that he was working the grill station when a man walked into the restaurant carrying a book bag. He said that the man asked the manager to hold the bag for him while he went to cash a check but that he told her not to look inside it.

She looked anyway, Johnson said. That was when she found the gun and called police. When the man came back, officers converged to "swarm him, get him to the ground," Johnson said.

Benjamin Mitchell, 22, was shot while he was waiting for a bus on Oct. 9. Monica Hoffa, 32, was found dead in a vacant lot on Oct. 13. Anthony Naiboa, 20, was killed while he was walking on Oct. 19. The body of Ronald Felton, 60, was found Nov. 14 near the scene of a memorial honoring the first three victims.

(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; News/Current Events; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: anthonynaiboa; benjaminmitchell; florida; howelledonaldsoniii; monicahoffa; newyorkcity; ronaldfelton; serialkiller; tampa
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A quick lands and groves test probably established that the recovered gun was the murder weapon.

Also, serial killers are usually not hardened career criminals, and therefore give it up pretty quickly during questioning.

1 posted on 11/29/2017 7:43:40 AM PST by Strac6
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To: Strac6

sad, he obviously was a smart kid


2 posted on 11/29/2017 7:46:19 AM PST by yldstrk (My heroes have always been cowboys)
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To: yldstrk

Rocket scientist


3 posted on 11/29/2017 7:48:06 AM PST by Strac6 ("Mrs. Strac, Pilatus, and Sig Sauer: All the fun things in my life are Swiss!")
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To: Strac6
The suspect:


4 posted on 11/29/2017 7:49:58 AM PST by Simon Green
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To: yldstrk

...just gettin’ his life together.


5 posted on 11/29/2017 7:51:40 AM PST by PeteePie (Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people - Proverbs 14:34)
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To: PeteePie

Not every kid walks on to the college basketball team and not every kid graduates. I am not saying he was a good kid, obviously he had brains and talent and chose to be a murderer.


6 posted on 11/29/2017 7:53:19 AM PST by yldstrk (My heroes have always been cowboys)
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To: yldstrk
sad, he obviously was a smart kid

Yeah, he was so smart he asked someone to hold a bag with a gun in it. :-)

7 posted on 11/29/2017 8:00:50 AM PST by plain talk
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To: Strac6

College graduate, working at McDonald’s(?). No prior arrest record. Just bought the Glock in October.


8 posted on 11/29/2017 8:01:32 AM PST by iowamark
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To: yldstrk
For a guy who was so smart he sure did quite a dumb thing that got him apprehended. Who gives a murder weapon in a bag to a stranger, and tells her not to look inside the bag? LOL.

I see he did this while he went next door to a check cashing place. I was pretty sure he wasn't going next door to a Mensa meeting.

9 posted on 11/29/2017 8:02:05 AM PST by Alberta's Child ("Tell them to stand!" -- President Trump, 9/23/2017)
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To: All

20% of serial killers are black, despite what the media tells you about them all being white males.


10 posted on 11/29/2017 8:04:37 AM PST by TigerClaws
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To: plain talk

He was wanting to get caught.


11 posted on 11/29/2017 8:04:47 AM PST by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
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To: Strac6

12 posted on 11/29/2017 8:08:43 AM PST by deadrock
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To: Simon Green

Maybe former police chief Moose will be on the news to inform us that a black man is never the suspect in a serial killing and demand that the individual be released and the search be restarted for a white suspect in a white panel truck.


13 posted on 11/29/2017 8:11:42 AM PST by formerliberal_nowconservative
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To: Strac6

It’s interesting to see some details change as the story unfolds, for instance, the first story I read this morning said he WORKED at a MacDonald’s. Now this story said he might have worked there at some point . . . It’s just a small thing, but interesting nonetheless.


14 posted on 11/29/2017 8:18:52 AM PST by Old Grumpy
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To: Strac6

“the man, identified as Howell E. Donaldson III”

Uh-huh. Now when do we get to hear what his Muslim name is?


15 posted on 11/29/2017 8:34:33 AM PST by MeganC (Democrat by birth, Republican by default, Conservative by principle.)
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To: TigerClaws

“20% of serial killers are black, despite what the media tells you about them all being white males.”

Yeah but at least the black serial killers usually have some sort of reason for it like gang turf or something like that.

The white guys will kill 40 people, eat their kidneys, and then keep a collection of heads in the basement freezer because their pet gerbil told them to do it.


16 posted on 11/29/2017 8:37:19 AM PST by MeganC (Democrat by birth, Republican by default, Conservative by principle.)
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Berosus; Bockscar; cardinal4; ColdOne; Convert from ECUSA; ...

Thanks Strac6.
...walked into the restaurant carrying a book bag. He said that the man asked the manager to hold the bag for him while he went to cash a check but that he told her not to look inside it. She looked anyway ...
Yeah, never saw that ending coming, eh -- too bad Kinison isn't alive to make that into a bit. It's no surprise that the suspect went to St. John's University in Queens. ;^)


17 posted on 11/29/2017 8:53:57 AM PST by SunkenCiv (www.tapatalk.com/groups/godsgravesglyphs/, forum.darwincentral.org, www.gopbriefingroom.com)
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Naturally, Google’s complicit in the partisan media shill handling of such stories — if the suspect had been white, the basic search would have turned up all kinds of negative information, as well as image hits. Instead, I had to go to a separate page for the images of this latest “he’s a good boy” suspect:

http://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&ie=ISO-8859-1&hl=en&source=hp&q=Howell+E.+Donaldson+III&gbv=1


18 posted on 11/29/2017 8:59:32 AM PST by SunkenCiv (www.tapatalk.com/groups/godsgravesglyphs/, forum.darwincentral.org, www.gopbriefingroom.com)
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To: MeganC

Serial killers are not the same as gang killers.


19 posted on 11/29/2017 9:05:28 AM PST by PghBaldy (12/14 - 930am -rampage begins... 12/15 - 1030am - Obama's advance team scouts photo-op locations.)
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To: Strac6

Sounds like he was a compulsive killer that wanted to get caught...........A weird ending to a series of tragic events.


20 posted on 11/29/2017 10:41:17 AM PST by Hot Tabasco (My cat is not fat, she is just big boned........)
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