There was a comment at the location at which I was reading about this, to the effect of "what kind of person would commit three murders over something like this?"
The answer given was "hey, it's Polk County." I'd like to know more about that. Of course there's no where to Google about such things.
The short version of the story is that there are a lot of transplants from up north who vote against increasing property taxes. As a result, the education system is woeful.
Additionally, the phosphate business which is how a lot of Polk residents make a living, has decreased in recent years.
Ignorance and poverty frequently lead to crime in there you have the recipe for Polk County in a nutshell.