Belizean Brian Hyde has been convicted in a Florida Courtroom of the machete murders of his 37-year-old aunt, Dorla Pitts; his 17-year-old cousin, Starlette Pitts; and 19-year-old Michael Kelly. The fourth count was for the unborn child of victim Starlette Pitts.
The killing happened in Lehigh Acres, central Florida, in August of 2015. Forensic experts confirmed that Hyde's semen was inside his cousin's body and that his DNA was on her body. They also testified that Hyde's shoes were stained in numerous places with the blood of all three victims.
For his part, Hyde took the stand and claimed he couldn't remember anything from the day the victims were hacked to death. Hyde also testified he was abused as a child, that members of his family had been murdered for being drug dealers, and that he worked as a butcher in his family's grocery store in Belize. According to a news report from Florida, "the testimony about Hyde's experience butchering meats was disturbingly similar to the prosecutor's theory of how the perpetrator hacked up his victims. Police officers said the crime scene was shockingly violent." They added, it was, quote, "almost unimaginable." He now awaits sentencing in June.
This was his second trial, the first ended in a mistrial. News reports from Florida add that "Hyde will be jailed in the United States. Because he has been convicted, he will not face deportation proceedings until his sentence has been served."
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