DELAND, Fla. — A De Leon Springs man is headed to prison for the 2017 murder of a woman who was able to identify her killer before she died.
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After a four-day trial, a jury of six men and six women found 54-year-old Bernard Thomas guilty Thursday of first-degree murder, first-degree arson of a dwelling, and first-degree arson of an occupied vehicle.
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In August of 2017, investigators say the victim- Tracy Adams- ran into her DeLand home while on fire screaming to her children that “Bernard tried to kill me.”
Investigators arrived to find Adams’ car completely on fire with flames spreading to the roof of her home. It was later determined that Thomas had thrown a bottle full of gasoline at Adams while she sat in her car and shot her in the shoulder.
Adams was taken to the hospital with severe burns to her upper body and died weeks later.
At the conclusion of a four-day trial this afternoon, a Volusia County Jury of six men and six women found defendant Bernard Thomas guilty as charged of First-Degree Murder, First-Degree Arson of Dwelling and First-Degree Arson of Occupied Vehicle.
— State Attorney, Florida's 7th Circuit (@SAO7FL) January 12, 2023
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Witnesses were able to help police identify Thomas as the suspect because he’d lived in a Gazebo on the Adams family’s property for about a year before the attack and was considered to be a close friend.
Thomas fled the murder scene but was arrested in 2019 in Brevard County on unrelated charges.
“The brutal nature of this crime shocks me,” State Attorney R.J. Larizza said after the trial. “This murder was the act of a depraved and vicious man. His cruelty knows no bounds.”
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After the guilty verdict, the judge sentenced Thomas to a mandatory life sentence for the first-degree murder charge and a consecutive 30-year sentence for the two counts of arson.
Thomas also pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, having been convicted of felony witness tampering back in 2007.
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