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‘Who is your God?’: Report gives details about woman after Lake County deputies shot

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — An arrest affidavit for the woman accused of leading to an ambush attack on Lake County deputies said she claimed to have a body under her home.

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That’s just one of the many disturbing details in the report for Julie Sulpizio.

Investigators said deputies were called to Sulpizio’s home Friday night after reports that she struck her neighbor.

They said while deputies headed into the home for a well-being check on her family, they were shot at.

Read: 9 Investigates speaks with psychotherapist if Lake County woman will face a jury

Master Deputy Bradley Link was killed, and Deputies Harold Howell and Stefano Gargano were injured.

Investigators said they later found Sulpizio’s husband and adult daughters dead, saying they died by suicide.

Deputies did not find a body under the home, despite Sulpizio’s claims.

Read: Former stepmom of Lake County deputies shooting suspects speaks out

Federal agents and Lake County deputies were back out at the home Wednesday, pulling out even more propaganda that the family was collecting, along with an arsenal of guns and ammunition.

Details from the only surviving suspect’s interview with detectives paint her as the mastermind behind a planned “mission,” an ambush murder of those with “dark” souls.

The report said, “She was trying to lure the blacks (those with black souls) to her residence so that Michael - her husband - could kill them.”

Read: Woman charged in ambush attack on Lake County deputies makes first court appearance

“This is consistent with the primary interaction with Sulpizio where she – even with law enforcement present – continued to attempt to lure neighbors to her residence along with law enforcement,” the report said. “And also consistent with why Deputy Link did not receive incoming fire as he first entered the threshold of the hallway.”

The arrest affidavit also said it is believed that Michael Sulpizio expected Julie to enter first.

“The state usually gathers evidence that you understood what you were doing,” former Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Fred Lauten said. “You planned this, or you ran after the crime was committed so that you knew what you were doing was wrong. You understood what you were doing. You understood the consequences of what you were doing.”

Lauten said every defendant in Florida is presumed sane.

Read: How to help Lake County deputies’ families following deadly ambush

In order for Sulpizio’s attorneys to have a shot at an insanity defense, she’ll have to be diagnosed with a mental illness and prove she did not know right from wrong or did not understand what she was accused of doing.

Throughout her interview with detectives, records show she often referred to herself as “Helen” or “God.”

“Winning that defense at trial is hard,” Lauten said. “There are not a lot of guilty by reason of insanity trials where the defense succeeds.”

Sulpizio said on Tuesday that she intends to hire a private attorney.

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Karla Ray

Karla Ray, WFTV.com

Karla Ray anchors Eyewitness News This Morning on Saturday and Sundays, and is an investigative reporter for the 9 Investigates unit.

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