Famed no-nonsense Polk County, Florida Sheriff Grady Judd just held a press conference to announce the arrests of three homicide suspects whose evil deeds are responsible for the murders of three fishing buddies in Frostproof, Florida.

At the podium announcing the arrests and recounting the crime while holding up photographs of the three suspects who shot and killed Damion Tillman, 23, Keven Springfield, 30, and Brandon Rollins, 27, on Friday, July 17th at around 10 p.m. in the unincorporated area of Frostproof, in a mostly rural setting. Sheriff Judd describes Frostproof as “made up of cow pastures, orange groves , and beautiful lakes…and has a very low crime rate.”

Sheriff Judd’s description of Frostproof was starkly blemished when the three close friends fishing for catfish were brutally murdered, with one of the decedents able to call his dad and scream “Help!” before he succumbed to gunshot wounds. Dad drove to the fishing site and found the triple-murder scene among which was his son.

Described as a “massacre,” Sheriff Judd explained the “mastermind” behind the murders is Tony “TJ” Wiggins, 26, whose “criminal history should shock your conscience,” per Judd. Tony Wiggins’ life of criminality commenced when he was arrested at age 12. That first arrest was followed by a grand total of “230 felony criminal charges,” Judd pointed out with emphasis. “He’s a thug. He’s a criminal. He’s pure evil in the flesh. He’s wild and he’s out of control,” the sheriff stated with disgust. Now, Wiggins is out of circulation (again) and behind bars (again), this time on murder charges.

Oddly, Mary Whittemore, 27, had zero criminal history before she became part of the murderous trio. What a way to go from clean slate to fiery hate.

William “Robert” Wiggins, 21, the younger brother of criminal cancer TJ Wiggins, had only one misdemeanor arrest to his name. He, too, ran with the devil on July 17.

Local tipsters told PCSO investigators to give a look at T.J. Wiggins, not because of definitive knowledge that he was a culprit but because he was widely known as a violent, evil guy who comes from the Frostproof area. That resulted in homicide investigators doing what homicide investigators do: putting pieces together well enough leading to probable cause arrest(s).

T.J. Wiggins was out on bond for breaking the arm of a male; sounds like he was used to violence and skirting the criminal justice system. That factor means it is too late to save the three homicide victims who perished while innocently fishing and whiling the day away.

Thanks to the Crimestoppers phone lines being inundated with calls with tips, coupled with psychics chiming in with their scenarios, Polk County Sheriff’s Office homicide detectives ran it all down and rounded up these three alleged killers. The trio were found and arrested together where they lived “off the grid” in a “family compound of camper trailers…in the woods, outside of Frostproof…no running water, no electricity…they had some generators” accessible only by “a dirt path,” explained the sheriff’s office.

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Armed with a search warrant on the Wiggins compound, Polk County detectives found some heavy firepower. Thus T.J. Wiggins was arrested as a “convicted felon in possession of firearms.” At the murder scene, Polk County forensics investigators collected one 9mm shell casing at T.J.’s trailer. The dots were forming.

With the assistance of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) forensics folks, it was determined that a 9mm shell casing from the murder scene and the one found on Wiggins’ compound came from the same firearm, a Smith & Wesson handgun, one which it is believed T.J. Wiggins held and pulled the trigger, resulting in triple murder. As of this writing, the FDLE also has its toxicology lab processing “trace evidence of blood,” per the sheriff’s report.

What motivated this tragedy of three lives killed while partaking in night-time fishing? Sheriff Judd said it may stem from a “truck engine” which T.J. Wiggins believed Keven Springfield somehow stole years ago, although the investigation thus far has zero corroboration to support the alleged basis. The thought of mistaken identity and/or erroneous info leading to this massacre only compounds the absolute heinous reality of three young close friends running into the devil at a Dollar General store before fishing.

This latest case of avoidable utter horror circles back to the very criminal justice system which is recently a hotbed of discussion and dissection, primarily with COVID-related release and bizarre-based political platforms telegraphing total abolition of the nation’s prison system.

Despite how proponents of the prison reform movement feel, three innocents enjoying nature were edited from the dialogue by three monsters who committed unthinkable, unnatural acts upon humanity. Speaking of “unnatural acts,” after the triple-homicide, the maniacal trio stripped down the firearm and then drove to McDonald’s whereupon they “ordered 10 double-cheeseburgers and two McChickens,” Sheriff Judd added.

And some want this to be the norm, lending zero foresight to unloosed criminals without oversight? If 230 felony charges don’t do it, what will?

 

This piece was written by Stephen Owsinski on July 22, 2020. It originally appeared in DrewBerquist.com and is used by permission.

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