A two-page report shows the forensic evidence gathered against Howell ‘Trai’ Donaldson, who has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder
Bullet casings and cell phone data link the alleged Tampa serial killer to four murders between October 9 and November 14, arrest documents show.
A two-page report released Wednesday and obtained by Tampa Bay Times shows the forensic evidence gathered against Howell ‘Trai’ Donaldson, 24, who has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder.
Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan said in a news conference Wednesday the gun was the missing piece of the puzzle.
‘The gun is what we needed,’ he told reporters. He said that based on the evidence he is 100 percent sure they have the right man.
Police found SIG Sauer brand .40 caliber shell casings at each of the four locations where Donaldson allegedly shot dead Monica Hoffa, Benjamin Mitchell, Anthony Maiboa and Ronald Felton.
The shell casings from the first three murder scenes were fired from a Glock handgun that Donaldson told police he bought on October 3, according to a forensic analysis.
Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan, pictured far left, said in a news conference Wednesday the gun was the missing piece of the puzzle
The shell casings from the first three murder scenes were fired from a Glock handgun that Donaldson (pictured) told police he bought on October 3, according to a forensic analysis
He picked up the gun four days later and also bought a 20-round box of SIG Sauer brand .40 caliber bullets, according to store receipts.
The bullets from Felton’s murder weren’t available for comparison after the gun was confiscated, but were previously identified as having been fired from the same gun.
That gun is the same that Howard handed his manager, wrapped up in a McDonald’s takeout food bag on Tuesday afternoon.
He allegedly asked the manager to hold the bag for him but not open it while he went to cash a check at Amscott. He also said he planned to leave the state.
But the manager, who hasn’t been identified, did look in the bag and found the loaded 9mm handgun. They then told another employee to alert a female officer who was doing paperwork in the restaurant.
The glock was confiscated and had a loaded magazines with five brand new rounds of .40 caliber bullets, according to the Times.
Donaldson told police that the gun wasn’t handled by anyone else from the time he picked it up from the store, the report states.
That gun is the same that Howard handed his manager, wrapped up in a McDonald’s takeout food bag on Tuesday afternoon
Donaldson told police that the gun wasn’t handled by anyone else from the time he picked it up from the store, the report states. He is currently being held without bail, and is scheduled to appear in court for the first time Tuesday
While Dugan considers the gun to be the most critical piece of evidence, cell phone data also places him roughly at the scene of the crimes on all dates and times corresponding with the first three murders.
He told police he was ‘unfamiliar’ with the Seminole Heights area and doesn’t know anyone who lives there.
Police also found a hooded sweatshirt with what appears to be a blood stain in Donaldson’s red Ford Mustang, which was parked at the McDonald’s when he was taken in for questioning. The sweatshirt is similar to what a suspect was wearing in a surveillance video taken October 9 just before and after Benjamin Mitchell’s murder.
Dugan told reporters Donaldson wasn’t a suspect until Tuesday when they confiscated the gun. He said he doesn’t think the alleged serial killer was trying to turn himself in.
Donaldson is currently being held without bail and should appear in court for the first time on Tuesday.
‘We were really hoping to find out what was driving him to do this,’ Dugan told reporters.
‘We don’t have those answers yet. It’s an ongoing investigation. We’re going to speak to a lot of people now who know he did this, we’re going to have a lot more tips, a lot more information.’
Donaldson was reportedly friendly to police. He didn’t admit to the killings or offer any motive. Police don’t believe anyone else was involved or that he is involved in any other crimes.
It does not seem like Donaldson has a criminal record.
Police had been searching for clues to who committed the four murders for 51 days.
On October 19, Anthony Naiboa, (left) 20, was shot after taking the wrong bus home from his new job. Then on November 14 Ronald Felton (right) was crossing at Nebraska and Wilder when a man dressed in all black came up behind him and shot him
The first attack happened on October 9 when Benjamin Mitchell (left) was shot dead after getting off a bus in the neighborhood at night. Two days after Mitchell, 22, was shot, Monica Hoffa, (right) 32, was gunned down
Police had been searching for clues to who committed the four murders for 51 days. After the first three were killed Dugan released a blurry video of a suspect, who can be seen wearing a hooded jacket and walking down a street near one of the shootings
Earlier this week police connected the killings based on their methodology – meaning they were all killed in the same way, which is common for serial killers.
Each of the four victims was killed but not robbed while they walked along at night within a half-mile area of the Seminole Heights neighborhood.
The victims, though, didn’t have any common similarities based on race, age or occupation.
The first attack happened on October 9 when Benjamin Mitchell was shot dead after getting off a bus in the neighborhood at night.
Two days after Mitchell, 22, was shot, Monica Hoffa, 32, was gunned down. And on October 19, Anthony Naiboa, 20, was shot after taking the wrong bus home from his new job. Police patrolling nearby heard the gunshots and rushed to the scene to find Naiboa dead.
Then in late October Dugan released a blurry video of a suspect, who can be seen wearing a hooded jacket and walking down a street near one of the shootings.
He then released another video on November 16 of who he believes is the same man, who was present near the fatal shooting of Ronald Felton.
Felton was the last of the four victims to be killed, and was shot on November 14.
Police said the victim, a construction worker and father of three adult children, was crossing at Nebraska and Wilder when a man dressed in all black came up behind him and shot him.