It wasn’t just any book, but a “murder book,” he says, on “a very vicious homicide.”
The four-inch thick, loose-leaf binder, complete with reports and ghastly color crime scene photos, is the case file on the slaying of 13-year-old Christopher Gutierrez and his uncle, Jesus Hernando-Pantoja.
They were found shot to death in the back of Hernando-Pantoja s pickup truck on Feb. 1.
“It’s pretty horrible, and I’ve investigated a lot of them,” Conlee said.
That the 59-year-old has investigated a lot of homicides is the reason that he s been brought out of retirement to work on this, and other cold cases with the Lake County Sheriff s Office.
Two weekend accidents claim the lives of three people in Lake, Sumter counties
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Lake sheriff IDs man found dead in lake off Picciola Road bridge
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Recently, the city opened a resource center on County Road 468, with computers and instruction, so adults can look for jobs, improve their skills and be in touch with social services outlets.
Meanwhile, construction is underway for a swimming pool complex on Pine Street. Originally set to open by July 4, the city is now eyeing a potential formal opening date near Labor Day.
“I tell people that Leesburg is a family-oriented city, Christian said. Now, we have the infrastructure to build strong families.”
For more information on the groundbreaking ceremony, call Public Works at 352-435-9442.
There were no children present at the time of the shooting.
“We believe there were two shooters,” Dale said. “There were shell casings from two different caliber guns.”
Investigators were not without leads. They had one person of interest on their list of possible suspects, but he would become a homicide victim himself on Dec. 1.
Eustis police, responding to reports of gunfire, found Darius Kendal Austin, 37, bleeding from gunshot wounds on a sidewalk in the 500 block of Glover Street. He was taken to Advent Health Waterman where he was pronounced dead.
Investigators at the time would not say if the shooting in Umatilla was drug-related, but Cunningham and Austin were no strangers to law enforcement or to violence.