Suitcase killer Boone takes stand at trial, says she kept boyfriend trapped out of fear for life (2024)

Sarah Boone took the stand during her murder trial Tuesday and said she kept her abusive boyfriend trapped in a suitcase out of fear for her life — making a convincing enough case that the judge ruled she can continue to claim hers were the actions of a battered spouse.

Over about five hours on the witness stand in the Orlando courtroom, Boone — dressed in a black jacket and blue blouse — testified she didn’t mean for Jorge Torres Jr. to die, believing he was lying when he said he couldn’t breathe inside the zipped suitcase. Family members of Torres were in the courtroom for her testimony.

For nearly an hour, she spoke about the highly-charged interaction on that February day in 2020 between her and Torres, 42, part of which she recorded using her cellphone.

Boone, 47, said she was terrified of him possibly escaping, recalling he threatened to “f***ing end me.” At one point, she noticed his hand slipping out of the suitcase, so she tried jabbing it away with a baseball bat.

“Were you in fear?” asked her lawyer James Owens. “Always,” Boone replied, calling the move a “split-second decision.” “Like he used to tell me, he would have made me unrecognizable or I would have lost my life.”

Even after hitting Torres’ hand initially, she jabbed the bat into the suitcase.

Dr. Sara Zydowicz, the medical examiner who performed Torres’ autopsy, had previously testified he was found with recent blunt-impact injuries to the head near his mouth and bruises to the left side of his back, on his forearms and hands. Zydowicz said some of the wounds could be consistent with being hit by the bat.

Prosecutors show key video of suitcase killer taunting trapped boyfriend

The prosecution and defense have long argued over allowing mention during trial of past instances of Torres’ abuse of Boone.

“If she let him out of the suitcase, she was going to be harmed,” Owens told Circuit Judge Michael Kraynick after the jury was sent out of the courtroom. It was “based on him trying to get out with his hand, based on the threats he made while he was trying to get out and based on the threats he made as she was trying to get upstairs.”

Kraynick agreed, saying Boone’s testimony was sufficient to allow her to argue she suffered from Battered Spouse Syndrome — which affected her decision-making and may have made her perceive threats and take actions differently than a fully rational person would have.

  • Suitcase killer Boone takes stand at trial, says she kept boyfriend trapped out of fear for life (1)

    Sarah Boone demonstrates how she zipped her boyfriend into the actual suitcase for the jury during her second-degree murder trial at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

  • Suitcase killer Boone takes stand at trial, says she kept boyfriend trapped out of fear for life (2)

    Sarah Boone describes her boyfriend's hand coming out of the suitcase during her second-degree murder trial at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

  • Suitcase killer Boone takes stand at trial, says she kept boyfriend trapped out of fear for life (3)

    Sarah Boone is sworn in during her trial for killing her boyfriend by suffocating him in a suitcase during her trial at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Fla., Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. However, Boone has claimed her boyfriend suffocated accidentally in a suitcase during a wine-fueled game of hide-and-seek in their Winter Park apartment. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

  • Suitcase killer Boone takes stand at trial, says she kept boyfriend trapped out of fear for life (4)

    In evidence is the bat used by Sarah Boone to strike her boyfriend on his hands while he tried to escape the suitcase during her second-degree murder trial at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

  • Suitcase killer Boone takes stand at trial, says she kept boyfriend trapped out of fear for life (5)

    Sarah Boone demonstrates her boyfriend strangling her during her trial for killing her boyfriend by suffocating him in a suitcase during her trial at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Fla., Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. However, Boone has claimed her boyfriend suffocated accidentally in a suitcase during a wine-fueled game of hide-and-seek in their Winter Park apartment. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

  • Suitcase killer Boone takes stand at trial, says she kept boyfriend trapped out of fear for life (6)

    Sarah Boone sits at the defense table during her second-degree murder trial at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

  • Suitcase killer Boone takes stand at trial, says she kept boyfriend trapped out of fear for life (7)

    Sarah Boone looks at the bat she used to hit her boyfriend while in the suitcase held by her attorney during her second-degree murder trial at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

  • Suitcase killer Boone takes stand at trial, says she kept boyfriend trapped out of fear for life (8)

    Attorney James Owens, projects a photo of a stab wound received by Sarah Boone from her boyfriend during her trial for killing her boyfriend by suffocating him in a suitcase during her trial at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Fla., Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. However, Boone has claimed her boyfriend suffocated accidentally in a suitcase during a wine-fueled game of hide-and-seek in their Winter Park apartment. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

  • Suitcase killer Boone takes stand at trial, says she kept boyfriend trapped out of fear for life (9)

    Sarah Boone watches her attorney point at the suitcase her boyfriend died in during her trial for killing her boyfriend by suffocating him in a suitcase during her trial at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Fla., Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. However, Boone has claimed her boyfriend suffocated accidentally in a suitcase during a wine-fueled game of hide-and-seek in their Winter Park apartment. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

  • Suitcase killer Boone takes stand at trial, says she kept boyfriend trapped out of fear for life (10)

    Photograph taken by Sarah Boone believed to be of the suitcase with her boyfriend inside is projected for the jury to see during her second-degree murder trial at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

  • Suitcase killer Boone takes stand at trial, says she kept boyfriend trapped out of fear for life (11)

    Sarah Boone demonstrates hitting her boyfriends hands with a bat while he was in the suitcase during her trial for killing her boyfriend by suffocating him in a suitcase during her trial at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Fla., Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. However, Boone has claimed her boyfriend suffocated accidentally in a suitcase during a wine-fueled game of hide-and-seek in their Winter Park apartment. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

  • Suitcase killer Boone takes stand at trial, says she kept boyfriend trapped out of fear for life (12)

    State Prosecutor William Jay holds a large bottle of wine Sarah Boone and her boyfriend drank on the day in question during her second-degree murder trial at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

  • Suitcase killer Boone takes stand at trial, says she kept boyfriend trapped out of fear for life (13)

    Lead defense attorney James Owens questions his client Sarah Boone during her, second-degree murder trial in Orange County Courthouse Orlando, Fla., Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

  • Suitcase killer Boone takes stand at trial, says she kept boyfriend trapped out of fear for life (14)

    Judge Michael Kraynick talks with state and defense lawyers during the Sarah Boone second-degree murder trial in Orange County Courthouse Orlando, Fla., Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

  • Suitcase killer Boone takes stand at trial, says she kept boyfriend trapped out of fear for life (15)

    (Left to Right) Defense attorney Tony Henderson, defendant Sarah Boone, and lead defense attorney James Owens sit at the defense table during the Sarah Boone second-degree murder trial in Orange County Courthouse Orlando, Fla., Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

  • Suitcase killer Boone takes stand at trial, says she kept boyfriend trapped out of fear for life (16)

    State Prosecutor William Jay cross-examines Sarah Boone during her second-degree murder trial at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

  • Suitcase killer Boone takes stand at trial, says she kept boyfriend trapped out of fear for life (17)

    Judge Michael Kraynick talks with state and defense lawyers during the Sarah Boone, second-degree murder trial in Orange County Courthouse Orlando, Fla., Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

  • Suitcase killer Boone takes stand at trial, says she kept boyfriend trapped out of fear for life (18)

    Sarah Boone takes the witness stand during her second-degree murder trial at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

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Sarah Boone demonstrates how she zipped her boyfriend into the actual suitcase for the jury during her second-degree murder trial at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

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During her testimony, Boone said that on Feb. 24, 2020, the date Torres died, the two of them spent what was otherwise a normal day together. She said they tidied up the house, made a trip to Publix to buy a bottle of wine and spent most of the afternoon drinking and smoking.

That evening they worked on a puzzle, doodled, danced and drank some more. Then, after hiding in the shower while playing tag, Boone said she found Torres — who stands 5 feet, 3 inches and weighs about 100 pounds — wiggling his way into a suitcase.

Boone said the two laughed about it, but she suddenly realized he was struggling to get out and began recording it.

“I wanted him to understand that right now I feel safe, and right now I have the ability to speak to you in a way that I normally wouldn’t have the ability to do,” she said.

Some of the past violent incidents the defense referenced included Torres kicking Boone in the face in July 2018, one of three times Torres was arrested for physically hitting her, according to court records.

She was also arrested during the incident for trying to choke him — which she told police was her trying to defend herself.

The defense showed the jury several photos of injuries to Boone caused by Torres — including a black eye from being kicked and a wound from him allegedly stabbing her with a steak knife when she made a steak dinner for him.

Boone showed jurors her scar from the stabbing and said Torres forced her to lie at a hospital that it was caused by them play sword fighting.

When cross examined by Assistant State Attorney William Jay, Boone often replied that she didn’t remember what happened the night he died.

During questioning by Owens, she said the couple had a good day but later told prosecutors he’d been angry with her throughout the day. This added to the multiple contradictory statements Boone made that the prosecution has been trying to point out to jurors.

At one point, Jay brought out the dark teal, soft-sided suitcase Torres died in. He asked Boone to demonstrate to the jury how he’d been positioned inside it. He also had her demonstrate how she zipped it to where she said he had enough room to escape.

Forensic psychologist Dr. Michael Brannon is expected to testify Wednesday on behalf of the defense. He previously testified in the first-degree murder trial of Marcia Thompson, a South Florida woman acquitted in July of killing her husband using Battered Spouse Syndrome as a defense. She shot her husband nine times — six in the back — while he lay on the couch in his underwear.

The defense also plans to call a second forensic psychologist Thursday and prosecutors have their own psychological expert for rebuttal. Owens said he hopes the trial can be completed by the weekend.

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Suitcase killer Boone takes stand at trial, says she kept boyfriend trapped out of fear for life (2024)
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