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Lugo v. State2/20/2003
eath was protracted. One can hardly imagine a crime more conscienceless, pitiless, or unnecessarily torturous to the victim than this one. Her fear at being bound hand and foot, injected repeatedly with a painful substance while begging to see Mr. Griga, who she had last seen being strangled by Doorbal, must have been overwhelming. . . . She was obviously aware that after watching Doorbal strangle Griga she had not seen or heard any sign that he was alive. Clearly, there had to be a reason why they were asking her, not Griga, for the codes to his house. Her bodily response to the Xylazine and natural reaction to resist the effects of the drug could only have exacerbated her fear.
. . . The evidence showed that Lugo was the leader of the organization. . . . Lugo instructed Doorbal to inject Furton [with horse tranquilizer] on several occasions. Doorbal held Furton up by the shoulders so Lugo could question her about the house security codes and the whereabouts of the [in-house] safe. Lugo was the one who headed up the purchase of surveillance equipment for the organization to use in stalking its victims. . . . Lugo is legally and morally responsible for every single thing that was done to Frank [Griga] and Krisztina [Furton] in this case. He was the director and the driving force.
The evidence, as reflected in the trial court's thorough sentencing order, counters Lugo's claims that Furton was unconscious during her ordeal and therefore endured no pain or suffering. It also obviates the argument that Doorbal, not Lugo, is solely culpable in Furton's murder. We determine that no error occurred with regard to the finding of HAC for the murder of Krisztina Furton.
Lugo next challenges the trial court's decision to find the CCP aggravator. He contends this aggravator should not have been found because " he killings occurred as a result of Doorbal's frenzy, panic, fit of rage or total incompetence." We disagree. Four elements must be established to justify a finding of CCP: (1) the murder must have been the product of cool and calm reflection and not an act prompted by emotional frenzy, panic, or a fit of rage; (2) the defendant must have had a careful plan or prearranged design to commit murder before the fatal incident; (3) the defendant must have exhibited heightened premeditation; and (4) the defendant must have had no pretense of moral or legal justification. See Gordon v. State, 704 So. 2d 107, 114 (Fla. 1997) (quoting Jackson v. State, 648 So. 2d 85, 89 (Fla. 1994)).
Competent, substantial evidence supports the trial judge's decision to find the CCP aggravator. Lugo and Doorbal coolly and calmly selected Griga and Furton as their victims long before they killed them. Both were enthralled by Griga's wealth, and determined to have it for themselves. They took no real precautions to hide their identities from Griga and Furton, which further supports the notion that they always intended to kill them. The record also establishes that Lugo had contemplated how the bodies would be disposed of well before the murders occurred. Moreover, after Griga died following the altercation with Doorbal, Lugo commented that Griga was not supposed to die before the assets had been secured. Lugo was clearly involved in the planning of the murders to the same extent as Doorbal. We reject the assertion that Griga's murder was nothing more than an unintended result from a "fit of rage" altercation between Doorbal and Griga. In Rodriguez v. State, 753 So. 2d 29 (Fla. 2000), we upheld the finding of the CCP aggravator as applied to the murders of three victims. There, we discussed the relevant facts that supported the finding of the aggravator in the murders of Sam and Bea Joseph and Genevieve Abra
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