Trull

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Gazing at the men and women who convicted him of murder, Jonathan Trull testified yesterday that he didn't stab Maryland visitors Matthew Wichita, Kevans Hall II or Seth Qubeck in April 1998. "I ain't the one who done this," the 30-year-old man said. The jury will recommend whether he deserves a death sentence. Trull disputed much of the testimony offered during the nine-week-long trial, even challenging the account of Qubeck, who survived the attack. Trull, the oldest of the three brothers accused in the slayings, was the only one convicted of murder in the deaths of Hall, 23, and Wichita, 21, and for the attempted murder of Qubeck, 21, all of Columbia.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The families of the three Howard County men who died in a 1998 spring break brawl in New Smyrna Beach, Fla., will share a $300,000 settlement of their lawsuits against a condominium. The lone survivor, Seth Qubeck, and the families of murder victims Kevans Hall and Matthew Wichita, will split the settlement - being paid by an insurance company - rather than pursue a trial in their separate lawsuits against the Ocean Palms Beach Club. The Maryland victims agreed to the settlement at a mediation session Sept.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A man who testified against the Trull brothers in a recent trial for the murder of two Howard County men was beaten in a holding cell after he was accidentally locked up with two of the brothers, authorities said. The afternoon attack was at the Volusia County Justice Center, where the three men were sentenced Tuesday for their roles in a 1998 melee that left two Columbia, Md., men dead and another seriously injured. Officials said Jonathan Trull and Joshua Trull were in the holding cell with two other men when Danny Beard was brought in after being sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A man who testified against the Trull brothers in a recent trial for the murder of two Howard County men was beaten in a holding cell after he was accidentally locked up with two of the brothers, authorities said. The afternoon attack was at the Volusia County Justice Center, where the three men were sentenced Tuesday for their roles in a 1998 melee that left two Columbia, Md., men dead and another seriously injured. Officials said Jonathan Trull and Joshua Trull were in the holding cell with two other men when Danny Beard was brought in after being sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Jonathan Trull, the 30-year-old Florida man convicted of killing two Maryland college students in April 1998, will spend the rest of his life behind bars, a judge ruled yesterday. Going along with a jury's recommendation last week, Circuit Judge Shawn L. Briese sentenced Trull to two consecutive life terms in prison for the deaths of Matthew Wichita, 21, and Kevans Hall II, 23, both of Columbia. Trull is not eligible for parole. Trull's sentence won't become final until he is sentenced for the attack on Seth Qubeck of Columbia, the only Maryland man to survive the fight.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A jury recommended yesterday that a man convicted of killing two Howard County men in April 1998 be spared the death sentence. After deliberating for an hour, the 12-member jury recommended that Jonathan Trull be sentenced to life in prison without parole for the first-degree murders of Matthew Wichita and Kevans Hall II and for the attempted first-degree murder of Seth Qubeck. All three victims lived in Columbia. Circuit Judge Shawn L. Briese will make a final decision, but judges rarely overturn a jury's recommended sentence in a death penalty case.

A Florida grand jury yesterday indicted two brothers on murder charges in connection with an attack last month that left two Columbia men dead and a third critically injured.Jonathan Edward Trull, 27, and Joshua Alan Trull, 17, also are charged with attempted first-degree murder.Matthew Christopher Wichita, 21, and Kevans Bradshaw Hall II, 23, were fatally stabbed and beaten April 16 at a beachside resort in New Smyrna Beach, just south of Daytona Beach.Another Columbia man, Seth Kenyon Qubeck, 21, suffered 17 stab wounds.

Florida police have charged three more men in connection with a brutal attack in April on three Columbia men, making what may be the final arrests in the case.The new arrests bring the total to seven Florida men charged with beating and stabbing Matthew Wichita, Kevans Bradshaw Hall II and Seth Qubeck. Wichita, 21, and Hall, 23, were killed. Qubeck, 21, was critically injured after being stabbed 17 times.Police "think that's all the people involved," said Mike Brouillette, spokesman for the New Smyrna Beach Police Department.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Columbia man who survived multiple stab wounds three years ago stripped off his shirt in a courtroom yesterday to show a jury the scars that now mark his shoulder and back. Seth Qubeck pointed to 17 stab wounds he suffered on the evening of April 16, 1998 - an attack that left two of his friends dead. Qubeck, 23, testified for the second day in the trial of Jonathan, Christopher and Joshua Trull. The three Volusia County brothers are accused of trying to kill Qubeck and of killing Matthew Wichita, 21, and Kevans Hall II, 23, both of Columbia.

Florida prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for two of seven men charged in the April 16 slayings of two Howard County residents, who were vacationing in New Smyrna Beach.The state attorney's office filed court papers yesterday, declaring it will seek the electric chair for Jonathan Trull, 27, and Joshua Trull, 18, the Observer newspaper in New Smyrna Beach is reporting today.The Trull brothers were indicted in May on charges of first-degree murder in the killings of Matthew Wichita, 21, and Kevans Bradshaw Hall II, 23.On a nine-day trip in April, Wichita, Hall and Seth Qubeck, all from Columbia, were staying with two friends in a beachfront condominium in New Smyrna Beach, south of Daytona Beach, and went to the aid of a woman who was being harassed by a group of local men, police said.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - An Edgewater, Fla., man was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison yesterday as a judge began a final round of hearings in a 1998 attack that left two Maryland men on spring break dead. Neil Kirkland, 23, was also sentenced to 22 1/2 years of probation and was ordered to pay $58,319 in restitution to survivor Seth Qubeck and the families of the two Maryland men who were killed. Circuit Judge Shawn L. Briese also ordered Kirkland to attend mental health and substance abuse counseling because of his history of alcoholism and bipolar disorder, an illness that causes bouts of mania and depression.

`Average year' for snow removal costs $817,000 Snow was scarce but expensive to move in Central Maryland last winter. The National Weather Service measured 7.7 inches of snow at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, a forecaster said. But each inch that fell in Howard County cost taxpayers about $100,000 to clear. "Over the last 15 years, we've spent from $60,000 to $1.5 million [a year]" for snow removal, said Howard County highways chief Andrew Daneker. Howard used 15,900 tons of salt, 1,400 tons of cinders for especially slippery spots and 2,200 gallons of magnesium chloride, a liquid coating that boosts salt's effectiveness on very cold days.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Jonathan Trull, the 30-year-old Florida man convicted of killing two Maryland college students in April 1998, will spend the rest of his life behind bars, a judge ruled yesterday. Going along with a jury's recommendation last week, Circuit Judge Shawn L. Briese sentenced Trull to two consecutive life terms in prison for the deaths of Matthew Wichita, 21, and Kevans Hall II, 23, both of Columbia. Trull is not eligible for parole. Trull's sentence won't become final until he is sentenced for the attack on Seth Qubeck of Columbia, the only Maryland man to survive the fight.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A jury recommended yesterday that a man convicted of killing two Howard County men in April 1998 be spared the death sentence. After deliberating for an hour, the 12-member jury recommended that Jonathan Trull be sentenced to life in prison without parole for the first-degree murders of Matthew Wichita and Kevans Hall II and for the attempted first-degree murder of Seth Qubeck. All three victims lived in Columbia. Circuit Judge Shawn L. Briese will make a final decision, but judges rarely overturn a jury's recommended sentence in a death penalty case.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Gazing at the men and women who convicted him of murder, Jonathan Trull testified yesterday that he didn't stab Maryland visitors Matthew Wichita, Kevans Hall II or Seth Qubeck in April 1998. "I ain't the one who done this," the 30-year-old man said. The jury will recommend whether he deserves a death sentence. Trull disputed much of the testimony offered during the nine-week-long trial, even challenging the account of Qubeck, who survived the attack. Trull, the oldest of the three brothers accused in the slayings, was the only one convicted of murder in the deaths of Hall, 23, and Wichita, 21, and for the attempted murder of Qubeck, 21, all of Columbia.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - For the first time in the two-month trial, Kevans Hall II and Matthew Wichita weren't just the two men on spring break who were fatally stabbed three years ago. In tributes that moved several jurors to tears, weeping family members and friends testified during the penalty phase yesterday that the Columbia residents were men of hope and promise who are loved and missed by many. "He was the life of the party," said Hall's mother, Jill Carter. "There was times I wanted to kill myself because I can't deal with the pain of losing my son. He didn't have a chance to say goodbye to his mommy, his brother, his nephew that he loved so much."

A man wanted in the slayings of two Columbia residents vacationing in Florida during spring break surrendered this week. New Smyrna Beach police said he had spent the past four months living on a nearby deserted island.Christopher Trull, 25, of New Smyrna Beach is the seventh and final suspect arrested in the April 16 attack on three Columbia men, who were assaulted with knives and baseball bats, police said. Kevans Bradshaw Hall II, 23, and Matthew Wichita, 21, were killed. Seth Qubeck, 21, was stabbed 17 times and has recovered from his injuries.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- As a packed courtroom watched, Columbia resident Seth Qubeck faced one of the men accused of killing his two friends and nearly killing him with 19 stab wounds. Without showing emotion, Qubeck followed a judge's instructions and slowly walked toward defendant Joshua Trull. He pointed to the 20-year-old Volusia County man, identifying him as the person who made death threats aimed at him and his friends during spring break three years ago in New Smyrna Beach. "Over and over again, he said repeatedly, `I'm going to kill you. You guys are going to smell powder,'" Qubeck told the jury later yesterday.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- A judge has imposed strict limitations on victim-impact testimony from Seth Qubeck, the only one of three Howard County friends who survived a gruesome 1998 fight -- so the Columbia man says he's returning home. Qubeck, who had displayed his 17 stabbing scars to a jury, was prepared to take the stand for a fourth time, as the jury now considers whether to impose the death penalty on Jonathan Trull, who was convicted of first-degree murder in the deaths of two of his friends.