FROSTPROOF, Fla. (CW44 News At 10)- According to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd at a press conference on Wednesday, July 22, 2020 at 11am, three arrests have been made in the horrific massacre of three friends fishing. The cause of the massacre was revealed to be a dispute over the previous sale of the suspected shooter’s truck engine.
“Here’s Tony Wiggins. Pure evil in the flesh.” – Sheriff Grady Judd
According to Sheriff Judd, Tony (TJ) Wiggins, 26, was “the trigger man”. His criminal career began at 12 years old. Wiggins is now 26 years old. His criminal history includes 230 felony criminal charges, 15 convictions and 2 times in state prison. Sheriff Judd paused to emphasize, “…his criminal history should shock your conscience. It certainly does mine.” Tony has been charged with 3 counts of First Degree Murder. Sheriff Judd is seeking Death Penalty.
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Mary Whittemore, 27, Tony Wiggins girlfriend has no criminal history. She was charged with 3 counts of Accessory and 1 count of Tampering With Evidence.
William (Robert) Wiggins, 21, Tony’s brother has 1 misdemeanor arrest. He was charged with 3 counts of Accessory and 1 count of Tampering With Evidence.
Each of the suspects are from the Lake Wells and Frostproof, Florida area, as were the victims.
It was tips from the community that directed the Polk County Sheriff’s Office to this known community criminal. Sheriff Judd exclaimed how grateful he was for the outreach of support and tips.
Credit: Polk County Sheriff’s Office
Below is the official report from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office
Polk County Sheriff’s Homicide detectives have arrested two brothers, and one of the brother’s girlfriend, in the triple homicide that occurred in the unincorporated area of Frostproof on July 17, 2020.
During a search of the crime scene, detectives found a Dollar General bag and receipt dated the night of the murders, and worked their way backwards from there. They responded to the Dollar General store, and retrieved store video surveillance that showed one of the victims – Damion Tillman – making some purchases. Detectives spoke with the clerk, who knows Damion as a frequent customer. The clerk told detectives that Damion said he was going fishing. The clerk also saw the suspects in the store at the same time, and they are also seen in the video. The clerk told detectives that the suspects heard Damion say he was going fishing, and that Keven would be with him, as the clerk listened to all of them talk to each other about it.
Detectives also received tips that one of the suspects might be Tony Wiggins. Tony Wiggins was positively identified as the person in the video at the Dollar General.
On July 20, 2020, detectives served a search warrant at a parcel of land on Sarver Avenue (nearest cross street, Sandollar Street) in Lake Wales, Florida, where a travel trailer was parked. The travel trailer is occupied by 26-year-old Tony “TJ” Wiggins and his girlfriend, 27-year-old Mary Whittemore; Tony’s brother, 21-year-old William “Robert” Wiggins, lives in another trailer on the same plot. Detectives found two SKS rifles, two Mossberg shotguns, and ammunition for both in a gun safe belonging to TJ Wiggins. TJ is a convicted felon, so he was placed under arrested for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon (F-2), and possession of ammunition by a convicted felon (F-2).
TJ Wiggins was recently arrested in March 2020 for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and was released on bond. Due to the fact that he committed crimes while out on bond, he violated his pretrial release conditions, and a Parker vs. State hold was applied (meaning he is not allowed to bond out on the new charges). Detectives continued their investigation.
The search warrant at the trailer also yielded ammunition that was compared to the shell casings found at the scene of the triple homicide. The ammunition was sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) lab for testing. The FDLE expedited the testing. The test results came back positive – the ammunition found in the trailer is the same ammunition fired from the gun that night, a Smith & Wesson handgun.
Detectives learned that Whittemore purchased the ammunition for TJ in Lake Wales on July 9, 2020. They are seen in video surveillance purchasing it at the store, and detectives have the receipt confirming the purchase.
Detectives interviewed all three suspects, and their stories were inconsistent and contradicting each other. Whittemore admitted to purchasing the ammunition, and to being with the brothers on the night of the murder. She did not make any additional statements. The Wiggins brothers statements were inconsistent.
William “Robert” Wiggins was interviewed again. During that interview, Robert admitted to seeing Damion in the Dollar General store on Friday evening while he stood in line behind Damion with his brother TJ. When they left the store, TJ directed Robert (who was driving) to turn onto a particular road, instead of going home. Two trucks, occupied by the three victims, passed Robert on that road, at which time TJ told Robert to make a U-turn and follow the trucks.
Robert followed the trucks to Lake Streety Road in Frostproof. Robert stayed in the truck with Whittemore, while TJ got out and confronted Keven Springfield, punching him and yelling at him, accusing Keven of stealing his truck. Brandon Rollins and Damion Tillman get out of their truck, and TJ continues to scream at all of them. Robert told detectives he watched as TJ shot all three victims. TJ then asked Robert to help him put Damion into the back of one of the trucks.
After the brutal killings, the three suspects drove to McDonald’s, where they ordered 10 double cheeseburgers, and two McChicken sandwiches. They went home to eat. On Saturday morning, July 18th, Robert took his truck to a car wash in Lake Wales and washed the clay from it.
Neither Tony Wiggins nor Mary Whittemore are cooperating with detectives.
Tony “TJ” Wiggins, 02/25/1994 has been charged with:
First degree murder (Capital felony)
Tampering with evidence (F-3)
Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon (F-2)
Possession of ammunition by a convicted felon (F-2)
His criminal history includes 230 felonies with 15 convictions, 26
misdemeanors, and 2 trips to state prison. He has several assault and battery
charges, armed burglary charges, and weapons charges.
William “Robert” Wiggins, DOB 01/04/99, has been charged with:
Tampering with evidence (F-3)
Accessory after the fact of capital felony (F1)
Mary Whittemore, DOB 07/07/93, has been charged with:
Accessory after the fact of capital felony (F1)
All three suspects’ mugshots have been Tweeted – follow us at @PolkCoSheriff.
All three suspects will have first appearance hearings at 1:00 p.m. on
Thursday, July 23, 2020.
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