By THOMAS W. KRAUSE / The Tampa Tribune and
JEFF PATTERSON / News Channel 8
TAMPA - Oscar Ray Bolin, 44, has been found guilty of murder in the first degree for the 1986 killing of Stephanie Collins.
Two previous convictions and death sentences for Bolin were reversed on appeal.
Bolin waived the jury recommendation portion of the penalty phase in his case, meaning it is up to the judge to decide if he gets life or death.
In the state of Florida, typically after any death penalty case, the jury hears more evidence and makes recommendation to judge of life in prison or the death penalty. The defendant can waive that portion in which case, the evidence would be presented directly to the judge and the judge would make the decision without hearing from the jury.
Closing arguments concluded this morning.
Assistant State Attorney Mike Halkitis offered a surprise in his closing argument. He reached into Collins’ purse and pulled out a folded yellow piece of paper. Written on the back was the name “Ray” followed by a series of letters and numbers. The numbers, Halkitis said, corresponded with Bolin’s license plate number.
It was the first time in the 20-year case that information was made public. Halkitis told the jury that the note proved Bolin, whose nickname was Ray, had some contact with Collins before her abduction.
Halkitis suggested to the jury that Bolin may have been stalking Collins or that the two had been in a minor fender bender and she wrote down his name and license number in the days before her abduction.
Bolin’s attorney, David Parry, who was surprised by the information, told the jury that no witnesses said the note was in the purse and no one could say for sure where it came from. He also questioned why law enforcement never found it or never ran the tag number.
“Before today, no one did anything about it,” he said.
