HIGHLANDS COUNTY, Fla. — Monday marked opening statements and the first day of testimony in the Zephen Xaver sentencing.
Xaver has already pled guilty in the 2019 deaths of five women inside a SunTrust Bank branch in Sebring, so this hearing is not about guilt.
Judge Angela Cowden reminded the jury their role is purely about sentencing, and whether Zephen Xaver should receive life in prison without parole or the death penalty.
“The only issue before you here is to determine the appropriate penalty,” Judge Cowden said.
The judge also explained how aggravating and mitigating factors heard during the hearing will shape their decision when it comes to sentencing Xaver.
Xaver’s defense lawyers chose not to make an opening statement, but prosecutors did.
They called Xaver, cold, cruel and calculated as he walked into the SunTrust Bank branch in Sebring — killing Jessica Montague, Deborah Cook, Mirasol Lopez, Cynthia Watson and Ana Pinon Williams.
“They were mothers, wives, daughters,” Assistant State Attorney Bonde Johnson said.
Until now, the public had never heard the depth of Xaver's crime including homicidal thoughts dating back to the age of nine.
Prosecutors say he also shared emails, notes and text messages with friends and coworkers about killing people, including a text message sent to a former girlfriend just moments before the shootings.
Johnson read part of it aloud:
“I'm not going out alone. I'm taking a few people with me, because I've always wanted to kill people. So, I'm going to try it and see how it goes. Watch me on the news in Sebring Florida.”
One minute later, Xaver got out of his car and walked into the bank.
Jurors were also shown bank surveillance videos and listened to a 43-minute, often chilling discussion between Xaver and 911 operator Kristin Johnson.
He placed the call moments after the shootings.
XAVER: “I just killed five people. Well, technically, about to be six."
911 OPERATOR: “Sir, can you repeat that?”
XAVER: “I killed five people.”
911 OPERATOR: “You just killed five people?"
XAVER: "Yes. I didn't think I could do it.”
911 OPERATOR: “Why did you do that?"
Xaver answers by saying he honestly doesn’t know.
He tells Johnson two of the women appear to still be breathing as he moves to a back room but refuses to take the gun away from his own head, threatening suicide.
Xaver then tells Johnson the gun is the only thing that's keeping the voices in his head quiet.
The jury also heard from investigators who presented hard-to-watch crime scene videos and photographs.
At one point, there was an emotional outburst in the courtroom. That person left quickly and a mistrial motion from Xaver’s lawyers was denied.
Testimony in the sentencing phase could take several days.
Under Florida's new law, it would take eight out of 12 jurors to impose the death penalty, no longer requiring a unanimous decision.