HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla — It’s been seven days since Michael Keetley’s murder trial started. Keetley is facing life in prison for the murder of Juan and Sergio Guitron, who were brothers, and the attempted murder of four others. Detectives say the former ice cream truck driver was seeking revenge after being robbed and shot in 2010.
From its extensive list of witnesses, the state called Detective David Shram of the Hillsborough County Sheriff Office.
For about an hour, the court listened to an audio recording of an interview Detective Shram had with Keetley. During that time, Keetley was not under arrest.
Detective Shram:
“A couple of things that caused our name to come up. Six people were shot. Two of them passed. One of them who was there was not shot. I’ll be completely honest with you, Mike; he described you to a ‘T.’ He described the van.”
“We also made contact with a few people who made it very clear that you were looking for a person by the name of Kreeper. You told them point-blank that Kreeper was responsible.”
During the interview, Keetley told Detective Shram that he wasn’t the shooter, and he denied that he knew of anyone by the name of Kreeper.
Detective Shram told Keetley there was enough proof to place him in the Ocean Mist neighborhood, where the shooting took place in Ruskin, Fl.
Keetley: “Just check the phone records. I know where I was at.”
Detective Shram: “The phone records are meaningless.”
Keetley: “So why am I not sitting in a jail right now?”
Detective Shram: “It’s not gonna go away.”
As the interview continued, Keetley expressed his disappointment with law enforcement and how he felt about the people responsible for shooting and robbing him on Jan. 23, 2010.
Keetley: “Do I wish the people who shot me would die a horrible death? Yes.”
Keetley: “To keep the statistics low on violent crimes the attempted murder of me, the sheriff department wrote it up as a robbery … so they can keep their violent crimes down. They’re shady.”
Detective Shram: “Don’t say that. Don’t categorize all as one, because I’m not shady. No matter what profession you’re in, there’s always gonna be bad apples.”
Today’s trial also included testimony from Gonzalo Guevara, who was a close friend to the Guitron brothers and the other survivors.
Guevara testified that he was able to see who the shooter was before the first bullet struck him. After giving a detailed description of Keetley, Guevara explained what happened next.
“He shot me in my left hand. He shot me four times,” Guevara recalled.
When the state asked Guevara if he saw the man who shot him in the courtroom today, he confirmed by pointing out Keetley.
“Have you seen that face in your mind until this very day,” the state asked. “Yes, sir,” Guevara replied.
Guevara said he spent nearly a month in the hospital after the shooting. While in recovery, detectives visited him and asked him to identify the shooter from a series of photos.
He said when he saw the picture of Keetley, he started to cry because he was angry, and he lost his friends, Sergio and Juan Guitron.
The trial will continue Monday, Feb. 17, 2010, at 9 AM.
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