TAVARES – Prosecutors in the murder case against the surviving family member who has been charged with killing a sheriff’s deputy on Aug. 2 have subpoenaed records from four marijuana dispensaries.
Witnesses say Julie Ann Sulpizio, 50, was acting like a lunatic, attacking neighbors and a deputy, claiming they were “sinners,” and referring to her husband, Michael, as God and herself as “Helen.”
Master Deputy Bradley Link was killed when he entered her home at 38144 Brookside Drive in Eustis. Deputies Harold Howell and Stefano Gargano were shot.
She was arrested and “Baker-acted,” the legal term for an involuntary mental health facility evaluation.
In addition to the marijuana stores, prosecutors are also seeking records from Lake County Fire Rescue and the Sumter County Jail. The State Attorney already subpoenaed records from Advent Health Waterman Hospital and from a doctor at the Lake County jail.
Defense attorneys might trot out an insanity defense.
The question is, was she insane at the time of the crime, that is, unable to tell the difference between right and wrong? Was she under the influence of drugs or alcohol? Was she suffering from some other kind of mental illness, but not legally insane? Or was she faking?
If prosecutors seek the death penalty her lawyers will look for mitigating evidence.
Sulpizio, 50, faces charges of principal to murder in the first degree of a law enforcement officer, premediated, three counts of principal to first degree murder of an officer, conspiracy to commit premeditated first-degree murder, battery on a law enforcement officer, and three counts of battery.